THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,317) The Common People — “Take From You”
Here is an “impeccable pop song[], delivered in [singer Denny] Robinett’s unique growl and imbued with [a] wistful, suggestive atmosphere”, taken from an album — Of the People, By the People, For the People — that is “a small masterpiece of brooding, late-night psychedelia”. (liner notes to the CD reissue of Of the People, By the People, For the People)
Jeff Penczak tells us:
In 1969, a relatively unknown quintet from Baldwin Park, California came to the attention of Tim Hudson, then-manager of The Seeds [see #116, 446] and Lollipop Shoppe. Hudson liked what he heard and negotiated an album deal with Capitol Records. He then proceeded to line up none other than legendary arranger David Axelrod and the cream of LA session men and headed into the studio to produce the band’s debut. Sources have suggested that Axelrod arranged the album’s first three tracks, which have been cited by his enthusiasts as among his very best. However . . . Axelrod’s wife was involved in a car accident, forcing him to withdraw from the sessions before he had a chance to work on any arrangements, so the band (singer/songwriter Joel “Denny” Robinett, his brother Gerald on drums, keyboardist William Fausto, guitarist John Bartley III and bassist Michael McCarthy) completed the LP without him. Sadly, Capitol apparently decided to sit on the album, which, as far as Denny recalls, “was never available for sale in any stores,” making it one of the great lost artifacts of the 60s . . . . Another tragic accident took Gerald’s life just after the album was completed, and the remaining band members scattered to the winds and were never heard from again.
The liner notes to the CD reissue of Of the People, By the People, For the People add:
Hudson had the prescience to recognise the uniqueness of Robinett’s moody songwriting, and in 1969 he landed them an album deal with Capitol. With a considerable budget to play with, he hired the legendary David Axelrod to score the material, and set about planning an ambitious fusion of the experimental pop of the Beach Boys, Love and Velvet Underground with modern classical strings. . . . The stage seemed set for a masterpiece — but then disaster struck. With stunning work completed on just three songs, Axelrod’s wife was badly injured in an acciden and he had to pull out, effectively killing the project in the process. . . . Axelrod’s departure gave Capitol cold feet, and they cut off their support, meaning that the remaining songs had to be rushed.
Denny Robinett recalled that “[t]he album was never released and we just kept hoping things would go well for us, but then my brother Gerald died in a boating accident when he was only 22, and for me that was just devastating. With all the setbacks with everything and then this tragedy, we just kind of dissolved.” (http://www.terrascope.co.uk/Features/Common%20People.htm)
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