THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,323) The Moon — “Mothers and Fathers”
Here’s “a great slice of English influenced psychedelic-pop [gently reflecting on the generation gap] . . . . [s]howcasing an ear candy melody and wonderful interlocking harmonies, there was at least a little Bee Gees in their influences. . . . [and] a killer hook that’s almost impossible to shake.” (RDTEN1, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-moon/without-earth/)
RDTEN1 tells us:
The Moon is one of those mid-1960s Southern California bands that gets widespread praise, but for some strange reason seems to consistently get lost when it comes to people’s list of favorites. For what it is worth, their debut album effortlessly makes my favorites list. Formed in 1967, the band had quite a talented line up . . . . Drummer Larry Brown had been a member of The Bel-Aires and Davie Allan & the Arrows. He was also an in-demand sessions player having worked on scores of Hollywood exploitation soundtracks. 14 year old rhythm guitarist David Marks replaced The Beach Boys Al Jardin when he went off to dental school, recording several albums and touring with the band prior to Jardin’s 1964 return to the lineup. All of 16, he fronted Dave and the Marksmen, and recorded some material as a member of The Band without a Name. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Moore had fronted Matthew Moore Plus Four, recorded several 45s with The Plymouth Rockers and recorded some solo material. Moore was apparently the project’s front man. Working with his brother/producer Daniel Moore, efforts to score a recording contract saw them find an early supporter in Mike Curb [see #57] . Curb introduced Moore to drummer/keyboard player Brown, who brought in bassist Bennett. Separately Moore recruited Marks who he’d run into several times. Curb agreed to finance an album and the four band members literally locked themselves into Hollywood’s Continental Studios, save for food deliveries and a couple of days off in order to let cleaning crews clear the trash from the recording spaces. . . . Produced by Brown, 1968’s Without Earth fell a little short in terms of originality, but the band deserved credit for having good taste when it came to their influences – a dash of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, a touch of The Bee Gees and a big heaping of mid-1960s Beatles. Largely penned by Moore, it all came together in a wonderful mix of acid drenched pop-sike. Virtually every one of these twelve songs had a catchy melody, lovely harmony vocals and interesting studio effects (thanks to producer Brown). . . . Any creative shortcomings were made up by the band’s sense of enthusiasm, the set’s commercial orientation and the general sense of fun found on tracks like “Mothers and Fathers” . . . . Add to that Moore had a voice that was perfectly suited for the genre (his performances frequently reminded me of Emmit Rhodes). . . . [Without Earth] remains one of my favorite mid-1960s American pop-sike albums. Yes, the band members have admitted they were ingesting various illicit substances while recording the album.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-moon/without-earth/
Streetmouse:
Even with their Peter Max influenced album jacket and Magical Mystery Tour influences, The Moon traveled virtually unnoticed, delivering spacey soft-pop psychedelic arrangements [more worthy than those delivered by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd], where fuzzed out distorted acid-laced guitars, shimmering backward cymbals, and outstanding harmonies melted into melodic melodies dripping with intoxication, over which vocal echoing visions sought to convey an actual LSD experience. And as good as all this sounds, the band, with their fragile beauty, never managed to make much of an impression … lacking both a supportive single and the nurturing of their record label. Yes, the song “Someday Girl” was heavenly, and could often be heard on very late night radio, or serving as background music to a liquid light show as the audience drifted into a venue . . . . The Moon had genuine talent, treading lightly on the progressive baroque elements [championed by groups like Smoke, The Left Banke, and The Zombies] that were just around the corner, moving with a consistency that should have had them sitting in the first few rows, and not the balcony.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-moon/without-earth/
Steve Stanley gives us recollections from Marks and Moore:
David Marks recollects on the sessions and the studio. “We were stoned all the time. We just kind of lived in that studio. There was pizza boxes and trash all around. The recording sessions were just boring . . . .” Matthew recalls: “I believe in the course of that first album, it went somewhere around 540 hours for twelve songs! Thirty minutes at the most. . . . Well, initially [Imperial Records was] very excited about it . . . . From what I heard later, some big cutbacks in the promotion department took place. . . . The Moon never played a live date. That was one of the plans that fell through. That’s kinda how we noticed that a lot of the promotional funds had been cut . . . . We were all so disappointed and we all kinda hid out for a while.”
liner notes to the CD reissue of Without Earth and The Moon
Bryan Thomas adds:
[David] Marks had already enjoyed quite a career. At 14, circa 1962, he joined the Beach Boys as a rhythm guitarist when Al Jardine left their lineup to attend dental school. Marks appeared on the first four Beach Boys albums and several hit singles, including “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Surfer Girl.” When Jardine returned, Marks, just 16, became the leader of Dave & the Marksmen, who had localized hits with “Cruisin’,” “I Wanna Cry,” and “I Could Make You Mine.” [He] then formed the Band Without a Name, who recorded two singles for Tower and Sidewalk and were the house band at two Sunset Strip clubs, circa 1965-1966. After leaving this group, Marks formed Moon with organ/pianist/vocalist Matthew Moore, who penned most of the band’s songs. Moore’s previous group, Matthew Moore Plus Four, had recorded for GNP Crescendo, and he had also recorded solo material for White Whale and Capitol. The other Moon members were bassist David P. Jackson (ex-Hearts & Flowers, who had two LPs on Capitol in the late ’60s) and drummer Larry Brown (ex-Davie Allan & the Arrows and a veteran of countless film soundtracks and those Sidewalk/Tower releases that were produced by Mike Curb). . . . After Moon dissolved, Marks began working as a studio musician with Denny Brooks, Delaney & Bonnie, and others. . . . Moore meanwhile, joined Joe Cocker’s 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour . . . . Moore then went on to have a successful career as a session vocalist and keyboardist, recorded solo albums, and even had his own label, New Decade. David P. Jackson went on to become the bassist with Dillard & Clark. Larry Brown played with Gunhill Road, Tony Allwine and was the official voice for Mickey Mouse.
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