THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,841) The Joyfull Noise — “Wrapped in the Hide of a Yellow Cow“
Mellow pop psych/baroque pop inspired by the I Ching.* Some question whether the Noise’s LP is psych, but as one wag put it, “from the first song it’s clear it’s psych. How else would you come up with ‘wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow’?”!!! (Alan Zweig, https://www.facebook.com/groups/968112868534089/posts/1111734490838592)
“Sometimes life moves so very fast. One change upon another. Seems no matter what you do, isn’t worth the bother”
Marios tells us:
Joyfull Noise were an early hippie rock crew with a melodious double guitars & keyboard line up, not unlike others from the “Bosstown Sound” sector which was a spin off of the West Coast rock scene of the era . . . . While their psych moves are successful . . . those numbers are stronger than their pop/rock moves. . . . [T]he band certainly had the talent to do well . . . .
https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2025/02/joyfull-noise-joyfull-noise-1968-us.html
Discogs explains that:
The Joyfull Noise . . . took part in the 1968 RCA promotion “Groupquake” and performed in May of 1968 in the East Village along with fellow RCA acts Autosalvage, Group Therapy, The Status Cymbal and The Youngbloods (who was the only group to make it with successful sales). They also appeared at the Fillmore East as part of the promotion.
Fred Kirby further elaborated in Billboard’s May 25, 1968, issue:
Joyfull Noise . . . proved promising with an inventive set containing some of the evening’s best original material. . . . The East Village concert was part of RCA’s Groupquake promotion in which the company is plugging eight young groups through intensive advertising. RCA took over the 2,600-seat theater and gave out the reserved tickets on a free basis. The fine Joshua Light Show backed the acts. Placed on each seat was a promotion album The Groupquake containing selections by each of the eight groups. . . . [The Joyfull Noise’s] John Rowe . . . probably had the best voice of the evening in good soul style. It was difficult to determine how much of the unit’s performance was put on, but much of it obviously was. David Hanni, the New England group’s poet laureate, recited several verses in monotone, frequently leading into songs. Also, the outfit’s name indicates a cross between the serious and the lighter. But, the line-up of songs . . . were not put-ons: they were good numbers well performed.
* Here goes:
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.
Changes ought to be undertaken only when there is nothing else to be done. Therefore at first the utmost restraint is necessary. One must becomes firm in one’s mind, control oneself-yellow is the color of the means, and the cow is the symbol of docility-and refrain from doing anything for the time being, because any premature offensive will bring evil results.
http://www2.unipr.it/~deyoung/I_Ching_Wilhelm_Translation.html
Wikipedia tells us that:
The I Ching or Yijing . . . usually translated Book of Changes or Classic of Changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The I Ching was originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou period (1000–750 BC). Over the course of the Warring States and early imperial periods (500–200 BC), it transformed into a cosmological text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the Ten Wings. After becoming part of the Chinese Five Classics in the 2nd century BC, the I Ching was the basis for divination practice for centuries across the Far East and was the subject of scholarly commentary. Between the 18th and 20th centuries, it took on an influential role in Western understanding of East Asian philosophical thought.
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