THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,905) October Country — “Cowboys and Indians”
(see #624, 1,702)
Renowned producer, arranger, songwriter and musician Michael Lloyd wrote this ’68 A-side and produced October Country’s (see #624, 1,702) sole LP (“one of the better examples of . . . Lloyd’s overall influence and impact on the West Coast-based [sunshine pop/soft rock] genre” (Bryan Thomas, https://www.allmusic.com/album/october-country-mw0000460858)) Lloyd recalled the infectious and energizing song as “[m]ore of a conceptual type of thing” and “[p]erhaps influenced by the Beach Boys’ [see #667, 1,825] “Heroes and Villains”. (liner notes to the CD reissue of October Country) If you hone in on the lyrics, you realize that they are actually quite depressing (as sunshine pop does all the time), brilliantly and tersely describing a native American warrior’s thoughts as he ponders the tragic and inexorable fate of his people.
RDTEN1 takes us to October Country:
I’ve always wondered why so many harmony-rich mid-1960s pop groups seemed to come out of Los Angeles. Even more of a curiosity is why most of them vanished with little exposure or popular success. Well, here’s another one to add to the list . . . . Born into a religious home (both parents were practicing ministers), the early-1960s’ found brother and sister Caryle (aka Carol) and Joe De Franca following their parents across the country, singing in a succession of church choirs. By 1966 the family was living in Southern California, where the siblings decided to try to break onto the L.A. club scene as a folk act. Within a couple of months they’d recruited a full-fledged band with a line up consisting of drummer Jerry Pasternak who was then replaced by Chet McCracken, guitarist Marty Earle, bassist Bruce Wayne and keyboardist Bob Wian. Playing under a number of names, the band started out as a covers band, slowly working in some original material into their act. A succession of dances and private parties saw them graduate to performances on LA’s club scene including dates at Gazzarri’s, The Whiskey, The Sea Witch. That led to dates [as an opening [act] . . . at larger forums like The Palladium, The Aquarius Theater and The Swing Auditorium. They then graduated to playing local colleges and scored attention as an opening act for national touring outfits . . . . Their real break didn’t come until 1967 when director Denis Hoffman saw the band playing at a local college. Hoffman knew guitarist Marty Earle and convinced them to let him develop a project that followed their daily and professional lives as they tried to break into the LA music scene. Even though October Country came off as surprisingly “normal” (Joe’s hobby is amateur radio, his girlfriend’s name is Cricket – apparently a go-go dancer. Carol works at an L.A. nursery school) and conservative (look at the background), the resulting “film” convinced Epic Records president Len Leny to fly out to Los Angeles to see the band play at a club. He subsequently signed them to a contract. where they were teamed with red-hot writer/producer Michael Lloyd. The subsequently made their recording debut with the Lloyd-penned and produced single — 1968’s “October Country” b/w “Baby What I Mean” . . . . At Lloyd’s suggestion the adopted the song title as their name . . . releasing a sophomore single: 1968’s “My Girlfriend Is a Witch” [see #624] b/w “I Just Don’t Know” . . . With the two singles generating modest airplay the band underwent a personnel change with Eddie Beram replacing McCracken on drums. Epic then decided to finance an LP. Anyone who enjoys orchestrated, harmony rich material . . . will certainly find 1968’s October Country a pleasure. That said, in many respects this album was almost a Michael Lloyd solo effort. He produced, handled the arrangements, wrote nine of the eleven tracks and reportedly provided much of the instrumentation. Much to the group’s unending dismay, unhappy with what he considered to be sub-par band performances, Lloyd simply redid the backing tracks. Lloyd’s distinctive creative fingerprints were found all over the album. While neither of the De Francas was a singer, in the confines of this album their individual vocal shortcomings didn’t really matter that much. Surrounded by breezy melodies, complete with imaginative (and occasionally quirky) arrangements . . . [it] exuded a sense of joy and innocence that rock’s seldom come close to recapturing.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/october-country/october-country/
Wikipedia recounts Lloyd’s early years:
By the age of 13, he had formed his own band . . . at the same time continuing to take lessons in music theory and composition. He also started writing songs and pitching them to record labels in Los Angeles, including Tower Records, a subsidiary of Capitol. By Lloyd’s own account, Eddie Ray, the head of A&R at Tower, suggested that the teenage Lloyd work with Mike Curb, and the pair began collaborating on songs and record production. Other sources suggest that Lloyd and Curb were introduced to each other by Kim Fowley [see #89, 449], who had signed Lloyd to a song-publishing deal. Lloyd also recorded surf music as a member of the New Dimensions, a group that included Jimmy Greenspoon, later of Three Dog Night. Around 1964, Lloyd began performing with brothers Shaun and Danny Harris . . . . Together they formed a group initially called the Rogues, later renamed the Laughing Wind. They recorded demos with Fowley, who then introduced the band to Bob Markley, a law graduate and aspiring performer who had already had his own TV show in Oklahoma. With Fowley’s support and Markley’s financial backing, Lloyd became a member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band with the Harris brothers, Markley and drummer John Ware, releasing an album, Part One [see #197, 488], in 1967. Fowley also released some of the Laughing Wind’s demos, with other tracks featuring Markley, as Volume One, credited to the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Lloyd left the band shortly afterward, but returned to contribute to their 1969 album Where’s My Daddy?. In 1967, Lloyd wrote songs and produced [a] Fowley[] solo album . . . . Curb allowed Lloyd to use his Hollywood Boulevard studios, and together with . . . Stan Ayeroff and Steve Baim . . . Lloyd wrote and produced an album, The Smoke . . . . Lloyd also provided the music for Steven Spielberg’s first short film, Amblin’, and worked with Curb on other movie soundtracks, including The Devil’s 8 . . . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lloyd_(music_producer)
I knew that Fowley had to be somehow involved!
Lloyd recalled the making of the October Country LP:
The drummer was so nervous doing the songs that he got physically sick and left. . . . [H]ere we are . . . wondering where the drummer is, and he’s gone. . . . So I just played the drums, and the other guys in the band left, and I did all the instruments. Joe and Caryle and I sang all the parts. It wasn’t like we could come back tomorrow when the drummer feels better. We had no second chance on this. We had to do it. . . . In some ways, [October Country] was a group and in other ways, it was a bit manufactured because I was probably more into it than the other band members. I don’t believe that any of them continued on with music.
liner notes to the CD reissue of October Country
Lloyd talks about himself:
Referred to as a boy genius at the start of his career Michael Lloyd has certainly proven that right. . . . [T]he prolific and talented record producer has accumulated in excess of 100 gold and platinum records well over 72 albums and 34 singles collecting numerous #1 singles and albums. Lloyd’s records . . . rang[e] from Pop & Rock to Country & Jazz, R&B & Gospel . . . . His various chart records span five decades, from the 60’s to the present. Additionally, Lloyd has provided scoring, music supervision, song writing, song placement and or music producing for well over 100 motion pictures, 16 TV movies, 13 television specials & 35 television series. . . . As well as being the music supervisor for the motion picture, and the Dirty Dancing album . . Michael produced the blockbuster hits “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, “Yes” by Merry Clayton [see #53] and “She’s Like The Wind” by Patrick Swayze. . . [H]e met Mike Curb, which began a long and fruitful friendship and business association . . . . Curb put Lloyd to work scoring motion pictures, and a few years later, when Curb became president of MGM Records, he brought Lloyd, then 20 years old, in as vice president of A & R. At MGM Records, Lloyd signed Lou Rawls, which generated Lloyd’s first major hit, “A Natural Man”. Some of the artists Lloyd has worked with over the years include Barry Manilow, Belinda Carlisle, Kimberley Locke, Dionne Warwick, Steve Holy, Natalie Grant, Bill Medley, Benny Mardones, Stryper, Jennifer Warnes, The Righteous Brothers, The Monkees, Shaun Cassidy, Eric Carman, The Bellamy Brothers, The Burrito Brothers, The New Seekers, Sammy Davis Jr., Air Supply, Carmen, Jeffrey Osborne, The Osmonds, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Medley, Tamara Walker, The Pointer Sisters, Leif Garrett, Susie Alllanson, Brush Arbor, Donny & Marie, Maureen McGovern, Roger Williams, Merry Clayton, Debby Boone, and Frank Sinatra [see #1,455] . . . .
Quite self-effacing!
Here is the Smoke:
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