THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,914) Tales of Justine* — “Sitting on a Blunestone”**
Classic psych, truly great” (spherule, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/tales-of-justine/petals-from-a-sunflower/), “[t]he ‘Victorian Music-Box’ sound . . . a[] joy to the ears” (Ian Canty, https://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2017/11/tales-of-justine-petals-from-sunflower.html)
David Wells:
[Blunestone is] the undoubted jewel in Tales of Justine’s crown . . . a swirling, hallucinatory creation that found [David] Daltrey peering through the looking-glass into a parallel world of idyllic pastoralism, where wandering minstrels serenaded innocent young maidens as they glided serenely through some enchanted perfumed garden. . . . With its wistful vocal, hobbit-of-the-universe lyrics and Eastern-tinged melodicism . . . [It] visits all the right psonic psunspots, and (to these ears, at least) sits comfortably alongside acknowledged English lysergic pop masterpieces like [Pink Floyd’s (see #13, 38, 360)] “See Emily Play” and [Traffic’s] “Paper Sun”. Nevertheless, in view of the relatively sparse nature of the only surviving recording, it’s tantalizing to consider how an Abbey Road craftsman like George Martin or Norman Smith might have shaped the song. Sensing that this could be the big one, the group arranged for acetates . . . to be distributed to a handful of influential figures — including John Peel, who played it on his Top Gear show. Somehow, though, EMI were less than impressed, and they refused to release the track.
liner notes to the CD comp Petals from a Sunflower: Complete Recordings 1967-69
Richie Unterberger writes:
Tales of Justine’s main claim to fame might be as a late-’60s British rock group produced by Tim Rice (then an A&R man for EMI) prior to his career as an immensely successful co-writer of musicals with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Their one single, 1967’s “Albert”/”Monday Morning,” was toward the twee end of British psychedelic pop. Somewhat more representative of Tales of Justine, though still on the precious side of the genre, were numerous unreleased tracks they recorded between August 1967 and January 1969. In some respects these recalled the more ambitious (and overblown) productions of the Hollies [see #461] in their psychedelic phase, though Tales of Justine were yet more precious in their approach. Bandmember and singer/songwriter David Daltrey was featured in the early Rice-Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and later formed the group Carillion, a support act in a tour during David Bowie’s [see #9, 75, 464] Ziggy Stardust phase.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tales-of-justine-mn0000636411#biography
Ian Canty tells Tales of Justine’s tale:
Tales Of Justine were one of those bands that came along at the outset of UK Psychedelia in the mid to late 60s but their pop dabbling soon lost them the “head” audience as the fashion went more towards heavy, experimental jamming rather than their snappy but trippy songs. . . . With a past that dated back to Potters Bar beat band the Sound Of Silence, Tales Of Justine were spearheaded by the talented David Daltrey, singer, guitarist and yes, relative of . . . Roger. After a brief time as the Court Jesters, they assumed the Tales Of Justine name and hit the . . . Psychedelic scene that was taking off in clubs such as Middle Earth and the Electric Garden . . . . They were in truth far more traditional in their approach, very pop-orientated indeed and as the evidence here displays, far the better for it. During the summer of 67 they were espied in concert by Tim Rice, who quickly came to realise their potential. Rice . . . was at this time keeping a keen eye on the pop scene for any rising talent in his role at EMI A&R. Daltrey and Co clearly fitted the bill. He quickly signed them up to a management contract and also got their monikers on the dotted line with his record company overlords too. Success only looked a short step away for Tales Of Justine, but it didn’t quite turn out that way…. TOJ specialised in a whimsical and stately version of Psychedelia, but they were not adverse to throwing in the odd mind-melting Freakbeat-esque effort when it pleased them . . . . Though the Rice/Lloyd Weber patronage got them into Abbey Road to record . . . it couldn’t even get them more than one record released. In truth the A side “Arthur” was far from being their best material . . . . [T]he single flopped and that was the end of Tales Of Justine, as far as officially released material was concerned anyway. Despite that they recorded repeatedly over the next year or so . . . . The sad thing though is that the potential of the band is clear to see. . . . In an alternate world, they would have been a hit machine. . . . [There is] jaw-dropping beauty on show here amongst the songs. . . . [T]he 60s flower children missed out on some great tunes. . . .
https://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2017/11/tales-of-justine-petals-from-sunflower.html
* “My cousin was in this band, and they got the name from my sister Justine”. (tekkonblackkinkreet4927, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nksBGgeQ9vg)
** This is “an oblique reference to Stonehenge bluestones”. (David Wells, liner notes to Petals from a Sunflower)
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