THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,096) Pete Dello — “Uptight Basil”
Delightful whimsy from a Honeybus-man’s [Pete Dello (see #920)] holiday, “kinda like sane-[Syd] Barrett [see #13, 87, 315, 922, 1,949, 2,086] complete with a proper arrangement, with a dash of Dylan too, making it a perfect crossover between the Brit’n’Yank influences’”. (Garwood Pickjon, https://popdiggers.com/pete-dello-and-friends-into-your-ears/)
Of course, there is always James Christopher Monger, who loves Pete Dello’s LP Into Your Ears but hates the “wince-inducing” song! (https://www.allmusic.com/album/into-your-ears-mw0000712671)
Brian Andrew Marek ponders that:
[I]f one reads between the lines, [the lyrics] seem[] to explain why Pete quit Honeybus (and, for that matter, why there’d never be a sequel to Into Your Ears). Dello, for all his “crazy” lyrics and whimsicality, was far too sane to play ball in an industry that puts artists on a treadmill and squeezes them dry of their creativity like so many oranges. He’d clearly rather be winding that clock, making that bed or sweeping that floor than “lighting up our misty winter’s night” as a falling star, burning up in the stratosphere. And who could blame him?
https://time-has-told-me.blogspot.com/2008/07/by-brian-andrew-marek-18.html
Marek may be on to something. Consider lyrics such as “It’s a big mystery Why you ain’t a star shining bright Lighting up our misty winter night” (https://genius.com/Pete-dello-uptight-basil-lyrics)
“Basil” comes from Pete Dello and Friends’ ’71 LP Into Your Ears (with contributions from his ex-band mates), a “charming . . . . laid-back, acoustic effort” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited), a “perfect set of baroque-pop songs that are whimsical, heartfelt, and intelligent – his warm, earnest vocals fit the music perfectly.” (marruzic, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/pete-dello-and-friends/into-your-ears-3/reviews/1/)
Brian Andrew Marek writes of the album:
“a supreme piece of melodic sensitivity, not just a worthy successor of the way initiated with Honeybus and Dello’s unique conception of pop, but the perfect culmination of a very personal way of understanding songs as conveyors of the most intimate emotions, full of charm, caprice and beauty” – an uncredited quote found on the Internet, perfectly describing this perfect album I can’t give this album measured praise and won’t attempt to. This is, simply put, an exquisite collection of songs – as melodic as McCartney, uncluttered in its arrangements, and featuring lyrics that alternate between direct simplicity and an almost Syd Barrett-like ability to convey a deep emotional resonance that bypasses conscious thought entirely. Like much great art, it’s bittersweet and melancholy yet somehow leaves you feeling full of hope and joy in the end.
https://time-has-told-me.blogspot.com/2008/07/by-brian-andrew-marek-18.html
Vernon Joynson writes that Dello “was the creative force behind Honeybus [see #6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764], which he unexpectedly left just as they were taking off. . . . [H]e [later] made this charming and very rare solo album.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)
James Christopher Monger elaborates:
After tasting success in 1968 with the single “I Can’t Let Maggie Go,” [see #6] . . . Pete Dello left the band . . . to pursue a more settled lifestyle. His distaste for the rigors of touring left him with a surplus of un-recorded material that would eventually steer him back into the studio to record his first and only solo record. Into Your Ears features 14 songs, each under three-and-a-half minutes long, that prosper through a winning combination of goofy psychedelia and Beatlesque beauty. The sweet melodies and gentle harmonies of “It’s What You’ve Got” and “Taking The Heart Out Of Love” are timeless, devoid of irony, and begging for placement in a Wes Anderson film. “Do I Still Figure In Your Life[]” . . . conveys the same irresistible form of melancholy that permeates a great Randy Newman [see #174] or Harry Nilsson [see #1,168, 1,298, 1,854, 1,941] recording, and more than makes up for the wince-inducing “Uptight Basil” and “Harry The Earwig (the latter inspired the horrific Roger Dean cover art). . . . The songs, while never complex, benefit from strategically placed string arrangements that rarely disappoint, and crisp production as exemplified on the set closer “Arise Sir Henry.” . . . [The LP is an] (almost) masterpiece.
Dello explains his departure from Honeybus:
When “Maggie” took off, it all went badly for me, because I didn’t want to go out on the road again. The other lads in Honeybus were only earning money through touring. They had to go out and play. But I didn’t like the idea of travelling around Europe by chartered aircraft. I got completely fed up with it. I couldn’t say “no” to the gigs because it was a living for the other guys. In the end, however, I just stopped because I didn’t want to be ill again. I needed to rethink my life. I didn’t want to be on the road and risk never getting better. That’s why I left Honeybus.
But I kept writing and I had a few songs which would have been on the next Honeybus single. I was at home quite a lot of the time, so I was able to indulge myself in what they call on the Continent “whimsy”. A lot of the songs were whimsical and came out of the situation I found myself in.
I wanted to release the songs and didn’t want them hanging around. Into Your Ears didn’t do very well at the time, but I was quite relieved in a way. I was doing session work and arranging so I lived quite well. I never wanted to be “a star”.
liner notes to the CD reissue of Into Your Ears
Here is Leah:
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