THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,132) The Fredric — “Red Pier”
Here is a “[r]eally sweet, gentle pop psych tune” (grimson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKG6BAVww40), a “moody melodic garage ballad charmer B side” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSEmtQESrEg) from a band of Grand Rapids, Michigan, teens that soon after dissolved because Capitol Records was threatening its artistic integrity. Ben Maxwell writes in the liner notes to the CD comp Phases and Faces: West Michigan Psychedelia 1967-1969 The Complete Recordings that “This beautiful, ethereal track is timeless. Written overlooking the harbor in Grand Haven, this tune conveys the romantic innocence of youth.”
The band’s sole and self-released LP, Phases and Faces, is “[a] top notch pop album . . . . full of interesting and well-conceived songs, a nice mix of styles, and a few production moments that place it firmly in the psychedelic era.” (Aaron Milenski, The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.) Richie Unterberger is less enthusiastic:
From Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Fredric issued a rare, limited-run album in the late ’60s, Phases and Faces, that’s highly valued in some collector quarters. It would be ultimately inaccurate to call this garage psychedelia; it’s too clean-cut and poppy, with conscientious harmonies, guitar-organ interplay, and light lovelorn lyrics. They were a very young group, and it shows in the callow songwriting, despite the well-executed arrangements. . . .
On the other hand, Maxwell contributed some of the most adulatory and over-the-top liner notes I have ever read:
Phases and Faces, the only album by Grand Rapids Michigan quintet The Fredric, was released in 1968 . . . . Long considered a masterpiece by fans throughout the world, this once-in-a-lifetime merging of diverse elements is one of the most magical and extraordinary musical offerings in all of sixties music. . . . Lead vocalist Joe McCargar and Guitarist Bob Geis were high school mates in the mid-sixties, playing in a band. [Several days before o]ne of their first shows . . . in the summer of 1966. . . . the band lost their guitarist and drummer, but quickly found guitar-vocalist Steve Thrall as a replacement . . . . This move proved to be the genesis of what was to become the legendary Fredric sound. . . . [New d]rummer vocalist David Idema was the son of a family friend of McCargar’s parents. Ron Bera was added on keyboards, making use of his excellent skills. . . . A unique and inviting sound began to take shape. . . . [and t]he band approached a booking agent. Greatly impressed with the diversity of the original material, he encouraged them to develop and record. . . . In need of a new moniker, the group changed their name from Yesterday’s Children to The Fredric, on the way to their first show in Fredric, Michigan. . . . In the summer of 1967 Steve’s parents, in a vote of encouragement, let the band occupy their summer cottage on Lake Michigan as a retreat to perfect their sound. . . . The Fredric shared concert bills with The Boxtops [see #1,846], Tommy James and the Shondells, The Yellow Balloon [see #2,082] and other artists of the time. The Fredric played extensively throughout the Midwest and enjoyed an extensive fan base in West Michigan. . . . The Fredric fashioned a work that more than holds its own with any major work of the 60’s. . . . The entire album emits a warmth and deep humanity that is no accident. “We were a brotherhood[“, said Thrall]. . . . In June of 1970, The Fredric signed with Capitol Records and was promptly rechristened The Rock Garden by label executives. . . . Capitol saw the group as a pop hit unit, which caused great frustration among the members who wanted nothing to do with this commercialization of their music. . . . Explains Thrall, “It seems unbelievable as I look back, bowing out of a contract with Capitol Records. We were scheduled for several releases when the decision was made to dissolve the band. A decision had to be made between my conscience and the money. Capitol employed extra musicians and songwriters and they were spoon-feeding us. . . . I wnted no part of it.[“] . . . After the demise of the band, both Thrall and Idema pursued recording careers and continued to write together. Idema, now performing under the pseudonym, David Geddes, scored a mega-hit [in ’75] with “Run, Joey, Run,” and an album by the same name. . . .
It does no favor to the group to put it up there with the Beatles, but the boys (as Brian Epstein might say) did write and record some fantastic songs.
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