Do You Remember Golden Days, and Golden Summer Sun?.....The Zombies--Odessey and Oracle

A week from now the Zombies will be performing locally in Tarrytown. I'm pretty excited about seeing these guys perform live. For practically my whole life I have heard "Time of the Season" and "She's Not There", the only songs of theirs that are allowed to be played on oldies radio stations. The former is the supposedly the most played radio song ever. Argent and Blunstone are still going pretty strong if the live DVD I picked up, the Odessey and Oracle 40th Anniversary concert from 2009 is any evidence.

Based on a rave review from Big Takeover Magazine I went full out and bought Zombie Heaven, the 4 disc box set a few years ago. The purchase was worth every penny. Each disc was uniformly excellent, but I was most impressed by the Odessey and Oracle and Lost Album disc. Odessey was one of the crowning pop recordings of the 60's, a moody baroque masterpiece. Colin Blunstone was one of the great distinctive voices of the era, and the harmonies and arrangements are peerless here. Sadly, the band split up shortly after the album was released and did not capitalize on it the way they might have through touring. When the records singles were ignored by the public, they decided to hang it up. Though I wonder how well the music could have been performed live. As they mention in the liner notes of Zombie Heaven, the songs were arranged to be recorded, in the same way that an album like Pet Sounds was put together. With the technology of today I see from their DVD, that they were able to pull off a live performance with aplomb. I also noticed that Darian Sahanaja of the Wondermints was a participant in the show, thanked profusely at its conclusion. The Wondermints are a power pop band who worked with Brian Wilson, and they were able to
make live performances of Pet Sounds and Smile a reality.

It's easy to make comparisons to the Beatles with Odessey and Oracle; qualitatively it stands on the level of their best mid-period albums. In some ways, the album bookends with The Kinks "Village Green Preservation Society" conceptually. There is a sense of nostalgia, history, Englishness in these tracks. Of particular is the Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914). World War One began nearly 100 years ago, but 40 years ago, people's grandparents fought in what was originally called The Great War, or The War To End All Wars. It seemed inconceivable after Versailles that within a generation the devastation wrought by the First War would be dwarfed by a Second War of complete annihilation. In the song a young butcher turned soldier laments over the senseless butchery of human beings on the field of battle. I first heard an excerpt of this cautionary song being sung by Julian Cope.

And I.....
And I can't stop shaking
My hands won't stop shaking
My arms won't stop shaking
My mind won't stop shaking
I want to go home...
Please let me go home...
Go Home.

But there are so many wonderful songs on this album, beyond the international mega hit. Beginning with Care of Cell 44, a very joyous upbeat song about being reunited with a released prisoner. Amazing three part harmonies on this number, perhaps more like what you'd expect from a choir than a rock album. Some of the songs are more like little stories and parables, like A Rose for Emily. Rod Argent's somber piano sets the template for a story about the ravages of time, using the changing seasons as metaphor. Similarly themed is Brief Candles, the candles being small happy memories to compensate for the overwhelming darkness.



Friends of Mine was one of the singles from the album and it is pure infectious pop. One of the unusual things about the song was that the couples mentioned throughout the song were real-life couples. They never thought to change their names. I suppose if you were Joyce and Terry, or Liz and Bryan, you would be awfully happy to be name checked on a classic album. This Will Be Our Year is one of my favorites here, probably a perfect song to play at a wedding, a musical testament to enduring love and optimism.



I just love the imagery evoked in the lyrics of Beechwood Park...

And the breeze would touch your hair,
Kiss your face and make you care,
About your world, your summer world..

And we would count the the evening stars
As the day grew dark in Beechwood Park.....

So next week I will be hearing some rock legends live for the first time, and I am definitely looking forward to that night! Hearing Colin Blunstone's timeless voice live and Rod Argent's jazzy baroque organ playing will be a real treat. Now, if only someone could get a negotiation together between Ray and Dave Davies.......