There is an autumnal nip in the air now. You can sense that summer is coming to an end and soon it will be the days of the leaves. I have been listening to an album which perfectly fits that melancholic mood of the end of summer. It is called Odessey & Oracle by The Zombies. The first thing to say about it, before you ask, is that the spelling of the album title is correct. A guy called Terry Quirk designed the album cover and by the time anybody noticed the misspelling of Odyssey it was too late, so they just pretended that was how they wanted it spelled. The copy I acquired about a week ago is a 1998 reissue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album’s release in 1968. It includes both mono and stereo mixes. I bought this particular copy because it is signed by three members of the band, Chris White, Hugh Grundy and Colin Blunstone. I imagine that they must have signed it at a reunion concert.
The album was recorded in 1967, mainly in several sessions at Abbey Road studios just after The Beatles had finished work on Sergeant Pepper. They used the same equipment as the fab four recorded on and had the same engineer Geoff Emerick. I also read somewhere that they even borrowed John Lennon’s mellotron. Some tracks were also recorded at Olympic Studios which is where The Stones used to record. The album was originally released on the CBS label. The head of CBS in America Clive Davis didn’t want to release it in the USA but was persuaded to by Al Kooper who heard it and loved the album. By the time of it’s release The Zombies had broken up, so the songs were not performed live, and the album didn’t get the promotion it deserved. Friends have been telling me for years what a great album this is, so I am pleased I finally got around to getting my own copy.
The opening track Care Of Cell 44 immediately reminded me of the Beach Boys, which is a good start. It is an unusual song about a female who is in prison, but we don’t find out what she did. A Rose For Emily was apparently inspired by a short story of that name by William Faulkner. I couldn’t help but be reminded of See Emily Play by Pink Floyd. It is a sad song about ageing. Maybe After He’s Gone had a similar sound and mood to Here Today on the Pet Sounds album, and with the great harmonies on this album I can understand how some people have described it as an English Pet Sounds. Beechwood Park is possibly my favourite track. It perfectly fits that autumnal feel of seasonal melancholy that I was talking about. I think Beechwood Park is in the band’s hometown of St Albans. The track exemplifies what a great keyboard player Rod Argent is. His playing and Colin Blunstone’s vocals are what made The Zombies great in my opinion, although Chris White’s song writing contributions shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Brief Candles probably took its name from a short story collection by Aldous Huxley. The Zombies appear to be very well read with all the literary references. There is even a Shakespeare quote in the sleeve notes. Hung Up On A Dream is a huge production showing all Rod Argent’s talent and the presence of the mellotron, Changes is another song wistfully observing the passing of time and changes of the seasons. I Want Her, She Wants Me and This will Be Our Year are two nice love songs before we come to Butchers Tale (Western Front 1914) which is quite a harrowing anti-war song and is one song on the album that I feel doesn’t fit comfortably with the mood of the other songs. Friends Of Mine by contrast is a much catchier upbeat happy song by Chris White. Time Of The Season is the one track on the album that I was familiar with before buying it. It provided The Zombies with a belated surprise top ten hit in the USA in 1969, not in the UK though.
The success of this song came too late. Rod Argent and Chris White had formed the band Argent and Colin Blunstone had embarked on a solo career. As the years have passed Odessey & Oracle has established a cult following and the critics have hailed it as a masterpiece of British psychedelic baroque music. Q magazine voted it as the 26th greatest British album of all time. I am glad I discovered it 53 years after it was first released. I think I will put it on my CD shelves next to SF Sorrow by The Pretty Things and We Are Ever So Clean by Blossom Toes.
