PSYCHEDELIC CIRCUS
L.A. GarageIn the mid 1960s throughout Los Angeles garages vibrated and shook to the music of bands of every size and type – surf, blues, R&B, jazz and pop. And it was from within the confines of the garages that existing musical sensibilities were tweaked, torn and twisted until a new musical genre emerged – psychedelic/garage rock. At first it was just an underground movement; the outside world had little or no knowledge of its existence. Then, almost overnight this new music went straight from the garage onto the world stage. A new music unlike anything anyone had ever heard before. It challenged you to let go of your preconceived ideas and expand your horizons. It dared you to take a step outside. Like the times, it was new, fresh and different and it was this music that would power the cultural and societal revolution of the 1960s.Three bands, each with their own unique and individual sounds, were pioneers in this musical revolution. The Standells and their distinctive lead singer, Dick Dodd, brought their garage rock sensibilities to bear on “Dirty Water” and “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White”. The Strawberry Alarm Clock infused intricate chord patterns with multi-layered vocals and musical textures to create one of the period’s most recognized songs, “Incense and Peppermints”. And the “seminal philosophers of punk rock”, The Electric Prunes, who virtually defined the psychedelic genre with their classics, “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Nite)”, and “Get Me To The World On Time.”What was in 1967 remains true in 2008. The music still has the power to transform and transport. Psychedelic Circus is here to bring the past, kicking and screaming, into the present. The three bands that helped define an era are alive and well and playing better than ever. No cover bands here or weak imitators. This is no boring oldies show. Psychedelic Circus presents the real hit makers playing their original songs with the same take no prisoners attitude that exemplified their generation.Want to know what it was like going to a concert during the Summer of Love? Come on back. Wish you’d been there in 1967? Here’s your chance. If you were there or wish you had been there, Psychedelic Circus provides the possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the electricity and excitement of a ‘60s concert in all its raging glory. Three unique and distinctive bands, a swirling light show and music that mesmerizes and entrances pulls you into a complete and total physical and sensual psychedelic experience.
The Electric Prunes. The Strawberry Alarm Clock. The Standells.
Psychedelic Circus is on the road. We invite you to join us on our trip.
Management and Booking: Beto de Leon / Corazon Concerts
P.O Box 537 Santa Barbara CA 93102
Tel: (805) 448-6428
beto_de_leon@yahoo.com or beto@corazonconcerts.com
www.corazonconcerts.com
The 1960s were a time of change, revolution, myth and legend. Nowhere was this more evident than in music. A new style, psychedelic rock, broke out of its L.A. garage and blasted onto the airwaves and into the subconscious. This mind-bending alternative to the standard pop fare was a collage of fuzz, tremolo, improvisation, angst and energy. It was an unrestricted and fresh approach that smashed and morphed established forms and formats into something weird and wonderful.
With their unique and individual sound that even then defied categorization, The Electric Prunes stood at the forefront of this musical revolution. These “seminal philosophers of punk rock” helped invent the genre with their psychedelic classics “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Nite)” and “Get Me To The World On Time”. Steven Van Zandt called “Too Much To Dream” the psychedelic national anthem and Mojo magazine named “Get Me To The World” as one of its top 25 all time psychedelic records.
But that was then. The Electric Prunes are back and are bringing the past into the present. Their distinctive blend of slithery vibrato-laden guitars, pounding drums and slinky driving bass is definitely alive and well. This is no tired oldies band. They perform with the same passion and power as before. Not content to live on history, the band continues to evolve and change and push the boundaries while remaining true to their roots and original sound. This is the real deal playing the real music as only the creators can.
Remember the feeling of attending live concerts during the Summer of Love? Come on back home. Wish you’d been there in 1967? Here’s your chance. The Electric Prunes offer you a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience what is was like back in that exciting, eclectic, electric and eccentric time. An Electric Prunes concert is full throttle immersion in the sights and sounds of the 1960s. Each show, with it swirling images and vibrating music, is its own individual experience.
The Electric Prunes are alive and firing on all cylinders, making music with the same power and passion that symbolized a generation. We dare you, set your transporter to 1967 and step on in.
DISCOGRAPHY
U.S. Singles
Ain't It Hard / Little Olive (Reprise 0473) - May 1966
I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) / Luvin' (Reprise 0532) - November 1966
Get Me To The World On Time / Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less) (Reprise 0564) - March 1967
Dr Do Good / Hideaway (Reprise 0594) - May 1967
The Great Banana Hoax / Wind-Up Toys (Reprise 0607) - July 1967
Everybody Knows You're Not In Love / You Never Had It Better (Reprise 0652) - 1968
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night / Get Me To The World On Time (Reprise 0704 - Double A-side) - 1968
Hey Mr President / Flowing Smoothly (Reprise 0756) - June 1969
Violent Rose / Sell (Reprise 0833) - 1969
Love Grows / Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers (Reprise 0858) - 1969
Hollywood Halloween (Peter Lewis backed by The Electric Prunes) (Birdman Records BMR1313) - October 2001
U.S. Albums
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night (Reprise RS 6248 - mono / stereo) - April 1967
Underground (Reprise RS 6262 - mono / stereo) - August 1967
Mass In F Minor (Reprise RS 6275 - mono / stereo) - January 1968
Release of an Oath (The Kol Nidre) (Reprsie RS 6316 - mono / stereo) - November 1968
Just Good Old Rock And Roll (Reprise RS 6342) - June 1969
Lost Dreams (Birdman Records BMR022CD) - February 2001
Artifact (Prunetwang 8-69696-9) - October 2001
California (Prunetwang 8-69697-0) - May 2004
Feedback (Prunetwang 8-69698-1) – December 2006
Management and Booking: Beto de Leon / Corazon Concerts
P.O Box 537 Santa Barbara CA 93102
Tel: (805) 448-6428
beto_de_leon@yahoo.com or beto@corazonconcerts.com
www.corazonconcerts.com
At the height of the "Flower Power" era of psychedelic music in the mid sixties, Strawberry Alarm Clock gave us one of classic rock's most memorable songs, 1967's, "Incense and Peppermints".
It's now been forty years since the summer of love...1967!
The time felt right for original Strawberry Alarm Clock members, Mark Weitz, George Bunnell, Randy Seol, Lee Freeman and Steve Bartek, along with new member (since 1987) Howie Anderson, to get back in the garage and start dissecting their original songs culled from the first, second and third SAC albums. They started to rediscover themselves and realized a profound joy and sense of pride in what they had accomplished in their teenage years. Not knowing what this would ultimately lead up to they kept at it in earnest.
Then sometime in the early months of 2007 they were contacted by none other than Roger Ebert, with a request to appear as his special guests at the old Virginia theater in Champaign, Illinois to close out his annual "forgotten film festival". The five day festival was to close with the screening of "beyond the valley of the dolls" which Ebert wrote the screenplay for and the sac made an appearance in. the band felt a need to make this one happen and to do it right! so the above mentioned sextet decided to contact three other previous band mates....Ed King, Gene Gunnels and Paul Marshall....all three were in the movie and Paul wrote and sang two of the songs from it.
Do yes, on April 29th, 2007 The Strawberry Alarm Clock performed an entire set for a gleaming Roger Ebert and a "sold out" 1600 seat Virginia theater!!!
All nine members of the band were on stage together for the first time ever! It was a heartfelt performance and one that will be remembered fondly by all who witnessed it...but mostly by the band members themselves. After that show the SAC trimmed back down to its sextet size. But decided it was so great having both original drummers, gene gunnels (who played on Incense & Peppermints ..but his then girlfriend made him quit the band !) and Randy Seol covering the sac's extensive percussion needs that they had to have them both.
Strawberry Alarm Clock made two notable appearances in films, first in the 1968 Jack Nicholson movie Psych-Out, where they played several songs, including "Incense and Peppermints", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow", "The World's on Fire", and "The Pretty Song From Psych-Out", and then in the 1970 Russ Meyer camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls where they played "Incense and Peppermints", "I'm Comin' Home", and "Girl From The City", both written by Paul Marshall.
The story of the song, "Incense and Peppermints," is a fascinating one. The recording was initially intended as a 'b-side' and the lead vocal is actually that of a friend of the band, 16 year old Greg Munford, who was just hanging around during the session. He was not even a regular band member, but ended up singing a tune that would rocket to number one in the United States and sell over a million copies. Despite this success, Munford never actually joined the group.
The current group lineup includes original band members Mark Weitz (keyboards), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar), Randy Seol (drums), George Bunnell (Bass), and Gene Gunnels (percussion). Together they continue to create their form of music that couples hippie trappings with enchanting melodies and some imaginative instrumentation and interwoven vocal harmonies.
Discography
* various singles as Thee Sixpence (1965)
* Incense and Peppermints (1967)
* Wake Up... It's Tomorrow (1968)
* The World in a Sea Shell (1968)
* Good Morning Starshine (1969)
* The Best of the Strawberry Alarm Clock (1970) (compilation with 2 new tracks)
* Changes (1971) (compilation)
* Incense and Peppermints (1990) (Sony Music Special Products compilation)
* Strawberries Mean Love (1992) (compilation)
* The Strawberry Alarm Clock Anthology (1993) (compilation)
www.StrawberryAlarmClock.com
Management and Booking: Beto de Leon / Corazon Concerts
P.O Box 537 Santa Barbara CA 93102
Tel: (805) 448-6428
beto_de_leon@yahoo.com or beto@corazonconcerts.com
www.corazonconcerts.com