“Soft Voice” / “The Last Day” (Tetragrammaton Records T-1528) May 1969
Summerhill: Soft Voice and more (Tetragrammaton Records) | Today I scanned some underground subversion film images from a 1967 British film magazine. They were all weird black and white stills from never-to-be-seen again sixties movies, and were just waiting to be used in one of my YouTube videos so I selected a box of American singles and thumbed my way to this one by Summerhill.
I’ve had an original copy of the Summerhill album for a couple of decades. It’s on Tetragrammaton Records, a small label operating from an address in Beverly Hills, California.
A longer version of “Soft Voice” is the lead-off track on side one of the LP. This white label promo 45 of “Soft Voice” was sent out to radio stations and music press offices during May 1969 to hopefully rustle up some interest for their album.
It was a decent choice for a single and demonstrates that Summerhill had a lot of creativity and talent to perhaps became just as popular as sound-a-like groups such as H.P. Lovecraft or The Stone Country.
Soft Voice
“Soft Voice” is a luscious, well produced number shrouded in pleasing orchestration and is typical of the era. The other side, “The Last Day” could be described as hippie-fried country.
In the backwaters of google I found this excellent review of the Summerhill LP. It appears that the writer has given up his blog, ‘Long-Play 33’ because there have been no updates since 2018. Check it out for further reading and enlightenment!
Spirit
My obsession with Spirit’s ‘Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus’ led my hunt for ‘more of the same, please!’ to a quiet but dedicated music forum somewhere beyond the first two pages of a Google search.
On offer was Summerhill and after a brief listen, with the exception of the gut-bustin’ ‘Bring Me Around’, I wasn’t getting the comparison. The subjectivity of music consumption gives rise to peculiar discrepancies between listeners.
Perhaps they heard a burst of melody in a Summerhill track which brought Spirit to mind, or maybe it’s the overall blending of styles that triggered a link between these late-60s psych groups. There’s a lot under the umbrella term of ‘late-60s psych’ (which may be more of a philosophy than a genre); folk, blues, country, jazz, the list goes on.
If a group blends one or more of these styles around some good tunes in a 1960s studio, with more than a passing interest in mind-altering substances and a sense of adventure, the result is quite likely to be worth a spin on your turntable.
Twelve Dreams
Summerhill is no exception and though not quite comparable in quality to ‘Twelve Dreams’, I’m glad I went searching, as this record has a lot of spirit.
The Californian Summerhill were Doug Burger (Keys), Larry Hickman (Bass), Alan Parker (Lead Guitar), and Del Ramos (Drums). With David Blumberg providing orchestration. Their sole release was produced by David Briggs at Wally Heider Studio in Los Angeles and released on the emerging Tetragrammaton Records in 1969.
There was no follow-up and original pressings are now quite rare. The opening ‘Soft Voice’ sways in, wonderfully ornamented with strings, woodwind, guitars and keys. The passionate harmony vocals are slightly set back, painting a dark sonic landscape.
‘Friday Morning’s Paper’ continues this shady theme, its swirling torrent of floating guitars and strings giving way to a literal sigh of relief and an unexpected tempo change with what can be loosely described as a chorus.
It isn’t until we get to the blistering ‘Bring Me Around’ that we hear a conventional rock structure on this record. The opening two tracks blend musical vignettes seamlessly where flares of lyrical content are separated by curious dream-like musical interludes.
The Last Day
‘The Last Day’ adds stylistic variety with a melodic, falsetto country croon, giving way to the erratic ‘Follow Us’. This track meanders through a swathe of tonal atmospheres, beginning mysteriously, falling into a cosy chorus-line before finding its way to a middle section in waltz-time. While somewhat dramatic, the changes in texture, pace and atmosphere are never jarring. You’re pleasingly left knowing where you are, but not exactly sure how you got there.
One of the more unique aspects of this record is the sound quality, or lack thereof. Whether by design or circumstance, there’s a lo-fi quality to the recording as tones and timbres blend together in a gloopy wash.
Mid-range frequencies
There’s a burst of euphonic depth in the mid-range frequencies when the texture thickens. A aided by a healthy dose of tape hiss, an excitable fizz on the highs. Instruments occupy the full stereo width on offer, at times bouncing from side to side. But never sound naked or thin. It’s as though the sounds are smeared together at the expense of fidelity. But for a blur of tantalizing liquid gold for the ears.
The peculiar ditty ‘The Bird’ opens side two with appropriate sound effects. A pretty piano-led melody, abruptly giving way to a raucous rocker in ‘My Way (Hard for You)’. While ballsy and loud, there’s a cool injection of melody here, with an eastern-sounding tune exposed in two-part harmony. But it’s the guitar interplay which propels this fun track.
Just like that, we’re back to the eerie baroque-folk style that riddles this album in ‘What Can I Say’. A flood of strings, harpsichord and close-miked clarinet build to a vibrant crescendo, an intense musical moment.
‘It’s Gonna Rain’ is a relatively conventional pop song. Worthy of its place here for the variety it offers with its strong melody and chirpy gait. Finally we close with the gorgeous love-ballad ‘Summer Days’. A short album, clocking around thirty minutes.
Summerhill will take you on a journey through eerie atmospheres, with subversive melodies and gloriously murky production. Like many a great psych album, the strength here is as much in the execution as it is in the songs. The crowning achievement of Summerhill is Blumberg’s beautiful instrumentation that adorns every track. A rare disc if you can find it, this album deserves to be heard.
SUMMERHILL Summerhill (Tetragrammaton T 114) 6/69 | A Californian quartet whose sole LP spans practically every genre known to man — delicate soft-rock C Soft Voice% crunching hard rock (‘Bring Me Around’, ‘My Way (Hard For You)’), straight country balladry (`The Last Day’), orchestrated pop ‘Follow Us’), aural collage (`The Bird’), guitar pop (`It’s Gonna Rain’) and more.
It’s tied together by strong musicianship and an imaginative, mildly trippy production by Neil Young’s right-hand man David Briggs, and though the backings are occasionally a touch messy, it’s recommended. (RMJ)
Any questions about my content please get in touch via the contact form.
Leave a Reply