Monocled Alchemist

Folk Rock Gems from Corpus Christi

The Sounds Of Time | “Tranquility” (English Records) 1968 | I found this obscure record by The Sounds of Time earlier this month on Discogs. It was purely by chance because I was looking at a list of punk singles offered for sale by the seller.

The record label intrigued me more than the group name to be honest. English Records were the short-lived label that issued the deranged classic “On The Road South” by The Stereo Shoestring.

Wanting to know more, I found both sides of The Sounds Of Time on YouTube. I very much appreciated their stripped down, almost lo-fi, hippie folk tunes. The seller wanted £30 for the 45 but he accepted my offer of £20 and here it is folks.

The group were apparently from Corpus Christi, TX and were a four-piece folk rock outfit. There is nothing remotely garage or particularly psychedelic about their sound.

The Sounds Of Time | “Tranquility” (English Records) 1968

Although there is some studio production trickery, but I dig it nonetheless. “Brothers”, written by Glen Tompkins has a decent pace with simple strumming acoustic guitar, rattling tambourine, female backing vocals, and an altogether dreamy quality.

The duel guitars get a little more complex towards the end of the number, there’s a final burst of tambourine, then some psychedelic studio FX to conclude matters.

The other side is a Tim Delaney penned number called “Tranquility” and as the song title suggests, this is very mellow and languid. This has much more of a hippie folk vibration than “Brothers”, with the message of mind and soul rebirth after a relationship ends.

The sentiment would have gone down a storm on the West Coast but was probably ignored and kicked to the kerb in Corpus Christi.

A follow-up single “Where, Oh Where” / “The Town I Was Born In” (English Records LH-4065) followed. Both songs were written by Tim Delaney.

Nothing by The Sounds Of Time has been compiled in the past and for now they remain quite an obscurity but perhaps one day more information will come to light.

Line-up:
Tim Delaney
Glen Tomkins
Lee Scott
Danny Seinze

Misc information:

Songwriters Tim Delaney and Glen Tomkins recorded previously with a group called The Royal Rogues. Two songs reached acetate stage.

“So Long” and “Till I Come Home To You” were the result of their efforts at Texas Sound Studios.

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