“Now I Taste The Tears” taken from the LP ‘The Clown Died In Marvin Gardens’ | (MGM Records SE-4568) September 1968
The Beacon Street Union | Now I Taste The Tears | (MGM) 1968 | The second Beacon Street Union album included some strong numbers and a bizarre version of ”Blue Suede Shoes” which was lifted as a single.
In my opinion the Doors inspired blues rocker ”Now I Taste The Tears” would have been a much better single to sell the LP. I’m not sure if the hippies would have been wanting to go back to a Carl Perkins number.
”Now I Taste The Tears” features a heavy bass sound and some thrilling lead guitar, not a touch of psychedelia here, just a fabulous late sixties up-tempo blues cut. The song was also recorded by Chris Morgan, The Smiths and Buzz Clifford.
The second album ‘The Clown Died In Marvin Gardens’ was critically assaulted. I was thrilled with it from the cover to the arrangements. It seemed like someone had put time and money into the affair.
It was thrilling for a fan to see this group be lavished with production efforts. The orchestrations by Larry Fallon were lush and fully integrated to the songs.
The album begins with “The Clown Died In Marvin Gardens”. A fully blown metaphor of life as a surrealistic Monopoly game. The follow up song “The Clown’s Overture” is a soothing orchestral wash. A perfect come down after what should be an intense experience of the opening song.
The Beacon Street Union | Now I Taste The Tears | (MGM) 1968
Then the orchestra leads you into “Agnus of Aberdeen” a dramatic ballad of childhood lost. Thus ends a trio of songs united by common orchestra arrangements that have the earmarks of ‘concept’ on them.
Nicely done, but no concept is apparent and it’s not successful in that way. A cover of “Blue Suede Shoes” breaks the unified feel and reminds you they are ROCK after all.
“May I Light Your Cigarette” is an innovative mood piece. It is built up on layers of heavily tremolo guitars almost exclusively. Wright does a Morrison-stlye monologue which never seems to add up to anything. The cut fails as a song but shows the group’s efforts to be experimental and creative.
This is always dangerous as a ‘product’ to sell to the public but can be essential to group creativity in the long run. It shows that they had plenty of ideas and should have had time to develop them but this was the second and last album so that would never happen.
The album ends with the sixteen minute “Baby Please Don’t Go”. This was a live favourite of the band (and many other groups in the sixties) and is a showcase for the band playing. It works that way and gives you a good idea of what they did live.
Although this line-up never recorded another album, it’s an effort showing a healthy creative unit who had progressed as a group. It would have been nice to get more material from them. (Paul “Blowfish” Lovell)
Line-up:
John Lincoln Wright (vocals)
Robert Rhodes (keyboards / brass)
Richard Weisberg (percussion)
Wayne Ulaky (bass)
Paul Tartachny (lead and rhythm guitar)
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