Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra

A Journey Through The Vaults Of Buddah / Kama Sutra (Sequel NEX CD 237) 1993

Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra | In common with most indie labels, Kama Sutra encouraged freelance writers and producers to ‘create’ hits for them. So it was that in early 1966 Kama Sutra label-boss Artie Ripp (himself no mean producer) secured the services of Pete Anders and Vinnie Poncia to write, produce and perform for the label. It is their output for both Buddah and Kama Sutra that forms the core of this collection.

Andreoli (as he was then) and Poncia were both from Providence, Rhode Island and met in 1958 when Poncia left his own group to join Andreoli’s – The Videls. Both were only in their mid-teens. The group was successful locally, and one of their singles “Mr Lonely” (JDS 5004) reached No 73 in the USA during the summer of 1960.

More important was the duo’s development as a song-writing team. Their abilities landed them a writing deal with a New York publisher, which in turn led to an introduction to Phil Spector. The duo moved to LA in 1964 and (writing with Spector) came up with some of the finest material to appear on the Philles label, including ‘The Best Part Of Breaking Up’ and ‘Do I Love You’ both for The Ronettes. This was followed by an offer to write and produce for Leiber and Stoller’s Red Bird label back in New York.

Apart from writing and producing, they came up with ‘New York’s A Lonely Town’ (When Your The Only Surfer Boy Around)’ (Red Bird 020 1/65). It was essentially their record, since they wrote it, produced it and played on it – but they chose to release it under the name of The Tradewinds. Its Beach Boys meets The Four Seasons sound proved irresistible and it reached No. 32 nationally. A couple of good but commercially unsuccessful singles followed, after which the ‘Tradewinds’ name died for nearly a year – at which point Artie Ripp entered the picture and offered them the deal with Kama Sutra.

The first ‘new’ Tradewinds offering was ‘Mind Excursion’ (originally Kama Sutra 212 8/66), a great Spoonful-esque production that should have done better than the No.51 it reached in the US charts. Not exactly a ‘lost’ classic (it has, after all, appeared on various compilations over the years and remains A & P’s best known work) it’s never achieved the status it deserved as one of the most evocative records of the era. It didn’t chart in the UK at all, but it was played regularly on the old pirate Radio London, who often played Anders & Poncia productions as well as other obscure (to British ears) soft rock acts, like The Critters.

Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra

The Critters reference is far from gratuitous: Early on in their Kama Sutra days, A & P were introduced to The Critters’ singer/composer Don Ciccone. Unfortunately, although still in theory a member of The Critters, Don was going through a stint in the Air Force. Consequently Pete and Vinnie were flown down to his base in Delaware to work with him. Despite this drawback, various songs resulted from the collaboration, including ‘Catch Me In The Meadow’ the Tradewinds’ follow-up single (KS 218 11/66). However, at a staggering 1 minute and thirty five seconds in length, it’s hard to see how three people could claim credit for it.

In March ’67 The Tradewinds sole album ‘Excursions’ (KS 8057) was released, complete with ersatz psychedelic sleeve to capture the mood of the time, if not the music – which not surprisingly was exquisitely produced, harmony-laden soft rock.

The album (one of the shortest ever released, it has to be said) was generally excellent, even if its brevity was further enhanced by the inclusion of all four Kama Sutra single sides and ‘New York’s A Lonely Town’. Sadly the latter was only licensed by Kama Sutra at the time and was not available for this compilation.

The Tradewinds was not the only name that A & P recorded under. In October ’66 they released a Don Ciccone song ‘There’s Got To Be A Word’ (KS 214) under the name of The Innocence, which reached No.34 in the charts. In reality there was no difference between the two groups, except that Artie Rim claimed ‘membership’ (he appears on the publicity photos).

The Innocence

The Innocence also cut an album (The Innocence KS 8059 6/67) and four further singles, but for some reason their material was less consistent than The Tradewinds, often falling on the wrong side of the schmaltz lino. Consequently not all of their recordings are Included here. Probably their most interesting cut was their last single (not on the album) ‘The Day Turns Me On’ (The Bufferin Song) (KS 237 10/67) written by Tony Bruno and originally conceived for a Bufferin ad. (note for Euro readers-Bufferin is a US pain killer).

Anders and Poncia also wrote and produced for other artists and although most ended up sounding like The Tradewinds and The Innocence, some attempts were made to tailor the songs and the production to the artist. Two of the better efforts are included here, ‘Hard Life’ by The Good Times (by whom a whole A & P produced unreleased album exists) and ‘Love Don’t Let Me Down’ by Bobby Bloom (KS 229 6/67). Bloom, incidentally, had solo hits in the 70’s, notably ‘Montego Bay’ (Aug. 1970). He later committed suicide.

Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra

Anders and Poncia also recorded under their own names, As a duo they cut a single on Kama Sutra (‘So It Goes‘) which is of marginal quality. Much better and included here, is Pete’s single ‘Sunrise Highway’ (which for some reason was on Buddah BH 3). Also on Buddah – indeed its first release (4/67) was another A & P concoction, released under the name of The Mulberry Fruit Band (basically A & P plus fellow producer Richard Perry). It’s a version of ‘Yes We Have No Bananas’ and was recorded to cash in on the banana smoking fad. It’s included here for historical reasons (I think).

Mention should also be made of Don Ciccone’s solo single ‘Down When It’s Up, Up When It’s Down’ (technically the B side of ‘There’s Got To Be A Word’, The Innocence version of which is included here). The single (KS 506) reached No.34 In November ’66, rather better than the then current Critters single, ‘Bad Misunderstanding‘, The Tradewinds version of which (they share the same backing track) is also included here. Got that?

Anders and Poncia’s golden era was 1966-8, during which time they produced an Incredible body of work. Unfortunately the sheer quantity seems to have affected the quality, The Buddah/Kama Sutra vaults are full of unreleased tracks by A & P and their associates, usually logged under silly names like ‘The Mind Blowers’, ‘Sir Richard And His Knights’ and ‘The Sgt. Charles Direction’. Despite the temptation to add ‘Includes unreleased tracks’ on the cover of this album, musical integrity (ha hum) prevents us from doing so. There is one unreleased cut – as far as I can tell • ‘I Want Your Love’ by Puss ‘N’ Boots, but it seems to have nothing to do with Anders and Poncia. One would lay odds, however, that Puss ‘N’ Boots were someone’s studio invention even if it wasn’t Anders and Poncia’s.

In the original liners the reviewer made no mention that “I Want Your Love” by The Puss ‘N’ Boots was first recorded by all-girl group The Pussycats. This version was released on (Columbia 4-43272) on 05/04/65.

The Puss ‘N’ Boots is probably a ‘made-up’ name because the recordings are identical. I don’t have the Cobblestone Records release and it appears virtually impossible to find.

Splendour In The Grass

The same is probably true of two other tracks on this album, although both of these did get released. The Boys track ‘Splendour In The Grass’ was released in 1965 (KS 203) and is an excellent cover of a Jackie De Shannon song. Pendulum, whose 1968 release ‘She Can Blow Your Mind’ is included here, might have been a real band, but the presence of the master track on a reel of obvious studio concoctions leads one to doubt it.

All of the other acts on this compilation were ‘real’, in one way or another – some are just a tad obscure. The Vacels, for example were probably one of the many excellent Long Island based blue-eyed soul bands who were big on the NY mid sixties disco scene. Their two Kama Sutra singles from ’65 were excellent, especially the second, a cover of Dylan’s ‘Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window’. They must have had connections in the Dylan camp, since it must have been recorded before the release of even the early ‘mistake’ Dylan version, which slipped out in California in October ’65. Despite the Billboard ad. for the single suggesting a big record company push, they seem to have vanished and I, at least, have no idea who was in the band.

Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra

Conversely I know who was in The Jaggerz: Thom Davis; Dominic Lerace; Benny Faiella; Billy Maybray and Jimmy Ross. Little is known about the band, beyond the fact that they were formed in Pittsburgh in 1965 and that ‘The Rapper’ was their first hit (it reached No.2 in January 1970) and that they managed to record at least one album. Lerace, who was their lead singer, guitarist and songwriter later toured with the funk band Wild Cherry and enjoyed a successful solo career in the 80’s (under the name of Donnie Iris) recording a string of hits for MCA.

We’re on safer ground with the other acts on here. The Myddle Class, although originally from New Jersey, were part of the emergent Greenwich Village Blues/Rock scene in the mid-sixties that centred around The Nite Owl, Cafe Wha and The Cafe Au Go Go and featured The Spoonful, The Blues Project et al. In fact the Myddle Class (who were Charley Larkey, bass; Danny Mansolino, organ; Mike Rosa, drums; Dave Palmer, vocals and Rick Phillip, guitar) were considered amongst the best and destined for fame and fortune.

Things started well enough; they were signed to Goffin and King’s new label Tomorrow and released their first single ‘Free As The Wind’ in late ’65. It went nowhere. A follow-up ‘Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long’ / ‘I Happen To Love You’ dribbled out six months later and also sank. A real shame because it’s a great record. The A side is probably the definitive NY folk/punk/rock record and the flip is a predictably excellent Goffin and King ballad.

Don’t Look Back

The A side is better known by The Blues Project, who used to describe it as a ‘Lower East Side Gospel song’. Their version(s) credit the song as ‘trad, arr. Al Kooper’, for some reason, as opposed to all the Myddle Class (individually), the credit that appears on their’s.

Anyway a third Tomorrow single (‘Don’t Look Back’, 9/67) also failed and not surprisingly the group fell apart, former members going on to the likes of the wonderful Jake & The Family Jewels, The Quinames Band and Jo Mama, Charley Larkey became Mr. Carole King. In 1969 Buddah reissued the second single and thus we are only too pleased to include both sides here.

The Steve Martin, one track by whom appears here, is of course the ex lead singer with the wonderful Left Banke, who were responsible for some of the very best mid-sixties music, including such classics as ‘Walk Away Renee’, ‘Pretty Ballerina’ and ‘Desiree‘. Their story falls outside the scope of these notes. Suffice to say that the track included here ‘Two By Two’ was recorded by Martin for the soundtrack of ‘Hot Parts’ a Warhol film starring Ultra Violet (probably in late 1970).

The recording represented a sadly short-lived reunion with Left Banke composer Michael Brown, and was issued both as a single and as part of the soundtrack album. Unfortunately the other track they cut for the album ‘Love Songs In The Night’ could not be located in the vaults.

Mynd Excursions | Buddah / Kama Sutra

By the time they recorded their one and only single for Buddah in 1971, The Chiffons career was all but over, at least commercially. The original group, Judy Craig, Sylvia Peterson, Barbara Lee and Patricia Bennett were all from the South Bronx and had begun singing together in the late 50’s. Success struck when they finally signed to Laurie Records in 1963, as the result of pushing from a male vocal group, The Tokens who were also signed to the label.

The Tokens were also producers and they handled the girls productions from then on. Their first Laurie single ‘He’s So Fine’ went straight to No.1 and established them as one of the best girl vocal groups in the States. Despite never making a bad record, subsequent singles did less and less well, until ‘Sweet Talking Guy’ put them back in the top 10 in ’66. It was a temporary respite and by ’68 original lead singer, Judy Craig had left, leaving the others to carry on as a trio. The 1971 Buddah single, a cover of the 1963 Tymes hit, despite being another excellent record, failed again and discounting a mid 70’s reunion recording of ‘My Sweet Lord’ (as a kind of pay back for Harrison’s plagiarisation of ‘He’s So Fine’) it was their last serious recording,

Brooklyn Bridge were formed in ’68 as an amalgam of a veritable array of talent. The main instigator was Johnny Maestro, ex-lead singer with the Crests, one of the best late 50’s/early 60’s vocal groups whose finest moment was the classic ’16 Candles’ which reached No.2 in 1958. Maestro went solo in ’62, recording for various labels and using several vocal groups as back up.

One such was the Del Satins, who had backed Dion on his Laurie and Columba recordings. They stayed with Maestro and in April ’68 performed at a Battle Of The Bands in Long Island, where they met a seven piece band called The Rhythm Method (who may or may not have been sanctioned by the Pope).

A merger was agreed and the resultant hybrid was named ‘Brooklyn Bridge’, after the subway station adjacent to the studio that the Crests had first recorded in. They signed with Buddah and notched up three national hits, the best of which ‘The Worst That Could Happen’ (a Jimmy Webb song) is included here. Maestro left and went solo again and still appears from time to time, likewise The Brooklyn Bridge, albeit with a seriously revised line-up.

By the late 60’s Kama Sutra, ironically, had more or less become part of the increasingly successful Buddah operation. Never less than commercially orientated, Buddah virtually abandoned anything that didn’t seem to be part of a major trend, the days of the eccentric one-off was over. Bubblegum gave way to the soft soul of the early 70’s which in turn begat the disco boom. Unfortunately, the trends dried up and recessionist pressures caught up with the company who went into liquidation in the early 80’s. (Cd liners)