Summer with the Lemon Fog

The Lemon Fog | Summer | Hailing from Houston, Texas, The Lemon Fog blew many minds during 1967-68, quickly becoming a popular draw at the local Houston hot spot, The Living Eye. Their first single ‘Theme For The Living Eye’ (changed to ‘Lemon Fog’ upon release) was a psych-pop flower power masterpiece, released in the winter of 1967. The B-side, ‘Echoes of Time,’ was glittering and brilliant, reminiscent of the British psych scene.

In June, 1968, the second Lemon Fog single, ‘Summer,’ was released. It remains the signature track of the band, with its moody and introspective sound that is quite unusual for a summer themed song. Some have argued that ‘Summer’ should have been a number one hit! The Lemon Fog’s third and final single, ‘The Prisoner’ b/w Day By Day,’ was released in November 1968, but also failed to chart. The surreal lyrics and tight playing of The Lemon Fog obfuscate the fact that the members were in high school when these sophisticated psychedelic masterpieces were recorded.

The Living Eye

But let’s take a step back, and begin more or less (but not quite) at the beginning. Our story begins in 1967, when Jimmy Duncan sent a tape of demos by The Lemon Fog to Ray McGinnis of Orbit Records. Duncan was a producer and songwriter out of Houston. He also owned a local club called The Living Eye, which featured an immense, pulsing eye in the middle of the ceiling.

Ted Eubanks, keyboardist and songwriter for The Lemon Fog, recalls, “we named the band Lemon Fog at the request of Duncan. He wanted us to help him remain relevant and to make the progression into the rock world so we became the house band at The Living Eye.

Our live act consisted of original songs and many covers of popular hits. We opened for The Electric Prunes, The Moving Sidewalks, The 13th Floor Elevators, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Fever Tree. Mike Knust, Fever Tree’s guitar player, went to the same high school that we did, and most of the band lived in the neighborhood. Scott Holtzman wrote their hit, ‘San Francisco Girls,’ and managed them. He eventually managed us as well.”

The Lemon Fog | Summer

The first Lemon Fog recording session was at Doyle Jones studio in Houston, during the summer of 1967. Five songs were completed: ‘Lemon Fog,”Summer,”Yes I Cry,’ Girl From The Wrong Side Of Town,’ and ‘Echoes Of Time.’ The songs were sophisticated psychedelic numbers written by Duncan and Eubanks — which in retrospect is incredible, as the oldest member of The Lemon Fog was seventeen year old Chris Lyons, a senior in high school; the rest of The Lemon Fog were juniors.

The first single issued from the Lemon Fog sessions was ‘Lemon Fog’ b/w ‘Echoes Of Time,’ released in November, 1967. ‘Lemon Fog’ was alternately titled ‘The Living Eye Theme’ to tie in with Duncan’s club (and not least because he also wrote the lyrics). For ‘Echoes Of Time,’ Eubanks wrote the music and played the keyboards, which sounded like a Mellotron although in reality it was a Farfisa organ treated with heavy phasing.

Spacey lyrics

(The engineer manipulated the tape as it moved across the heads to get that phasing sound.) The master reels reveal that ‘Echoes Of Time’ was taped ten times before the right band track was found on which to overdub Bill Simmons‘ lead vocals. As first singles go for a band, The Lemon Fog were miles ahead of the other bands with their unique sound and style of mixing spacey lyrics with even spacier psychedelic music.

The second Lemon Fog single, ‘Summer’ b/w ‘Girl From The Wrong Side Of Town,’ was released right before school let out, in May 1968. Eubanks wrote ‘Summer’ when he was sixteen, but this was no typical up-beat teen summer song; it was about alienation and boredom. The single mix was edited by almost two minutes, with the verse that includes “My bird has flown” omitted (the unedited complete version is track one on this album, although both are included). The second Lemon Fog single was another winner, to modern ears. But according to Eubanks, it didn’t make the charts!

The Lemon Fog | Summer

Under Eubanks’ guidance, The Lemon Fog created some of the most experimental recordings of the 1960’s. His ongoing experimentation with new electronic sounds became a hallmark of The Lemon Fog recorded legacy. As Eubanks explains, “The Living Eye was a huge club in Houston where we were the house band. I vaguely remember one night staring at the huge pulsating eye which sits in front of the door. As I sat there, suddenly the words and images of the song just started dancing around in my head. It’s not the kind of thing one forgets.”

Aside from their studio work, The Lemon Fog enjoyed being one of the top club draws in the area. Besides the music, the Fog benefited from a spectacular stage presence. This was attributed largely to Chris Lyons‘ charisma and good looks. Also adding to the spectacle was Eubanks dancing on stage wearing a long, flowing, sequined cape, and occasionally chiming in a harmony or two, described by bandmate Danny Ogg as “Chinese sounding.”

Although the Lemon Fog weren’t hitting it big with their singles, they did manage to get on The Larry Kane TV show. Who was Larry Kane? As journalist J.R. Gonzales notes: “If you came of age here [in Houston] in the late 1950s and 1960s, then, as America reflected on the life of Dick Clark last week, you might have paused for a second or two and thought about The Larry Kane Show, which appeared on KTRK (Channel 13) Saturday afternoons. You see, Kane was Houston’s version of Clark. The two-hour show ran on KTRK from 1959 to about 1971 and ended in 1972 following a short run on KPRC (Channel 2). By the 1970s Kane’s show was being syndicated across the country.”

Larry Kane Show

The first time on The Larry Kane Show, the Lemon Fog performed ‘Lemon Fog’ with a yellow tinted see-through sheet layered over the video as a makeshift filter, and with a foggy mist on stage. Their next and final appearance on Larry King was to perform ‘Summer.’

By now Eubanks was writing all the band’s material. The next Lemon Fog session resulted in the recording of ‘Day By Day’ and ‘The Prisoner.’ Eubanks recalls, “We recorded ‘Day by Day’ and ‘The Prisoner’ at Huey Meaux’s studio.”

The single is a quintessential example of the far out sound of The Lemon Fog, with obscure, philosophical lyrics and observances of life. Unfortunately, this was to become The Lemon Fog’s third and final single. The band members graduated high school in June 1968 and soon went off on divergent paths.

Eubanks says, “When I left The Lemon Fog I joined Duncan at his new Soundville recording studio, where we recorded as Wichita in 1970.” Wichita cut one single and an unreleased album before breaking up in 1971.