Nova Local - Nova 1 (Very Good American Pop Psychedelia 1967)

Psychedelic pop band the Nova Local formed on the Chapel Hill campus of the University of North Carolina in 1965, comprising singer Randy Winburn, guitarists Joe Mendyk (formerly of the Warlocks) and Phil Lambeth, bassist Jim Opton, keyboardist Cam Schinhan, and drummer Bill Levasseur. The group honed its sound on the Chapel Hill fraternity circuit, and when Opton's Phi Mu Alpha house booked Chad & Jeremy for its annual charity concert, he suggested the Nova Local open the show. William Morris Agency representative Rob Heller accompanied Chad & Jeremy to the gig, and was so impressed by the Nova Local that he offered them a contract on the spot -- Heller soon negotiated a deal with Decca, and minus Lambeth (who resigned his duties to attend law school), the band traveled to New York City to record their lone LP, 1967's Nova I. According to an interview Opton gave to U-Spaces, the album was the first ever recorded via the Dolby NR System -- two singles were released ("Games" and "Other Girls"), and the record was also issued in the U.K., but in April 1967 the Nova Local dissolved. When Levasseur's son Jason's band covered the Nova Local track "If You Only Had the Time" with his band, Life in General, on their 2000 album The Lovely, Lovely Singing, Bill played drums on the recording.

AMG Review by Jason Ankeny