The Blues Magoos was a rock music group from the Bronx, New York. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning as early as 1966.
The band was formed in 1964 as "The Trenchcoats". The original members were Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm aka Peppy Castro (vocals and guitar), Dennis LePore (lead guitar), Ralph Scala (organ and vocals), Ronnie Gilbert (bass) and John Finnegan (drums). The band made a name for itself in various clubs in Greenwich Village. By 1966 the band had changed its name to fit in with the psychedelic vibe of the times - they first changed their name to the Bloos Magoos, though they changed that to the more conventional Blues Magoos. They also made some line-up changes, bringing in Mike Esposito as lead guitarist, and Geoff Daking as drummer.
Like their name, the group's sound was of the psychedelic variety. They released singles on smaller labels, like Ganim Records and Verve Records, but those singles did not gain the band much recognition. However, Mercury Records signed the band to a record deal in late 1966 and the group's debut album, Psychedelic Lollipop was released shortly thereafter. It was one of the first records to contain the word "Psychedelic" on the sleeve (along with the 13th Floor Elevators' first album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, and The Deep's Psychedelic Moods, both also from 1966). They played a lot then at the Chess Mate Coffeehouse owned by Morrie Widenbaum, a mostly folk venue that also hosted bands like Southbound Freeway, Siegel-Schwall Blues Band and Blues Magoos.
In a tour of the US in 1967 they were the opening act followed by The Who and then the headliners Herman's Hermits. The group's biggest song, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet", whose Vox Continental organ riff bears an uncanny resemblance to the 1962 hit by Ricky Nelson, "Summertime" (Deep Purple also used this riff in their hit "Black Night") , was released as a single in 1967 (albeit from their 1966 album), with "Gotta Get Away" as the b-side. The song hit number 5 on the US charts, although it did not fare nearly as well in the UK. It was used for the movie Easy Rider in 1968. Incidentally, The Magoos' "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" was released as a single in February 1967 by British group The Spectres (later to become The Status Quo). The record did not chart.
The next single by the Blues Magoos, "There's A Chance We Can Make It," was only a minor hit, with its b-side "Pipe Dream" actually charting higher (though neither side hit the top 40). After one more minor chart single with "One By One," subsequent singles were largely ignored by record buyers. Neither of the two albums released after Psychedelic Lollipop, Electric Comic Book and Basic Blues Magoos, had much success. By 1968, the band was discouraged and they split up.
The group's management had other plans. The band was signed to ABC Records, but most of the members did not go along with this plan. Only Castro agreed and started up a revamped Blues Magoos, with Eric Kaz, Richie Dickon, John Leillo and Roger Eaton. In 1969, the band completed Never Goin' Back To Georgia, but that release did not attract public attention either. Eaton left the band, and the other Blues Magoos used session musicians for the follow up Gulf Coast Bound. It did poorly as well and though the Magoos struggled for another two years, they eventually parted ways. In 1981, Castro resurfaced with the group Balance.
"(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet" is an extraordinary and magical two minutes and ten seconds which, like the Box Tops' "The Letter," is one of those little two-minute blasts of pop which brought the transistor radio to life and which is the proverbial breath of fresh air on oldies radio stations daring enough to play psychedelia. Psychedelic Lollipop is the real thing, the band looking on the LP cover like Captain Kirk abandoned them on some forgotten Star Trek planet, the music inside authentic acid pop. They stretch J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" across four and a half Seeds-style minutes, obliterating the Nashville Teens' 1964 hit recording in the process. D.Blue's "Queen of My Nights" may have inspired the Troggs' 1968 hit "Love Is All Around." The melody might be different, but the intro music is identical to what Reg Presley gave the world a couple of years after this. Producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus do a great job of keeping the intensity up across two sides of this album.
James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy" gets splashy garage rock sounds and Mike Esposito's guitar work cannot be denied. Check out the jangle mayhem on "Gotta Get Away." According to the LP The History of Syracuse Music, Vol. 7, Esposito performed in the Escorts with Felix Cavaliere, and that vibe from the Rascals' rendition of Laurie Burton's "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" is the same type of authority these kids pour all over "Psychedelic Lollipop." "One By One" has that band going from the garage group to the Beatles transition ó and what's so disappointing is that they couldn't mature in this direction. Had this lineup stuck around for the ABC albums, who knows what they might have been capable of? Psychedelic Lollipop is a solid and precious gem from the Nuggets vaults, the difference between this and other one-hit artists being that you can play the entire album repeatedly, quite an accomplishment coming from the era of the hit single. That such a tremendous smash like "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" kicks the whole thing off is just an added bonus.
01."(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet" (Esposito, Gilbert, Scala) - 2:10
02."Love Seems Doomed" (Esposito, Gilbert, Scala) - 3:02
03."Tobacco Road" (John D. Loudermilk) - 4:30
04."Queen Of My Nights" (Blue) - 2:52
05."I'll Go Crazy" (James Brown) - 1:58
06."Gotta Get Away" (Adams, Gordon) - 2:35
07."Sometimes I Think About" (Esposito, Gilbert, Scala) - 3:35
08."One By One" (Gilbert, Theilhelm) - 2:45
09."Worried Life Blues" (Big Maceo Merriweather) - 3:45
10."She's Coming Home" (Atkins, Miller) - 2:36
Post by ChrisGoesRock
Tagged by most fans as their favorite Gene Loves Jezebel album, with its fabulous sonics, punchy rhythms, soaring guitars, and bright and brash pop melodies, this is also the record responsible for sundering the band. In one fell swoop, producer Peter Walsh turned GLJ from a band whose brilliance lay in their ability to blend rock and goth into something truly unique, into a pop/rock monster. The group itself never sounded better. The rhythm section is exceptionally tight and powers the songs like a metronome. James Stevenson's guitar literally shines, glimmers, glitters, and swoops through the grooves. It's no surprise then that the album contained a slew of songs that quickly became college/dance classics. The infectious "The Motion of Love"; the sweeping lushness of "Gorgeous," guaranteed to hook the listener at first listen; the pulsating, yearning paranoia of "Suspicion"; and the driving "Twenty Killer Hurts," which turned up in a Miami Vice episode, were classic GLJ's songs given an American sheen. What were missing were the gothic shadows, darkwave jangle, and Celtic undertones that once enmeshed the band's sound. The Jezzies themselves hated The House of Dolls, not the songs themselves, but the slick production Walsh covered them in. Co-vocalist Michael Aston hated it most of all, and was frustrated by the group's growing pop affiliation. He quit the band in the middle of recording, and appears on only two tracks, "Message" and "Up There," the album's broodier tracks. Although he later returned, this was to be his last recording with the band. Of course, the album turned out to be GLJ's most successful, abetted by the production, and aided by Stevenson's full-on arena-esque guitar. It's hard to believe this was the same band that gave the world Promise and Immigrant, and in a way it wasn't.
