cover design by Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
February is not my favorite month of the year. The excitement of the holidays has worn off, the weather is usually dismal and, with the exception of this year, there is not a whole lot of stuff to do.
About this time of year, fifty two years ago, I was still trying to get over a five year romance that had failed in October of the previous year and took several years to get over, so, this has a lot to do with my feelings about February.
cover design by Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
photo of album cover by Styrous®
About this time in 1968, the The Lemon Pipers released their first album, Green Tambourine. The title song, which they hated (link below), was their major hit but the song that always stands out in my mind is the psychedelic rock piece, Through With You, which totally conveyed (lyrics below) the negative feelings I was having at the time.
It is a fast and furious song in 4/4 that for me, at that time, had venom dripping from every note. It is a fantastic trip song, though; I remember taking a toke before putting the song on to play and traveling to unknown spaces.
At a minute and fifteen seconds the song suddenly stops, gets still, then continues at it's breakneck speed but very, VERY quietly with sensational guitar, instrumental and electronic effects for one of the top music "trip rides"! The break goes on until eight minutes and fifteen seconds into the song when the melody resumes again at forty-five seconds near the end; a seven minute instrumental break that seemed to go on forever!
At a minute and fifteen seconds the song suddenly stops, gets still, then continues at it's breakneck speed but very, VERY quietly with sensational guitar, instrumental and electronic effects for one of the top music "trip rides"! The break goes on until eight minutes and fifteen seconds into the song when the melody resumes again at forty-five seconds near the end; a seven minute instrumental break that seemed to go on forever!
The Lemon Pipers ~ Green Tambourine
vinyl LP album back cover
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
photo of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP album back cover
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
Through With You
I'd like to see you now and then
So tired of asking where you’ve been
I'm feeling blue, I think you're glad
I know I’m through, through with you
Through with you
Red taillights moving down the street
The sidewalk's hard under my feet
My time has come, my patience's gone
My yellow sun has gone down
Has gone down
[Guitar Solo]
My world takes on a different form
And each new image will conform
I'm no longer blue, I think you're sad
I know I'm through, through with you
Through with you
Through with you
Through with you
So tired of asking where you’ve been
I'm feeling blue, I think you're glad
I know I’m through, through with you
Through with you
Red taillights moving down the street
The sidewalk's hard under my feet
My time has come, my patience's gone
My yellow sun has gone down
Has gone down
[Guitar Solo]
My world takes on a different form
And each new image will conform
I'm no longer blue, I think you're sad
I know I'm through, through with you
Through with you
Through with you
Through with you
The Lemon Pipers ~ Green Tambourine
vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
Personnel:
- Ivan Browne – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Bill Bartlett – lead guitar
- R. G. Nave – organ, tambourine, fog horn, toys
- Steve Walmsley – bass
- Bill Albaugh – drums
Additional personnel:
- Irv Spice Strings – string section
- Ken Hamann (incorrectly credited on original album pressings as "Kenny Hammond") – engineer (Cleveland Recording Company)
- Bill Radice – engineer (New York)
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
The band was formed in 1966 by student musicians from Oxford, Ohio, who
had played the college bars with their previous groups that included The
Wombats (Nave), Ivan and the Sabres (Browne), and Tony and the Bandits (Bartlett, Albaugh and Dudek). The band played a mixture of blues, hard rock and folk rock, with a few covers from The Byrds and The Who.
The Lemon Pipers ~ Green Tambourine
vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
The album's liner notes, written by Buddah General Manager Neil Bogart,
described the band as "five very intelligent young men with a solid
sound and a real interest in all kinds of music. They perform folk
ballads, soul, psychedelic, blues, country and western and write much of
their own material."
The Lemon Pipers ~ Green Tambourine
vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
Buddah Records did not know how to handle the band at first and the group's
debut on the label was a Bartlett composition, Turn Around and Take a
Look. When the song failed to make the charts, the label asked Leka and his songwriting partner, Shelley Pinz to come up with a song. The pair wrote Green Tambourine and the band reluctantly recorded it (link below).
The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of 1967 and reached No. 1 in February 1968 on the Billboard and Cashbox charts. The song peaked at No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart, and was also a hit worldwide. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.) in February 1968.
The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of 1967 and reached No. 1 in February 1968 on the Billboard and Cashbox charts. The song peaked at No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart, and was also a hit worldwide. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.) in February 1968.
The Lemon Pipers ~ Green Tambourine
vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP album back cover details
cover design & photos by
Ron Silver & Serena Macaluso
The success of Green Tambourine caused Buddah to put pressure on
the group to stay in the bubblegum genre, and in March 1968 the band
released another Leka/Pinz song, Rice Is Nice, which peaked at No. 46
on the US Billboard charts, No.42 on the US Cashbox charts and No. 41 in
the UK in May.
The band had little enthusiasm for either song, however, dubbing them
"funny-money music" and recording them only because they knew they would
be dropped by Buddah if they refused. Ordinary Point of View, written by Eric Ehrmann and featuring a Bartlett country solo, was recorded, but rejected by Buddah. Disenchanted with Buddah and the music industry, Ehrmann stopped writing songs and went on to become one of the early contributors to Rolling Stone magazine. As is common with the music associated with the 1960s, a few copyright and royalties
issues connected with the previous owner of Buddah Records inherited by
current owners of the Kama Sutra music publishing catalog and Lemon
Pipers songs remain unresolved.
A side note: in 1966, Tony and the Bandits (Bartlett, Albaugh and Dudek) released the song, I'm Goin' Away (From You), which was in the same vein as Through With You (link below).
detail photo by Styrous®
The band recorded a second album for Buddah, Jungle Marmalade,
which again showed both sides of the band – another Leka/Pinz bubblegum
song, Jelly Jungle, (released as a single and peaking at No. 51 on
Billboard and No. 30 on Cashbox in the US), a version of the Carole King/Gerry Goffin penned song I Was Not Born to Follow, and an 11-minute, 43 second epic, Dead End Street/Half Light.
photo by Styrous®
The band left the Buddah label in 1969 and later dissolved. Bartlett, Walmsley and Nave formed Starstruck, whose recording of a Lead Belly song, Black Betty, was reworked by Super K Productions producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, and released in 1977 under the name of Ram Jam, featuring Bartlett.
Browne moved to California to continue playing music, Walmsley played
bass around Oxford. Bartlett became despondent and reclusive following
the death of his wife Dee Dee. Nave became a jazz disc jockey on WVXU in Cincinnati and played organ occasionally with The Blues Merchants in southwestern Ohio venues.
detail photo by Styrous®
Drummer Bill Albaugh died on January 20, 1999, at the age of 53. Keyboardist Bob Nave died on January 28, 2020, at the age of 75.
photo by Styrous®
photo by Styrous®
photo by Styrous®
Side 1:
A1 - Rice Is Nice, written by Leka*, Pinz* - 2:18
A2 - Shoeshine Boy, written by Leka*, Pinz* - 3:19
A3 - Turn Around Take A Look, written by B. Bartlett* - 2:42
A4 - Rainbow Tree, written by Mizrahi*, Laguna* - 2:16
A5 - Ask Me If I Care, written by Ehrmann* - 3:03
A6 - Stragglin' Behind - 2:32
A7 - Green Tambourine, written by Leka*, Pinz* - 2:22
Side 1:
B1 - Blueberry Blue, written by Leka*, Pinz* - 2:19
B2 - The Shoemaker Of Leatherwear Square, written by Leka*, Pinz* - 2:00
B3 - Fifty Year Void, written by Lemon-Pipers* - 5:41
B4 - Through With You, written by Bartlett* - 8:31
Companies, etc.
Engineered At – Cleveland Recording
Engineered At – Olmstead Studios
Mastered At – Bell Sound Studios
Designed At – Silver & Morris, Inc.
Published By – Kama Sutra Music, Inc.
Published By – Anjoe Music
Published By – B. Piper Corp.
Credits:
Arranged By, Conductor – Paul Leka
Bass Guitar – Steve Walmsley
Cover – Ron Silver (2), Serena Macaluso
Drums – Bill Albaugh
Engineer – Bill Radice, Kenny Hammond
Lead Guitar – Bill Bartlett (2)
Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar – Ivan Browne
Organ, Tambourine, Horn [Fog Horn], Toy [Toys] – R.G. Nave
Producer – Paul Leka
Strings – Irv Spice Strings*
Notes:
"Meet The Lemon Pipers or The Cincinnati Underground Arrives".
This album is dedicated to Irene Wabau (whoever she may be)
Publishing info:
A1, A2, A4, A5, A7 to B4 - Kama Sutra Music, Inc.
A3 - Anjoe Music
A6 - Kama Sutra Music, Inc. & B. Pipers Corp.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side A, Stamped): BDS 5009A-1B Bell Sound
Matrix / Runout (Side B, Stamped): BDS 5009B-1A Bell Sound
Rights Society: B.M.I.
The Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine
Label: Buddah Records – BDS 5009
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Pop Rock, Bubblegum
Viewfinder links:
The Byrds
The Who
Net links:
buckeyebeat ~ Ivan and the Sabres
buckeyebeat ~ Tony and the Bandits
Cincinatit Magazine ~ Green Tambourine: Off the Charts
libraries.wright.edu ~ Ivan and the Sabres
YouTube links:
The Lemon Pipers ~
Green Tambourine
Jelly Jungle (of orange marmalade)
Rice Is Nice
Through With You
Ivan And The Sabers - Just Let Her Go
Tony and The Bandits - I'm Goin' Away (From You) (1966)
Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 12, 2020
