ビートルズからの影響が色濃いミシガンの4人組による68年唯一作がLPリイシュー!

2024年からMainstream Recordsを深い探求を始めたSundazedによる努力の結晶正規リイシュー! ビートルズからの影響が色濃いミシガンの4人組エリー・ポップが1968年にリリースした唯一作。レココレサイケ号カラー・ページにも記載されたレア盤。それほどサイケ色はないものの、ファズ・ギターと渦巻くオルガンに彩られた、まさしくビートルズ的な美しいメロディやハーモニーが存分に味わえるキャッチーな楽曲満載! モッズやフリーク・ビート的なテイストやエッジの効いた歪んだギターと変拍子が斬新な楽曲もあり、サイケ好きやレアもの好きはもちろん、ブリティッシュ・ロック・ファンにもオススメ。聴けば聴くほど曲のよさが染み渡ってくるスルメ系の一枚。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2024/02/29）

Ellie Pops sole 1968 LP has always been a bit of an enigma. Hailing from Roseville, Michigan, the band enjoyed some regional success, even playing Detroits Grande Ballroom on a bill with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Iggy Pop. Made up of high school friends, the groups main lineup featured Bill Long on lead guitar, George Kouri (listed as George Dunn) on vocals and keyboards, Doug Kouri (as Doug Koun) on bass, and Len Gervasi (bass, vocals). Not listed but also members of the band at various times were Wayne Kolar on drums, Rick Chaff on keyboards and vocals, and Julian Evola on drums. Together, they played a hooky brand of guitar-centric melodic pop heavily indebted to the British Invasion style of the Beatles and the Kinks. While essentially a Detroit band, they somehow managed to grab the attention of New York record executive Bob Shads Mainstream Records. Founded in 1964, Mainstream was home to a bevy of jazz artists, but also other rock and soul acts, including Big Brother and the Holding Company and fellow Midwesterners the Amboy Dukes. Ellie Pop were a perfect fit for the labels burgeoning roster of evocatively named psych-pop bands like the Bohemian Vendetta, the Jelly Bean Bandits, and the Tangerine Zoo. Although released in 1968, one gets the feeling that Ellie Pop might have been recorded a few years earlier (between the release of the Beatles Help! and Revolver), just before acid and other psychedelic drugs really took over the scene. Songs like the opening "Seven North Frederick," "Winner Loser," and "Cant Be Love" showcase the bands knack for pairing warm group harmonies with an undercurrent of crackling Fender guitar and tube-amp soul swagger. You wouldnt really call this bubblegum pop, but cuts like "Whatcha Gonna Do" have a buoyant, AM radio charm. Theres even a hint of fuzz-tone Indian classical music in the guitar solo at the start of "Caught in the Rain." Particularly compelling is "Remembering (Sunnybrook)," a jazzy, sun-dappled song about growing old and looking back on ones youth that displays some remarkably sophisticated time-signature and feel changes. Sadly, as with many of their Mainstream Records peers, Ellie Pop only stayed together for a short time after the release of their album. ~ Matt Collar

Rovi