Saturday, November 7, 2020

The Legendary Night Shadows - Vol. 3: The Psychedelic Years (1967-69 us, great garage psych rock, 2002 edition)



The group was originally formed in December 1956 as The Cavaliers, with the spelling was changed to The Kavaliers in 1957 to avoid legal problems with another group using that name. After some personnel changes in the summer of 1959 the group became The Barons. In the fall of 1959 the lead guitarist wrote an instrumental he called Night Shadows that the bass player thought was the perfect name for the group. Assuming leadership of the band and against everyone's wishes, he changed their name to The Night Shadows on their business cards and quickly booked several months of gigs to make everyone relent. From the fall of 1959 through 1961 The Night Shadows were primarily a Chicago-style blues band. In 1962 the group changed to a rhythm & blues show band featuring Little Erv (Barocas) & Judy Argo, an Elizabeth Taylor look-alike, as headliners. For the next two years, the group became one of the most popular R&B bands for racially segregated Southern college dances and formals.

In 1964 the British Invasion changed the group's primary direction to rock, with Erv and Judy departing the group. Fourteen year old Little Phil Rosenberg was picked as their replacement to front the group in 1965. Johnny Brooks (3), a studio engineer and producer Aleck Janoulis had worked with on sessions since 1959, had opened his own recording facility and was seeking artists with original material. This gave the group an opportunity to record both the tunes Little Phil had collaborated on and some others that Janoulis had written. The end result was a label deal with Dot Records and a single "So Much" featured Little Phil as lead singer. The other band members were Jimmy Callaway (guitar), Bobby Newell (organ), Charles Spinks (drums) and Aleck Janoulis (bass). 

The Vietnam draft complicated the group's plans, though another single "60 Second Swinger" was released on Gaye Records. Due to contractual obligations the group then recorded for Baja Records under the pseudonym The Square Root Of Two. This name later became the title of their 1968 psychedelic album on Spectrum Stereo. Due to internal conflicts the band split up after their last concert on Memorial Day in 1969.
Tracks
1. Prologue (Voice Of Electric Bob) - 3:40
2. So Much (1967 Version) (Little Phil Jackson) - 2:17
3. I Can't Believe (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 9:39
4. Plenty Of Trouble (Little Phil Jackson) - 1:53
5. In The Air (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 2:53
6. Anything But Lies (Time After Time) (Aleck Janoulis) - 3:46
7. Gimme, Gimme (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 3:05
8. Don't Hold Your Breath (Jan Cox) - 2:45
9. Listen To My Heart (Demo Session) (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 3:01
10.Fly High (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 6:10
11.60 Second Swinger (Wbad Concert) (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 3:19
12.Psychedelic Illusion (Aleck Janoulis) - 2:53
13.Little Phil Jokes With The Audience - 2:11
14.Anything But Lies (The Lost Live Version) (Aleck Janoulis, Bobby Newell, Ronnie Farmer) - 4:41
15.Turned On (Jan Cox) - 3:46
16.The Hot Dog Man (Stoned Version) (Edgar, Aleck Janoulis) - 2:30
17.Epilogue: Fly High Reprise (Aleck Janoulis, Little Phil Jackson) - 2:12
18.Excerpt From A 1979 Radio Broadcast (A Retrospective On The Legendary Little Phil & The Night Shadows) - 2:10
19.The Garbage Man (1961) (Aleck Janoulis) - 3:31

The Legendary Night Shadows
*Little Phil Jackson - Lead Vocals
*Aleck “Aj” Janoulis - Bass, Vocals
*Ronnie Farmer - Guitar, Vocals
*Bobby Newell - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
*Charles Spinks - Drums
With
*Pat Andrews - Drums
*“Microwave Dave” Gallagher - Guitar, Bass, Drums
*Danny Stephens - Bass
*Barry Bailey - Guitar
*Electric Bob - Tambourine
*Andy Douglass - Organ