Bobby Jameson - Color Him In (1967 us, fabulous orhestrated beat psychedelia, 2007 issue)

Cutting a long and quite confusing story short(er), Bobby started out as himself on the mid’60s folk-rock scene in L.A., winding up under the supervision of no less than Andrew Loog Oldham, and releasing an Oldham-produced/co-written, and therefore supposedly Rolling Stones-backed, Decca single in 1965 (featuring a rare Jagger/Richards b-side).

Then back to L.A., releasing his debut long player on Mira, confusingly enough, as Chris Lucey, before getting signed to “Our Productions”, which brings us this Curt Boettcher/Jim Bell/Steve Clark co-produced album, these days being regarded as another one of those late’60s pop coulda-beens, that got lost under the sun, no matter how sunshiny it may have sounded itself.

Expectedly enough, all “colored in” with the usual harmony-drenched Boettcher-ized vocal arrangements, the album ranges from loungey pop “trackaracks” such as Know Yourself, through a Love-ly reference or two as heard in The New Age and Right By My Side, with the latter also leaning towards The Byrds’ notorious transitional period, to different kinds of balladery, like the blue-eyed soulful opener Jamie, the more sophisticated jazzy-flavoured Jenny.

Or some Wilson-ian (and just as Love-ly once again) moments as well, heard in the pair of See Dawn and Candy Colored Dragon, while occasionally getting quite upbeat, be it the in the folk-rocking jangly way of Windows And Doors, an almost slightlydelic garagey-punk way of Who’s Putting Who On? or the straightforward pop of Do You Believe In Yesterday?.

For completists, in spite of it’s rawer, Diddley-beaten r’n’b approach, as well as the song’s topic itself, both having more in common with the preceding Songs Of Protest And Anti-protest album, also included as a bonus is Vietnam, recorded for the cult documentary Mondo Hollywood.

by Garwood Pickjon

On May 12, 2015, Jameson died in San Luis Obispo, aged 70, of an aneurysm in his descending aorta.

Tracks
1. Jamie - 3:12
2. Know Yourself - 3:21
3. Windows and Doors - 2:31
4. Right By My Side - 2:24
5. Who’s Putting Who On? - 2:28
6. The New Age - 2:18
7. Jenny - 2:47
8. Do You Believe In Yesterday? - 2:25
9. I Love You More Than You Know - 2:31
10.See Dawn - 3:02
11.Candy Colored Dragon - 2:51
12.Places, Times And The People - 2:31
13.Vietnam (Bonus track) - 2:57
All songs written by Robert Parker Jameson

*Bobby Jameson - Vocals

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