The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band released three albums in 1967 and 1968 on the Reprise Records label, blending straightforward late-'60s L.A. rock with dark, often surreal lyrics and psychedelic soundscapes. All of these psychedelic platters have been collected on A Door Inside Your Mind: The Complete Reprise Recordings 1966-1968 in both stereo and mono, along with a bonus disc of previously unreleased alternate versions and mixes; single edits; and a radio spot.
The band coalesced when wealthy Los Angeles bachelor and sometime-race car driver Bob Markley was introduced by Kim Fowley to young musician Michael Lloyd - whose many credits include production for Shaun Cassidy, Barry Manilow, and Belinda Carlisle - and brothers Shaun and Danny Harris. Despite little obvious talent, Markley wanted to join a band, and offered to bankroll such an operation with his new, clearly talented friends. With the addition of drummer John Ware (later of Michael Nesmith's First National Band), the band launched.
Their first LP, on the small Fifo label, featured Michael and Shaun on a set of folk-rock and garage-rock. Before they were signed to Reprise, guitarist Ron Morgan had joined the group. Part One was on an establishment label with an establishment producer (Jimmy Bowen, who had helmed Frank Sinatra albums for Reprise) but was a decidedly non-establishment album. Alongside more-or-less conventional songs by Baker Knight, P.F. Sloan, and Van Dyke Parks tunes, the group covered Frank Zappa and provided somewhat sinister originals that handily out-weirded Zappa. Still, Lloyd and the Harris brothers' beautiful harmonies shone through, as did the musicianship of all members except Markley, who supplied bizarre spoken word.
Tired of Markley's machinations, Michael Lloyd left TWCPAEB prior to the recording of 1967's Vol. 2. (With the band splintering, Markley also formed an alternate, touring version of the band with future Three Dog Night member Jimmy Greenspoon among its members; the whole madcap story is beautifully told in Alec Palao's liner notes.) The album took a big step further into the realm of the outré, with the liner notes promising, "Every song in this album has been written, arranged, sung and played by the group. No one censored us. We got to say everything we wanted to say, in the way we wanted to say it." With protest songs surrounded by macabre ditties and Markley's increasingly disturbing odes to young women, Vol. 2 also included arguably the group's most famous song. Markley and Morgan's "Smell of Incense" (covered the next year in a moderate hit version by Texas band Southwest F.O.B.) was a haunting and delicate psych-folk nugget that stands among the best of the era.
TWCPAEB was down to a trio (Markley, Morgan, Shaun Harris) by the time they entered the studio for Vol. 3: A Child's Guide to Good and Evil, a loose concept album about the corruption of innocence. Markley's often strange and unsettling lyrics were contrasted by Shaun's strong vocals and Morgan's varied guitar. With dollops of effective Vietnam-era protest (including a closing track consisting solely of silence) and offbeat, dreamlike twists on fairy tales, Vol. 3 is the band's most memorable record if certainly not one for everybody; Palao quotes one critic upon its release who called it "sick."
Though Reprise dropped the band, Jimmy Bowen brought them over to his new Amos label where they reunited with Michael Lloyd on 1969's Where's My Daddy? The original foursome of Lloyd, Markley, and the Harrises brought TWCPAEB to a close in 1970 on Lloyd's friend Mike Curb's Forward label; that album was entitled Markley - A Group as Bob's ego reportedly swelled once again. Freed from Markley's grasp (and his cringeworthy predilection for songs about young girls), Lloyd continued to collaborate with the Harris brothers under a variety of names. He also produced Shaun's solo album for Capitol in 1973.
Disc Four of Grapefruit's box is a real treasure trove for collectors, with 18 rarities and previously unreleased tracks mixed in 2006 by Andy Zax and Brian Kehew for an abortive Rhino Handmade release. Liner notes author Alec Palao has remastered all audio to the highest standard. Each disc within the clamshell case is housed in a mini-sleeve replica of the original album, and the custom CD labels utilize Reprise-style designs. A 40-page booklet with artwork by Andy Morten is an essential component of the package, and Palao's notes put the band's complicated legacy into perspective.
Bob Markley's sickening interest in underage girls would eventually lead to numerous brushes with the law, and a period in which he fled the United States. He died, institutionalized, in 2003. Ron Morgan passed away in 1989 and Danny Harris in 2012. Michael Lloyd and Shaun Harris remain friends today. This box set is the ultimate tribute to a band that managed to leave behind some worthy and fascinating music despite the darkness surrounding them.
by Joe Marchese, December 7, 2023
Tracks
Disc 1 Part One 1967
1&12. Shifting Sands (Baker Knight) - 3:55
2&13. I Won't Hurt You (Shaun Harris, Michael Lloyd, Bob Markley) - 2:24
3&14. 1906 (Bob Markley) - 2:21
4&15. Help, I'm a Rock (Frank Zappa) - 4:26
5&16. Will You Walk With Me (Dan Harris) - 3:01
6&17. Transparent Day (Shaun Harris, Bob Markley) - 2:18
7&18. Leiyla (Shaun Harris, Bob Markley) - 2:55
8&19. Here's Where You Belong (P.F. Sloan) - 2:50
9&20. If You Want This Love (Baker Knight) - 2:52
10&21.'Scuse Me Miss Rose (Bob Johnston) - 3:03
11&22.High Goin' (Van Dyke Parks) - 2:04
Tracks 1-11 Stereo Recordings
Tracks 12-22 Mono Recordings
Disc 2 Vol. 2 1967
1&11. In The Arena - 4:10
2&12. Suppose They Give A War And No One Comes (Bob Markley, Roger Bryant) - 3:38
3&13. Buddha - 2:05
4&14. Smell Of Incense (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 5:47
5&15. Overture / Wcpaeb Part II - 1:28
6&16. Queen Nymphet - 2:19
7&17. Unfree Child - 3:58
8&18. Carte Blanche - 2:42
9&19. Delicate Fawn - 2:30
10&20.Tracy Had A Hard Day Sunday - 4:35
All songs written by Bob Markley, Shaun Harris except where indicated
Tracks 1-10 Stereo Recordings
Track 11-20 Mono Recordings
Disc 3 Vol. 3 - A Child's Guide To Good And Evil 1968
1&13. Eighteen Is Over The Hill (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:42
2&14. In The Country (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, Terry Kath) - 2:03
3&15. Ritual #1 (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, John Ware) - 2:09
4&16. Our Drummer Always Plays In The Nude (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:45
5.&17 As The World Rises And Falls (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 4:52
6&18. Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:18
7&19. Watch Yourself (Buddy Guy, Robert Yaezel) - 5:52
8&20. A Child's Guide To Good And Evil (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:29
9.&21 Ritual #2 (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:04
10&22.A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:41
11&23.As Kind As Summer (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, Roger Bryant) - 1:10
12&24.Anniversary Of World War III (Bob Markley) - 1:36
Tracks 1-12 Stereo Recordings
Tracks 13-24 Mono Recordings
Disc 4 Outtakes, Alternative Versions & Singles 1966-68
1. I Feel Sorry For You (Dan Harris) - 3:20
2. I Feel Sorry For You (Dan Harris) - 3:22
3. A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 3:00
4. A Child's Guide To Good And Evil (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:49
5. Ritual #1 (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, John Ware) - 2:33
6. Ritual #2 (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:25
7. Watch Yourself (Robert Yaezel) - 5:02
8. Watch Yourself (Robert Yaezel) - 5:23
9. Eighteen Is Over The Hill (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:43
10.Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:24
11.In The Country (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:04
12.As Kind As Summer (Bob Markley, Roger Bryant) - 2:02
13.As The World Rises And Falls (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 5:16
14.Our Drummer Always Plays In The Nude (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris, Roger Bryant) - 3:00
15.Help, I'm A Rock (Frank Zappa) - 2:21
16.Smell Of Incense (Bob Markley, Ron Morgan) - 2:26
17.Unfree Child (Bob Markley, Shaun Harris) - 2:56
18.A Child's Guide To Good And Evil (Radio Spot) - 0:5
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
*Bob Markley - Vocals
*Shaun Harris - Vocals, Bass
*Ron Morgan - Guitar
With
*Michael Lloyd - Guitar, Vocals (Discs 1-2)
*Hal Blaine - Drums (Disc 2-4)
*Jim Gordon - Drums (Discs 3-4)
*Kenny Bobo - Vocals (Disc 2)
Related Acts
1973 Shaun Harris - Shaun Harris (2005 remaster)