Not the band, but an actual Love In…
Listen/Download – The Morning Glories – Love-In
Greetings all.
I hope everyone had themselves a very groovy week, weekend and (how it pains me to say this) summer (yes, it is at an end…).
Despite the ongoing chaos here at Funky16Corners/Iron Leg-quarters, I have managed, through a drive that some might call devotion, and others obsession (dementia?) to keep the flow of new vinyl somewhat constant, even if it is sometimes reduced to but a trickle.
Though the soul/funk/jazz vibe of Funky16Corners often takes precedence in the vinyl acquisition sweepstakes, I often find myself gathering my rosebuds (in pop/psych/garage form) while I may and piling them up over by the turntables where they await digimatization and transfer to the ipod, where they are the inserted into my ears/head at high volume until suitably absorbed.
The last few months have been expecially rewarding in the stockpiling of Iron Leggy stuff, especially in regard to pure, sunshiney pop.
Today’s selection is one of those beauties.
I had never heard of the Morning Glories when I encountered this 45, but once I gave the accompanying sound clip a listen, I put in my bid and in the end managed to take it home for a pittance.
As it turns out the Morning Glories – a one-45 outfit – were a part of the seeming vast web of pre-Bread sounds created in the mid-60s.
The vastness of the web in question has a lot to do with the prolific output of David Gates, who had his hands in a LOT of stuff as writer, producer and performer from the surf/hot rod days right on up to when things got garagey and psychedelic (I have a particularly hot example of those days coming up).
The Morning Glories – featuiring future Bread-slices James Griffin and Rob Royer (who had already worked with Gates when he was in the Pleasure Fair) – recorded ‘Love-In’ b/w ‘You’re So Young’ in 1967 for Warner Brothers.
‘Love-In’ is a wonderful slice of popsike with baroque touches and superb harmonies and arrangement that manages to stay just this side of twee. It’s the kind of song that had all of the components of what one might expect in a radio hit, and sadly, none of the results.
I would love to know who ‘TS Farthingsworth XIV’ was. The name (which I suspect is a pseudonym, maybe for Royer?) appears on other songs co-written by Griffin (one of their tracks appears on the Beethoven Soul LP) and with other writers on songs by the Hondells.
That said, this is a very groovy song indeed.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.
Peace
Larry
