Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera

The Beatles sure made it look easier than it was, eh?

Bandstand introductions earn quite a few points by default. As for the rest... There really was a time when you could slap the opera label on anything. Gantry's is seamless, but a rather bluesy set, light on characters, further into the garage.

Semi-obscure psych! I like these little neat finds and moments of time that never panned out but had a time where they were active. It all sounds just as competent as most psych around that time. 3.5 up to 4 just cause I enjoyed the discovery.

Those kooky 60s folks at it again

I usually really enjoy 60s music and psychedelic rock but this was what happens when guys try to take the sound of other popular bands and do it themselves. Just a total miss on this one. Not really sure there was one standout song. You hate to see it. 5.0/10

Oh yes, I'll have another helping of psychedelia please. The cover of "I Was Cool" was a bit unexpected, and entertaining I suppose, but perhaps best kept to a B-side. Other than that, I'd say this could go toe to toe with most other psychedelia of the era. Rhythm section kicks ass, and is what would set them apart from their peers. That bass tone! Oooeee!

I must admit that when I saw this album I thought sarcastically, "Well, here's an era and genre that wasn't well enough represented in the project!" And then I really enjoyed it and got annoyed that it wasn't there in the project when so many other lesser albums were. This is an album I'd play for someone if I wanted to represent the best of 1968. A really fun variety of good things here!

Just when you think '60s psych rock has been exhausted in the 1001 albums, someone digs up another gem. Really awesome album, always love the use of the sitar. Great find!

Somehow was very good in the mood I was in....

Another forgettable album from the 1960s. I'm afraid it does not add anything to my musical palette.

Another interesting band from this era and strata of English rock I'd never heard of. There was a lot of it in this album and I thought it was a little patchy and all over the map stylistically, but the best of it was very good.

Yeah, I could see why someone might want to include this, protopunk and psych at the same time is quite intriguing.

7/10. Listened to this, was pretty good, forgot to rate it and now I forget what it was like. Maybe I'll give it a relisten some time.

I'm always on board for some 60's psychedelica. Something about the sound of these bands that instantly grabs me. If I could play bass - this would be my sound. This is a band I'd never ever heard of, but they do what they do well. Not much I haven't heard already from other bands from that era, but still a very pleasant listen. Thanks for introducing me to Elmer G!

Interesting one. Never heard of this group before, but it holds up well compared to other music of the time. Started out seeming a bit like a novelty act, but got better as it went along. I Was Cool reminded me a bit of Tom Waits. Too bad they weren't able to hold it together for more than two albums, would have been interesting to see where they would have gone. 4 stars.

This was a good one too

I was a bit hesitant to listen to another psychedelic album from the late 60s, but this one was quite enjoyable. It comes out strong with the blues rock and moves into more typical psychedelic rock. There is a touch of early garage rock here was well which gives the album a bit of an edge leaning into almost proto-punk. There were parts that blended into each other, but overall, it was a great listen.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Mother writes, Lookin’ for a happy life, And I remember

It's got a lot of energy and a lot of spunk. Sounds almost live, but without the background noise. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Never heard of this group before but really enjoyed this one, great example of 60s rock.

I will give it 4 stars because it was a unique album with a great sound that I hadn't heard before. Fun listen.

Batshit crazy British psychedelia from a time when half the music industry was on LSD (and the rest were pretending they were!)

A subgenre of record in this list I think. Underappreciated 60s psych pop gems. Fuzzy and fun.

Early - and very definitely influential, by the sounds of it. Several times I found myself thinking "Whoa, that's where ... must have gotten it from!" Decent.

This was a really interesting listen with lots of influences mixed together. I can see why Pink Floyd chose them as a support act.

Never heard this before, but it was pretty good.

I really liked this. Good old rock 'n' roll but didn't felt cliche.

Really enjoyed this one. Nice to hear an album in his genre that isn’t the usual suspects. Seemed to hit all the right notes for me.

Damn, why haven’t I heard of this before? A groovy psych record if I ever heard one

At first glance this reads simply as more serviceable and fairly typical psychedelia (bluesy-garage guitars: check; sitars: check); another record/artist that’s been mostly lost (or just forgot) from the Age of Aquarius, and that doesn’t necessarily feel full-on essential. Certainly it’s of interest to scholars of the period and deep-divers/aficionados/nerds of the genre (and/or affiliated subgenres). But deeper listening reveals a superior and more varied effort. Maybe one could say the bassline on “Walter Sly Meets…” points the way forward to the foundations of driving New Wave bands. Maybe one could say “Mary Jane” swings sweetly and that “Flames” a tight, driving hit-worthy cut, to which one can imagine go-go-boots-wearing birds having a good and sexy time on the dance floor. The lighter-poppier cuts – ”What’s the Point of Leaving” and ”Long Nights of Summer” – are more than competently executed, if not quite achieving unforgettability. Could add that “Reactions” offers lyrical quality (“Don’t ask for love/that would be impossible” and “You could offer the world to me / But I wouldn’t care”). But honestly one can’t go much farther than that. On list proper, maybe there’s room for this or the Electric Prunes or Moby Grape or Monks, say, but not both (or three or the four). Personally, one finds EGVO richer and better listening experience than any of those, largely down to the varieties and sense of control (they overdo nothing, save maybe the intro). NB: the silly/complex name is an issue, obvs, likely contributing to their being forgotten/overlooked despite one’s being fully down with Sinclair Lewis (Arrowsmith being his best novel).

Really liked this. I'm sure I've heard "Mary Jane" on vinyl at some obscure club night in Bristol, but the rest is great, good-humoured and groovy.

Nice find !

Not bad at all. I'm not familiar with this band at all. At times the bass lines were killer. However, for the most part, it was sort of familiar pseudo-psychedelic Britpop that this book was already full of. Cool to be introduced to, though.

Nice one

Obscure psychedelic album from the late sixties. Not bad, but deserves its cult work status only for fans of the genre

Interesting 3

Ohhhh 1968! Let me just get out my "this sucks" stamp. Not sure why you'd choose this when the original list was already full of this stuff, but eh. I don't like it, I don't hate it, but in the absence of 2.5 I'll give it 3/5.

Elements of Who, Kinks and Beatles. I preferred the New Orleans and more traditional blues songs. Not bad for an obscure late ‘60s group, but better represented by the more famous bands.

The Beatles meets Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion in the best way possible. Felt a bit long for the ideas it had to share, but still a great take on older rock that felt new to me.

Rock. Ni fu ni fa.

This was very good, if a bit lacking in stylistic cohesion. But there's enough of a fairly straightforward rock and blues sensibility underneath that keeps it from wandering completely into the weeds. Fave Songs: Talk of the Devil, Mary Jane, I Was Cool, What's the Point of Leaving, Flames

Was trippy and experimental at the time for sure, drags a bit listening now.

Ok

Turns out I’ve heard Elmer Gantry sing on a couple of Alan Parsons Project songs - although I didn’t know that when I started to listen to this. At first I sort of thought this was a 60s album that I wasn’t sure I needed to hear, but as it went on either I started to change or the music started to improve or both and I liked it more and more. The only thing is, I think I started to really like it after the end of the original album (which turns out was song 13). So make of that what you will. This was reasonably entertaining although I really started to enjoy it more during the additional tracks. There’s probably other 60s albums of this ilk I’d reach for first, but I very much appreciate how one might recommend it.

Despite the dated genre, and what i feel are already enough example of this style on the list, the album kicks off with a jam, both Mother Writes and Mary Jane are solid. Unfortunately it quickly devolves into the worst of psychedelic brit rock, with each track showcasing a new way to be annoying. It recovers a bit by Long Nights of Summer and I'll say the last few tracks are solid, reminding me of Decca Bowie and really old Floyd. I don't think i'd do it again, but still interesting.

Men in fancy blouses playing psychedelic rock

Groovy baby

I'm not necessarily a big fan of this genre but it wasn't bad.

Wow this might be the most blatant Beatles rip off I’ve heard. Like it’s straight up taking bits and pieces of each Beatles album and mixing and matching and sometimes just emulating. It’s not bad music but it feels so derivative.

An interesting submission. I've never heard of the band and they seem not to have had much impact on music as a whole so curious to see the thoughts of the one who submitted it. The album itself sounded very typical to that 60s era psych sound and while I found it had some interesting moments never really got there. I do wish more bands would introduce themselves though, that's always a fun time. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included in the original list? No. I think there was enough 60s-era music that was adjacent to this on the original list and this doesn't really bring something new to the table.

I’d love to see some data on how many UK bands made rock albums in the 60’s after doing acid and buying a setar. I have no problem with psychedelic rock and enjoyed this album, it just feels like the generic pop album of the 2000’s. They all thought they were being original and out there yet all ended up sounding the same.

Some good moments

Yea, nice

Decent 60’s psych. At times Beatlesque, but also borrowing from The Kinks and The Zombies. Surprised I’ve not come across it before but I doubt I’ll visit again.

Yes this was perfectly enjoyable! Quite long but good fun. Not all of it spoke to me, but enough did

I find this practically unlistenable, due to all these messy passages. And that this goes on for more than an hour, doesn't help either.

Mild 1960s psychedelia. Meh. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Flames Date listened: 29/08/24

Not bad, but too long for something that is not bad

Agree with everyone else, overrepresented genre that I don't enjoy anyway.

This started out with a roll call and some solid, unique songs, but then it devolved and went on too long.

It was OK; nothing special. More like the original 1001 list.

Yeah - it’s Pink Floyd-adjacent psychedelia and I’m not really here for it. Sorry not sorry.

This smacks of a man who finds himself funny.

Typically, I am a sucker for an under-appreciated/overlooked sixties psych. This fits the bill, but I’m not sure it does much that wasn’t done by others. In a way, this feels a little like it’s trying check off the requisite boxes to be a “psych” record. Backmasking/reversed instrumentation? Check Mellotron? Check Fuzz Guitars? Check Sitar? Check Overuse of Flange? Check Whimsical Band Name? Check A solid effort, one that fits in with the sound of late sixties psych, but does little to differentiate itself from the pack.

Awful

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I thought I had seen the back of late 60s psychedelica.