INSANELY RARE FIRST STEREO PRESSING of ETERNITY'S CHILDREN 1968 DEBUT LP. VINYL = SUPER NMINTY CLEAN, PLAYS CLEAN COVER = SUPER NMINTY CLEAN BORDERING ON MINT. Slight crackle on upper seam (SEE PICS) SPINE IS CLEAN AND VISIBLE and OVER COVER IS ROCK SOLID. IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THIS CLEAN. SOUND QUALITY IS GREAT  ETERNITY'S CHILDREN WERE KNOW FOR THEIR complex and overlapping vocal harmonies. READ HISTORY BELOW. NO RESERVE BUT I'M NOT GIVING THIS ONE AWAY. YOU WILL NOT FIND A CLEANER COPY OF THIS INSANELY RARE GEM. HATE TO SEE THIS ONE GO. GREAT GIFT FOR BEATLES FREAK. CHECK OUT THE OTHER COOL RECORDS I SWORE I WOULD NEVER SELL : ) MY FEEDBACK SPEAKS FOR ITSELF SO BID WITH CONFIDENCE. STAY SAFE and KEEP THE FAITH

Eternity's Children ?– Eternity's Children

Tracklist Hide Credits

Credits

• Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals – Charles Ross, III* 
• Drums – Roy Whittaker
• Guitar, Lead Vocals – Johnny Walker (29) (tracks: B1) 
• Lead Vocals – Linda Lawley
• Mixed By, Mastered By – Don Henderson, Gary Paxton
• Organ, Vocals – Mike "Kid" McClain* 
• Producer – Curt Boettcher, Keith Olsen
• 
  
• Eternity's Children

• Sunshine pop
• folk rock
• psychedelic pop

• A&M
• Tower
• Capitol

Eternity's Children was an American sunshine pop band that originated in Cleveland, Mississippi as a folk group known as the Phantoms. The Phantoms began with two students, composed of vocalist/keyboardist Bruce Blackman and drummer Roy Whittaker. Soon, the group added lead guitarist Johnny Walker, rhythm guitarist Jerry Bounds, and bassist Charlie Ross, and began developing the complex, overlapping vocal harmonies that were utilized when they became Eternity's Children in 1967.[1] Their one and only hit, "Mrs. Bluebird", topped at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.

History[edit]

Beginnings[edit]

In 1965, Bruce Blackman and Roy Whittaker, students of Delta College, founded The Phantoms, and added fellow students Jerry Bounds, Charlie Ross, and Johnny Walker. The band played locally within the college and gained a sizable local following. They released a single titled "Workin' Tired" b/w "Gonna Be Nice Tonight" on the local Flash label before relocating to Biloxi, Mississippi in 1966.[3] Here, in Biloxi, the group became a house band in a basement nightclub of the Biloxi Hotel. The band, when they were not the lead performance, would back musicians like Charlie Rich and B.J. Thomas.[4] In the same year, the band added folk singer Linda Lawley and changed their name to Eternity's Children. Another single, both songs composed by Blackman, titled "Can't Put A Thing Over Me" b/w "Time and Place" was released on another local label called Apollo.[5] However, the single made little impact outside their local following.

Major label[edit]

As 1966 turned to 1967, the band recorded a demo after the manager of a club in Baton Rouge named Ray Roy watched one of their live performances. Roy convinced his business partner Guy Belello to sign the group to a recording contract and become their manager.[6] Eternity's Children's quickly recorded a demo that made its way to A&M Records manager, Allen Stanton. In the spring of 1967, the group (relocated to Los Angeles) released their one and only single for the label called "Wait and See". It was produced by former Music Machine bassist Keith Olsen. The record flopped and, despite successful touring in which the band opened for bands like Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Blues Magoos, they were dropped from the A&M label.[7]

Despite not obtaining a hit single, the group did attract attention from Capitol Records who signed the group to a contract. Under the label's Tower subsidiary the band, with production by Keith Olsen and Curt Boettcher, released their most successful single, "Mrs. Bluebird" b/w "Little Boy". "Mrs. Bluebird" became a modest hit despite the limited promotion, charting nationally at #69 on Billboard and #54 in Cashbox in summer 1967, and was a prime example of the group's vocal harmonies. An appearance on American Bandstand propelled the single to the pop charts, but success of the single would not last long as it dropped off the charts in three weeks. Its followup, "Sunshine Among Us", was less successful after charting outside the top 100 at number 117 in September of the same year.[1]

During work on Eternity's Children's debut studio album, managerial and musical indifference caused Blackman, Bounds, and Walker to exit from band activity. Blackman, regarding the tension, stated "We did not survive because of incredibly bad management...After I left the group they tried to cheat me of any credit". Only keyboardist Mike "Kid" McClain would be included as a replacement and the remaining members of Ross, Whittaker, and Lawley would continue to record the album.[8]Eternity's Children would be released in 1968 and became a local interest in Los Angeles for its style set in psychedelic pop and sunshine pop, but failed to chart nationally. Producers Olsen and Boettcher utilized studio musicians so it is difficult to definitively depict who is playing on a given track.[9]