LEWIS & CLARKE EXPEDITION 1967 sitar psych LP LISTEN

$

65

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

The Lewis and Clarke Expedition "LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION"

Original 1967 LP on the Colgems label, STEREO COS-105

Cover:  EXCELLENT

Vinyl:  Light scuffs, plays solid VG++

If you’re still not sure who was the coolest Monkee (hint:  it wasn’t Davey), then check out this 1967 album by the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, one of the few non-Monkees albums released on the Colgems label.  Listen to the extended sitar solo and trippy Indian mystical mind zones on “House of My Sorrow” and wonder why the Electric Sitar Head Swirler series of psych compilations hasn’t picked up on this one yet.  Listen to the groovy Fever Tree/Strawberry Alarm Clock lounge psychedelia of “Blue Revelations,” with its biting acid guitar licks and cool shiver guitar chords and wonder if someone’s been spiking the Nehi on the set of the Monkees’ Head.  And then check out the shakin’ Bo Diddley beat and jangly Byrds guitar of “Destination Unknown,” which sounds almost EXACTLY like an outtake from the Monkees’ Headquarters, with extra added fuzz wah distorto action.  And ain’t that Mickey on lead vocals?  Sure sounds like it.  So that’s the answer then - Mickey’s the coolest Monkee, right?  And he created the Lewis and Clarke Expedition as an anonymous side project because he couldn’t stand working in the same studio as Davey.  It all makes perfect SENSE now…

Sorry, it ain’t Mickey.  Maybe the album’s final track, the half-spoken word, dramatic “Memorial to the American Indian” holds the key.  At 7:20, it’s a dramatic and very dark tribute to the death of  the Cherokee tribe, which also includes what might be the FIRST recorded version of John Loudermilk’s “The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian” (later recorded by Don Fardon and made famous by the Raiders).  It’s very dark folk based stuff, and come to think of it, wasn’t Peter Tork a former Greenwich Village folkie before joining the Monkees?  Aha, now I get it - Lewis and Clarke is really the work of Peter, isn’t it?  His outlet for the more serious, folk-infused message songs, the ones Mickey keeps vetoing for inclusion on Monkees albums.  Peter’s the coolest Monkee, as if “Auntie Grizelda” didn’t already make you a believer…

Wrong again, kids.  That leaves Mike and Davey, and…well, we know it ain’t Davey.  And as it turns out, Mike Nesmith is the Monkee most responsible for getting the Lewis and Clarke Expedition a record deal.  Or  most likely anyway, considering the big guy in the cowboy hat on the front cover of this album is Mike’s old Texas buddy John London, who later played bass in the First National Band and also had the distinction of being Mike’s stunt double on the Monkees TV show!  And that dude in the fancy orange fringed jacket?  That’s none other than Michael Martin Murphey, another pal of Mike’s and former bandmate in the Trinity River Boys.  He’s also the man responsible for the 1975 AM radio hit “Wildfire.”  But don’t hold that against him – he also wrote “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round” for the Monkees Pisces Aquarius Capricorn and Jones album, along with the unofficial American Indian Movement anthem “Geronimo’s Cadillac” AND the state ballad for New Mexico.  And somehow still found the time to buy a fancy orange frilled jacket.

Look, for me, it was never in doubt.  I always knew Mike was the coolest Monkee.  If the proto-speed metal “Circle Sky” didn’t already nail it down for him, then his pioneering of the wool cap with ball certainly DID.  Plus he wrote Elephant Parts, came up with the idea of MTV before MTV did (Pop Clips), and inherited the entire Liquid Paper fortune.  And he dropped this little pop psych gem by the Lewis and Clarke Expedition on the world back in 1967.  Meanwhile, you can probably catch Davey this weekend appearing at the grand opening of the Mattress Giant in Dayton, Ohio.  You know, the one Michael Murphey turned down.

 TO HEAR SOUNDCLIPS FROM THIS ALBUM, PLEASE VISIT MY HOMEPAGE AT WWW.KATHLEENTURNEROVERDRIVE.WIKISPACES.COM - YOU CAN ALSO HEAR SOUND CLIPS FROM ALL THE ALBUMS I HAVE UP FOR AUCTION ON THIS PAGE TOO.

The less exciting stuff

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I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.