SCARCE 2nd M- GARY WALKER AND THE RAIN UK Psych Beatles

$

37

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        1968 UK ELECTRIC POPSIKE NUGGETS!         

                                No.1

     GARY WALKER & THE RAIN

                            JPN -  SHANG-HAI - SGY 1004   

The sole LP by Walker & the Rain is a middling slice of late-'60s British mod-pop/rock with mild psychedelic influences, like phasing and slight guitar distortion. Not similar to the balladeering of the Walker Brothers, Leeds deserved credit for trying to reinvent himself within a hard edged psych-pop rock group, and the results were impressive enough that first pressings go for the minimum of $500 and you'd be lucky to even find one for that.

Gary Walker & The Rain Album No. 1 is a classic album from the late '60s period of Jimi Hendrix inspired psychedelic rock and poprocker nuggets.

The lead-off track, Magazine Woman, features Joey Molland on lead vocals and distorted lead guitar and Paul Crane on piano. John Lawson's bass guitar is prominent in the mix here, as well as during most of the album. The song is similar in style to The Who's Armenia City In The Sky from their "Who Sell Out" LP from late 1967.

The second track, The Sun Shines, is a pretty straightforward song with a bouncy beat that doesn't use any musical gimmicks. This track falls under the Power Pop category. It features most of the group singing together, and has no lead guitar or solo. Joey Molland plays rhythm guitar throughout the entire track.

Doctor, Doctor, the album's third track, features an interesting bass line from John Lawson. This song may also be inspired by The Who; a track of the same title written by John Entwistle was released in 1967 as the B-side to The Who's Picture Of Lily. Paul Crane sings lead for most of the track.

I Can't Stand To Lose You, was originally released as the B-side of the Rain's first single, Spooky. It is one of the most commercial sounding tracks on the album, and many critics believe it should have been the A-side, especially in the U.K. where Spooky was a commercial flop on the Pop charts. I Can't Stand To Lose You features Paul Crane's piano playing as the main instrument and has no lead guitar part. Gary Walker's drum fills keep the song's driving beat going without a break.

Market Tavern is the story of all the actual people who frequented the pub at 144 York Way as narrated in song by Paul Crane. A phasing effect is used sporadically throughout the track, sometimes applied to the cymbals and sometimes to the entire recording. Joey's guitar licks, played occasionally during the song, are played straight, without any distortion or effects.

Next is Spooky was recorded as the first single and was an American hit at the beginning of 1968 (also peaking at #3) on the Imperial label by the Jacksonville, Florida pop band, Classics IV. It has now become a perennial Halloween classic. Gary Walker & The Rain's version is a straight copy of the hit version featuring Paul Crane's smooth lead vocals, making this into a #3 song in Japan. To faithfully reproduce the original version of the song, this song required a rhythm/lead guitar line-up, rather than piano/lead guitar, and of course, added on top of all of this is the "spooky" keyboard part. In place of the original sax solo is Joey Molland's much better guitar solo. In this opinion, this version is superior because of the overall better sound & vocals, despite the missing saxophone.

The next track, Take A Look, is another Joey Molland composition. This is one of the highlights of the entire album, with its catchy guitar hook and group harmonizing. It's just a shame that this is also the shortest track. The instrumentation here features a second guitar again instead of the piano.

The View, a Gary/Joey collaboration, is another album highlight, with another excellent Crane lead vocal and some tasty guitar licks from Joey. This song documents the scene where a man is contemplating suicide from a 13th floor ledge of a building. The instrumentation here sounds the same as the previous track.

If You Don't Come Back is a psychedelic, Jimi Hendrix inspired groover. John Lawson does an amazing job singing, and Joey Molland expands the length of the original song by jamming with the band for several minutes, making generous use of controlled guitar feedback. The song also allows Gary to demonstrate his drumming abilities.

The View is another narrative type song like and another Gary/Joey collaboration, this time sung by Joey. The lyrics tell the tale of a sad old man's life. Unfortunately, Thoughts Of An Old Man is one of the lesser tracks musically by Gary Walker & The Rain. The piano is featured here again, in place of a second guitar.

Francis, is a group composition. The song really rocks out, with Joey playing his best Eric Clapton guitar licks, and is probably the best song that the group self-penned. It's hard to believe that this ended up on the B-side to their final release in January of 1969, Come In, You'll Get Pneumonia, which was a huge flop in the U.K. Francis is a "Can't Buy Me Love" type song about a rich womanizer who can't get himself a wife.

The following trackPaul Crane's, I Promise To Love You, features harpischord as the main instrument and a rhythm track of piano and acoustic guitar.

1. Magazine Woman
2. Sun Shines
3. Doctor Doctor
4. I Can’T Stand To Lose You
5. Market Tavern
6. Spooky
7. Take A Look

II
8. The View
9. If You Don’t Come Back
10. Thoughts Of An Old Man
11. Francis
12. I Promise To Love You
13. Whatever Happened To Happy

CONDITION: The cover is

The vinyl is

                keeper copy!

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