Неизвестные 60-е. Часть 56: Группа Wendy & Bonnie

The sister duo of Wendy Flower and Bonnie Flower (their real names, not aliases), Wendy & Bonnie recorded one album in the late '60s. Genesis is pleasant, if naïve, harmonized light rock with psychedelic, jazz, and folk influences. It is impressive given their tender ages — Wendy Flower was just 17, and Bonnie Flower only 13, when it was recorded in late 1968, and the pair wrote all of the material on the LP.

The Flowers grew up in a musical family in the San Francisco Bay Area, and prior to recording on their own, did a couple of garage-psychedelic singles as part of Crystal Fountain; Wendy sang lead, and Bonnie played drums. Jazz star Cal Tjader put them to the attention of a jazz label he recorded for, Skye, which made the Wendy & Bonnie LP its lone venture into rock. Genesis was pretty sparsely produced, the arrangements highlighting their harmonies and pensive paisley tunes, but did benefit from backing by some top Los Angeles session musicians, including drummer Jim Keltner and guitarist Larry Carlton.

The album was released in 1969, but stalled when Skye Records folded the following year. The death of producer Gary McFarland in 1971 further discouraged the duo. Although they did sing backup vocals on a couple of Tjader albums and some jingles and background vocals at Fantasy Records, they never recorded their own material again, and broke up in the early '70s. They did perform music separately in the subsequent decades, Wendy Flower issuing a children's music cassette, and Bonnie Flower once rejecting an invitation to join the Bangles. The rare Genesis album was reissued with bonus tracks by Sundazed in 2001.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:391tk60xekrf~T1

Wendy & Bonnie's only album is a nice, if not truly necessary, relic of the late 1960s. It's the sort of unconventional yet accessible project that might have had trouble finding its way into release in any other era, but managed to at least get issued, even if it was largely undiscovered until cult listeners unearthed it decades later. The sisters' harmonies have the sweet-sour major-minor blend typical of many San Francisco rock artists of the time, yet with a more homespun, intimate flavor than those of many a heavily produced band. Their songs have the sort of slightly askew lyrics that, again, were prevalent in their time and place, glowing with anticipation of an era of greater love and less social constraints, and also imbued with a certain innocent naïveté. ("The Paisley Window Pane" is a particularly priceless song title.) There are sometimes jazzier accents to their singing and chord progressions than there were in most psychedelic or harmony pop/rock groups; "The Paisley Window Pane" sounds like it might have absorbed lessons from Jose Feliciano's cover of "Light My Fire." The 2001 CD reissue on Sundazed adds several bonus tracks, including a garage-psych acetate ("The Night Behind Us") from their earlier rock group Crystal Fountain, and four acoustic home demos of songs that were not done on the LP.

1. Let Yourself Go Another Time
2. The Paisley Window Pane
3. I Realized You
4. By The Sea
5. You Keep Hanging Up On My Mind
6. It’s What’s Really Happening
7. Five O’Clock In The Morning
8. Endless Pathway
9. Children Laughing
10.The Winter Is Cold

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:n9em97eskrgt

"Let Yourself Go Another Time", "You Keep Hanging Up On My Mind, "The Winter Is Cold" - сильнейшие вещи альбома, а "Children Laughing" - просто отличная вещь!

Есть связь и с The Beatles - на диске отметился вездесущий Jim Keltner.

2Кот Котофеич:

Спасибо за ссылку!

GENESIS - Wendy and Bonnie

United Recording; Los Angeles, California: November 1968
Michael Lang, Mike Melvoin (org, p); Larry Carlton (g); Randy Cierly (el-b); Jim Keltner (d); Wendy Flower, Bonnie Flower (vcl).

a. Let Yourself Go Another Time (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:38
b. The Paisley Window Pane (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 3:01
c. I Realized You (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 3:44
d. By The Sea (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 4:02
e. You Keep Hanging Up On My Mind (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:56
f. It's What's Really Happening (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:16
g. Five O'Clock In The Morning (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:44
h. Endless Pathway (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 3:38
i. Children Laughing (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:47
j. The Winter Is Cold (Wendy & Bonnie Flower) - 2:37

Note: Sundazed SC-11089 [CD] includes five bonus tracks that were not part of the above session(s).

Issues: a-j on Skye SK-1006D, Sundazed SC-11089 [CD], Muzak (Jap) MZCS-1051 [CD].
Singles: b & f also on Skye 4514 [45].
Samplers: a also on Muzak (Jap) MZCS-1052 [CD] titled SKYE & GRYPHON FOR CAFÉ APRÉS-MIDI. b also on Muzak (Jap) MZCS-1053 [CD] titled SKYE & GRYPHON FOR APRÉS-MIDI GRAND CRU.
Producer: Gary McFarland. Executive Producer: Norman Schwartz (Skye SK-1006D). Irwin Chusid (Sundazed SC-11089 [CD]).
Engineer: Andy Richardson (Los Angeles). Dave Sanders (editing in New York).

http://www.dougpayne.com/gmdisco.htm#GENESIS

Господа
а у меня был сей диск. причем мне впарить его хотели как ранний Генезис!!! и что тоже очень интересно - был он производства Афганистана. у меня никогда ни до ни после не было винила лп из сей страны. а музыка там была мягко говоря примитивная. как сей диск только попал к нам? наверное на заголовок Генезис кто-то лоханулся....

Let yourself go another time