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KARL'S
COMMENTS
Fredric: Phases and Faces LP (US, Forte, 1968). In a word: atmosphere...
more than just the sound, a feeling of a time long gone, of hopes and briefly (if at all) realized dreams fading into a new reality. Hailing from
Grand Rapids, Michigan (home of the legendary '60s rock 'n' roll independent
label, Fenton Records), Fredric seems largely influenced by England (Zombies), Detroit (think Westchester label era Fugitives) and Chicago
(think New Colony Six if they were known as the New Colony Five and were
psychedelicized) groups. The lead-off cut (the cryptically named "Federal
Reserve Bank Blues") is a stunner straight out of the barrel, from the moody
organ down-notes, lively fuzz guitar, and earnest harmonies making this an
opening tour de force. The next track, "The Girl I Love", is a slice of thumping, keyboard based pop injected with a fiercely innocent delivery
(think First Crow To The Moon's "Spend Your Life" or the Rising Storm's version of "Mr. Wind" at a brisk tempo, or even the Fugitives' "You Can¹t
Make Me Lonely" for that matter). The more generic Association-style vocal
pop of "All About You" leads to the charmingly crude "story song", "Henry
Adams", which is reminiscent of a whole micro-genre of such songs such as
"Nowhere Man", "A Well-Respected Man", "Mr. Kirby" and "Professor Crawford",
though the Fredric's effort isn¹t nearly as accomplished as any of those
tracks. Sitars burst forth on "Morning Sunshine", making me think that
Fredric would've made a great bill with (Grand Rapids contemporaries) the
Orange Wedge (for the segue minded, the Orange Wedge's version of Bonnie
Dobson's "Morning Dew" can be heard via the flip of their heavy psych
classic 45, "From The Tomb to the Womb"). "Morning Sunshine" is further elevated by a well-executed chamber-pop bridge, and some acoustic excursions
that sound a bit like Detroit's late great mid-60s folk-rock group,
Spike-Drivers (though here with more dominant organ). The slightly spacey,
slinky and strident "Taggin'" is a full-blooded uptempo number, while the
intoxicating and sublimely dream-like acid-pop of "Red Pier" and the
straight ahead yet luminescent folk-rock of "Born In Fire" -- with a tasty
tremolo guitar line and Roger McGuinn-like vocals -- amply demonstrate that
this group had excellent command of their relatively (to most semi-professional garage bands of the era) broad stylistic palette. The
punchline to this story is that part of the interest in the Fredric (and
perhaps why you're reading this opinion at all) is that their sole LP record
appeared on the tiny local Michigan label, Forte (not the same label that
released the James Osterberg inclusive, pre-Prime Movers, pre-Stooges 45 by
Ann Arbor's Iguanas), giving the original artifact a folk-art status which
brings with it the esteem of expensive-prices-paid for near mint copies.
Rather than dole out the $400 plus it will take to secure an original in top
shape (a friend once lived in Grand Rapids in the late '80s/early '90s and
found three copies in varying condition over a period of 4 years in junk
shops, and traded every copy to a high end dealer in Detroit!), you can now
give the music a spin on the '96 Arf! Arf! CD reissue (though the bonus cuts
are fairly disposable). Rating: 8/10
SCOTT'S
COMMENTS: I
guess I’m naturally skeptical. Over
the years, 1968's "Phases and Faces"
has been one of the few albums always seems to attract glowing reviews.
Since virtually everyone seems to like the record, my dark nature
concluded it must either suck, or was probably just another product
being over-hyped by a bunch of dealers trying to unload overstock.
Given prices in the $300-$400 range, I wasn’t about to find
out. Well a couple of years
ago I happened to stumble across a copy of the LP.
Expecting the worst, but hoping for the best, I have to admit
that this one was a pleasant surprise.
Curiously,
I’d seen various reference works describe the LP as flowery pop,
leaving me with the impression these guys were little more than
Association clones. Thank
goodness that's not exactly an apt description. So what was the first
thing to strike me? Well, I
was fascinated by the album’s overall sound.
I’d still like to know how five guys from Grand Rapids,
Michigan could come up an album exhibiting such a weird pseudo-English
feel. Truly weird.
Oh well, on with the practical comments.
With all five members contributing material (singer Joe McCarger
was the main songwriter), the set's surprisingly diverse.
I’ll readily admit that I like music that has a commercial
orientation, so pop-oriented tracks such as "The Girl I Love"
and "All About Judi" are right up my alley. Even better, the
opener "Federal Reserve Bank Blues" and "Morning
Sunshine" sport distinctive psych influences. Elsewhere,
"Taggin'" and "My Yellow Tree" offered up great
slice of fuzz guitar-propelled garage rock. Strong melodies, some great
harmonies ("Born In Fire") and surprisingly impressive
production from a small label (thank you producer Phil Roberts Jr.),
make for an impressive package. It’s
certainly not the year’s most original offering, but it’s far
stronger than three quarters of the big name LPs I own.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and give this one an 8 out of 10
rating.
MIKE'S
COMMENTS:
This is a well-crafted 60's pop record that is chock full of
wonderful hooks and an interesting baroque sounding organ thrown in for good effect. Whilst not necessarily psychedelic, it has enough
traces of psychedelia to keep many fans happy. At times, the music is reminiscent of The Turtles whilst other times it takes on an
almost Anglo-Pop approach to its sound (e.g." Henry Adams").
Opening track "Federal Reserve Bank Blues" has a great folkish/Eastern sounding guitar and a magnificent opening line of
"You live for my money now isn't it funny it's gone". Some delicious swirling organ and a bass line that pulses like a
heartbeat hold the song together. Next up is "The Girl I Love". This is 60's pop music at its best. This song is brilliantly
written and is accompanied by a superb musical score.
However, for me, it is the songs "All About Judi" & "Red Pier" which are the albums strongest tracks. "All About
Judi" is a luscious, mellow, dopey love song about stealing your best friends girl. "Red Pier" is possibly the most
psychedelic track on the album. It's an extremely lazy, hazy musical fog
that weaves and floats in almost suspended animation. It makes me feel completely airless and if this isn't the recipe for first-rate
psychedelia then I don't know what is.
A couple of other tracks worth mentioning are "Cousin Mary Knows" & album closer, "Saturday Morning With Rain". I
love the arrogance of the opening lines of "Cousin Mary Knows"-
"Ask here about the sit-u-a-tion
She's got so much ed-u-ca-tion
Meditates during a meditation….
Cousin Mary Knows"
If only the vocalist had the attitude and nasal sneer/snarl of Iggy or Sky, this could be a fantastic punk track.
"Saturday Morning With Rain" is a nice closing track with some exquisite guitar, breathy harmonica and mellow bongos
throughout.
No, the record doesn't always hit the right mark, and there are a couple throw away tracks, but hell, given the fact these songs were
written, composed and recorded by teenagers who had such a great understanding of how to structure a pop song one must admire it for
that asset alone. I will give it a resounding...7/10.
STAN'S COMMENTS:
My earliest memory of The Fredric LP dates to when I was trying to sell
a Tweedy Bros LP, nice copy with cover, and a certain Ohio snake-oil salesman called me up to offer me a trade but the record he was offering
was SO rare that he'd have to have The Tweedy Bros plus another 2 slightly lesser LPs at least. I flashed on that scene in "Abbot and
Costello in Jack & The Beanstalk" when Lou Costello (the funny one) is
offered some "magic beans" in trade for the family's cow. Like so many records in my collection, The Fredric was mostly a vague but pleasant
memory (my not too secret motivation for this list of review records was
wanting a reason to pull these out and give them a serious listen) until
I pulled the Arf Arf CD out to play. Now, I am a record dealer and well versed in the language of hype but, on my best day, I could never come
close to the description on the opening page of the Frederic liner
notes: "...there is nothing like The Frederic in the history of recorded
music. Nothing!" Actually, I probably could come up with something like this but would think better of it, imagining that the person who read it
would react much like I did, "Oh REALLY? So, let me get this straight...
this is better than Motzart, Coltrane, Ellington, The Beatles, Hendrix, et. al.? Uh-huh... OK, let's give the little bugger a spin then."
OK, so it's not bad. There are some almost memorable moments and it has a certain kind of naivete that is charming and kind of, well... cute.
There are lots of missteps (mostly in the love songs) and no real in-your-face gems, but an interesting sound all told, and competently
played. And let's be clear on this - when it comes to
super-ultra-hyper-rare and expensive US private press LPs, competence is, more often than not, impossible to distinguish from genius.
If I didn't think the whole reduce all that down to one lone number was just plain silly I'd probably say 5 out of 10. M- copy $400-$600
PATRICK'S COMMENTS
Much-loved beatpsych LP that surpasses the best UK efforts in the
genre, succeeds where most similar local albums (many from Canada) fails. Classy songwriting and performances, great and poignant
lyrics, something of a local masterpiece. [..]
2002 ADDENDUM:
Listened to the excellent CD reissue of this LP just a few weeks ago and found myself thinking in the midst of whatever else I was
doing, "damn, this is a good LP". Having heard seemingly reliable people put it down I was prepared to discover some hidden trapdoor or
blemish in it, but I didn't.
Looking in the rearview mirror, I've played "Phases and faces" many many times after getting the old vinyl boot circa 1991 (which
actually excluded 1 track from the orig!) and am pretty certain of my opinion, which is that this is another of those great Midwest psych
LPs whose obscurity and lack of success seems a mystery and very
unfair in retrospect. Fredric had it all, the songwriting, the arrangements, the moods, the vocals, even the lyrics are good.
This is not one of my favorite LPs as it's still a little too poppy and Brit-sounding (I would have worshipped it at age 17), but I can't
think of any other LP that takes the UK 1967 lyte psych sound to such levels. I'll have to take a point off for the inevitable
good timey track, but it still ends up firmly in the "never sell" category.
Rating: 8 / 10.
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