Various Artists
Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets From the WEA Vaults

(Rhino Handmade)

rhinohandmade.com

The fine folks at Rhino have graced us with a holy grail of soft pop from the WEA vaults. Pressed as a limited edition of 7,500, Rhino, as always, gets it right. From the magnificent digipak complete with kaleidoscope sun, to the splendid booklet with notes by Andrew Sandoval, to the pristine mastering of Bill Inglot, you will indeed feel the sunshine, sheen and glow of the sunshine pop genre. From the first note of the Harpers Bizarre "Come to the Sunshine", you will see the posed band members in their vertical striped bell bottom cords and *huge* medallions, along with their even bigger smiles. You will remember The Brady Bunch and their attempt to fit into this genre. You will hear the ba ba ba ba's like no other collection of songs.

This is no joke mind you: soft pop of the '60s defined by such true greats as The Association, Harpers Bizarre and some of the lesser known bands of this genre is, to this writer, some of the most beautifully engaging moments of the '60s and early '70s. This is a CD for both the casual listener and soft/sunshine pop aficionado. It is a work of art.

Now, before, I get flamed, this is a very general intro from my perspective. I am going to give you my best impressions.

For those unfamiliar with the genre, a great debt to sunshine pop and its birth comes from the side of Brian Wilson which favored *sunshine* without the surf and the sand. These bands were the landlocked bands, if you will. There were a zillion bands trying to be like The Beatles (Remains, The Choir, on and on); The Stones (The Standells, Chocolate Watchband, on and on) as well as a whole host of bands, labels and producers who were truly inspired by Brian, whether they admitted it or not (Curt Boettcher, Bones Howe, Lou Adler, Mamas and Papas, on and on). It was a club of folk singers embracing the sunshine and love generation.

Certainly, Mamas and Papas had the hits. However, the band that defined the sunshine pop genre was and is The Association. They are represented on this collection; however, sufficient treatment of this great band is beyond the scope of this review. Suffice it to say, two of the greatest moments in the history of '60s radio are the opening bells to "Cherish" and the euphoric ending outro of "Everything That Touches You". With its cascading callbacks of "love" over and over, "Everything..." is a truly perfect wave of sound that washes over you like a cool waterfall on a crisp summer day.

The bands on this collection were yearning for that Association kind of mojo on these tracks. You can hear them reaching to get into that inspired Brian Wilson sandbox mindset and that enigmatic Curt Boettcher karma that would result in the massive vocals that could come only from a perfect combination of heart, soul, arrangement and massive plate reverb.

There are some worthy highlights on this collection that make this a must have.

"Come to the Sunshine" by Harpers Bizarre is as worthy of a track as "Feelin' Groovy", their big hit.

"Come on In" by The Association is a beautiful track highlighted by the exquisite thick harmony vocals. You hear The Association's vocal harmonys as a voice in and of itself. The timbre and the combination of the voices have an affect similar to the best choir performances: the band is on and they are so good it didn't and doesn't matter that, in an era of guitar heroes, their front man wielded a mean flute and wore a snazzy argyle sweater.

The Looking Glass contribute "Silver and Sunshine", another track with a sunshine theme and a nice combination of female/male harmonies.

The next track, "Happiness", is a standout track that was covered a few times during this era. It modulates (changes keys) at the chorus. It is a classically well written song. The track shines except for the completely obnoxious horn part. The part is so loud and upfront in the mix that it sounds like someone spliced a cassette recording of a trumpet player in a garage over the two track master. It is like someone was rolling a doobie on the console and spiked the trumpet fader at mixdown. It is like... I won't recite any more bad speculative scenarios except to say that not even a genius like Bill Inglot could fix that mixdown disaster.

You have a strange Sean Bonniwell track. Sean is the original gloved one before Michael. This track is almost as odd as Jackson. OK, not that odd, but pretty damn odd.

The Monkees and The Everly Brothers contribute exceptional material. "Someday Man" by The Monkees just slays you, again, with a key change and tempo change at the chorus. They made great records, and this is just another example of so many great songs.

There is a track by Dino, Desi and Billy, the offspring of Dean Martin and Lucy and Desi Arnaz. It is rare that a band with this kind of pedigree had much talent, but "Tell Someone that You Love Them" is a track that would forever keep them out of Frank Sinatra, Jr. category.

("Sure, Frank, all the boys have tickets at the Sands for Frank, Jr. He's a chip off the old block. Sure, Frank, all the boys have tickets at the Sands for Frank, Jr. He's a chip off the old block": Joey Two Times to Frank Sinatra, Hoboken, NJ, July 25, 1967)

In any event, Rhino produces another jewel in its handmade series. I highly recommend that you purchase the CD before the 7500 CDs they pressed are gone.

(Ed.: Note to Rhino: could you guys please repress a few of those Stooges Funhouse Sessions boxes? I was one of the dumb ones who failed to pull the trigger on that one)

If you have interest in exploring this genre further, I highly recommend The Association Anthology box set on Rhino (read review here). Also, read the wonderful liner note outtakes by Dawn Eden, previously published in the virtual pages of Fufkin.

Expect a Recommendations page devoted to this genre soon.

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