The Blues Magoos
Basic Blues Magoos

(Mercury 1968/Repertoire 2004)

The story of The Blues Magoos' career is much like a gunshot--starting off with a piercing, arresting explosion, followed by a few reverberating echoes, and then silence. Their second single for Mercury Records, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet)", was a meteoric, Top-Five smash, and their debut album, Psychedelic Lollipop, became a commercial victory for the Magoos and a psych-rock primer for everyone else, inspiring a glut of other young musicians. But each succeeding record the band released sold fewer copies and made less of an impression in the charts, transforming the Magoos into a liability for Mercury, who dropped the band in 1968. Their third album, Basic Blues Magoos, was their last for Mercury and the last by the original lineup of the group.

Along with dissention between the Magoos and their management, the chart failure of Basic Blues Magoos spelled doom for the band. In spite of its cursed fate, however, the album is pretty strong, representing a sort of creative "branching out". "Sybil Green (of the in Between)" is a pleasant, steady pop-rock number, establishing the upbeat rock style that resonates through most of the album. The album's only cover song, "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", shows that the boys had a real keenness for material choice, and although they don't elaborate much on the original version by UK hitmakers The Move, the Magoos still pull it off successfully. "All the Better to See You With" is another uptempo rocker, but the pace slows down for the pretty, psychedelic ballad "Yellow Rose," which boasts some nice acoustic guitar and an affecting vocal by Peppy Castro. "I Wanna be There," the Magoos' last charting single, reflects the infectious pop of their early singles, while "I Can Move a Mountain" presents a more melodramatic, even soulful, picture of the group.

"President's Council on Psychedelic Fitness" stands out for its lighthearted satire, "Scarecrow's Love Affair" for its silly paranoia and vocal effects, and "There She Goes" for its accessible pop formula. A colossal in-joke for the band, "Subliminal Sonic Laxative" is nothing but a minute-long, low "D" note, which, as the liner notes explicate, was once thought to have bowel-inspiring properties. The Magoos saved the best for last, however, with the stellar "Chicken Wire Lady", a rhythmic, psychedelic rock 'n' roll showstopper with excellent guitar, bass, and organ work. When all's said and done, though the music on Basic Blues Magoos may not be as easily accessible as their earlier material, it does include some interesting, creative pieces. For this recent reissue from Repertoire, added to the album's original twelve tracks are five bonus cuts: four mono single mixes and both sides of a rare single that the group released on Ganim Records while in the process of splitting up for good.

This reissue also features interesting liner notes from Mike Stax, who interviewed Peppy Castro for the project. Following the breakup of the original group in 1968, incidentally, singer Peppy Castro kept the Blues Magoos name going with a new band, releasing the ABC-Dunhill albums Never Goin' Back to Georgia and Gulf Coast Bound, which are not without merit.

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