SIMON DUPREE AND THE BIG SOUND stained glass window (1967)

album : part of my past
This is an amazing CD reissue, three times over -- for psychedelic music buffs, British R&B and soul enthusiasts, and fans of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant (which evolved out of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound). And it's also incredibly long overdue. Best-known for their Oriental ersatz pop-psychedelic classic "Kites," Simon Dupree & the Big Sound actually started out as a blues and R&B-based outfit, not too different from the Spencer Davis Group. This double-CD set covers their complete EMI output, most of which has never been reissued, and almost all of which is very impressive (and even manages to intersect obliquely with Apple Records' orbit). The group's early soul-oriented sides are killers, exciting, totally convincing pieces of British-made R&B that, in the case of "Love" and "Medley: 60 Minutes of Your Love/A Lot of Love," should have placed them head-to-head with the likes of Steve Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group. Even when they move into a slightly trippier sound, on "There's a Little Picture Playhouse," the group still utilizes a basic soul backing. And "Kites," coming along in the middle of the first disc, is such a radical departure from everything before it, that it's astonishing to hear in this context, even knowing the song well -- the rest of the CD is made up of trippy psychedelic ballads with Mellotron accompaniment, often with punchy acoustic rhythm guitars. It's all very pretty and inventive in a pop context, and rivals or surpasses the psychedelic sides of Rainbow Ffolly and most other EMI artists of the era this side of the Beatles and maybe the Move.

[@massimomarchesin8708]

Il sound si sta raffinando l'ispirazione per questo brano secondo me viene dai NICE di Keith Emerson brano tipo The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack !!!!! E poi notare la polifonia vocale che farà parte della caratteristica del sound dei Gentle Giant !!!!!!

[@massimomarchesin8708]

E abbastanza chiaro che qui la band del beat e del suono blues e rithmndblues incomincia a svestirsene i panni andando incontro a sonorità più colte abbracciando il linguaggio classico vedi quello barocco seguendo modelli vedi NICE Procol Harum Aphrodite's Child etc !!!! E quindi entrando in una dimensione sonora più psichedelica elaborata e di approccio più sperimentale avvicinandosi al passo successivo cioè divenire il Gigante Gentile !!!!!!

[@gary9426]

The Yellow Balloon had a great version, as well.

[@mahatmacote6478]

A couple of things; the singles were fantastic, some of the most interesting in the 60s, but they ought to have made an album then - Reservations is the right name for the eventual lp, and it was way late. Comparin them with the throwaway 'Rainbow Ffolly' is odd. Their record was comparitively very poor, just a psych art cover. July was another weak record. This band spanked both their weak efforts into a tin cup.

[@wardka]

Wow! this sounds the most like Gentle Giant of any Simon Dupree I've found on YT so far. I can finally make the connection.