Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Curt Newbury - Half a Month of Maydays (1969)


This week's musical delight is the sole record (at least that I'm aware of ) from Curt Newbury released on Verve Forecast back in 1969. It's excellent, West-coast, folk-rock with a fair amount of country twang and some psychedelic influences (both chemical and musical, I imagine). The lyrics are good and touch on the appropriate concerns of the time (love, protesting the war, hanging pictures--I guess times haven't changed that much). The band (which consists of the majority of the fine psychedelic group, Kaleidoscope [U.S.]) is in top form, and Mike Deasy contributes some smokin' guitar solos. In addition to writing his own material Newbury was also a flying instructor and a licensed hypnotist (although I'm not sure how those activities influenced his musical work).
Here's the personnel, courtesy of Fuzz, Acid & Flowers:
RICHARD APLANALP clarinet
MIKE DEASY gtr, dobro, mandolin
COFFI HALL perc
HOWARD JOHNSON tuba
RON JOHNSON bs
JEFF KAPLAN gtr, organ, bs, piano
PAUL LAGOS drms
RICK MATTHEWS perc
CURT NEWBURY vcls, gtr
TEMPLETON PARSLEY (MAX BUDA) electric violin, hrmnca
PAT SMITH bs fiddle
And here's the tracklist:
Side 1
1. S & C See Me
2. Christ, How Easy It Could Be
3. To Marcia
4. Highchair Blue
5. Let's Hang Some Pictures Tonight
Side 2
6. Half a Month of Maydays
7. Colonel Haygood
8. A Girl Is Just Too Much
9. Maybe Summer Bells
10. Private Jackson Regrets
Music at d*vshare & music at s*ndspace.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! You'll never get me!

Mr. Wizard

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter from Italy,ciao!

rockistory... said...

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Anonymous said...

Hopefully this is not the same Curt Newbury who became a child erotic photographer! All over google all you can find is information about this guy Curt Newbury who is this freaky child photographer and nothing about this album. Maybe it is the same guy, some of those hippies got into some really freaky stuff after that movement dissolved.

f.p.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this album??

Max said...

Ebay is probably the best bet for an affordable copy. If you google the album title & his name you'll find some sellers with the album in stock but the prices will be higher.

Anonymous said...

It seems to have a CD release date of Oct. 2007 on Fallout Records. Could this be possible?

Max said...

Yes it looks like there is a CD reissue in the near future (with a pretty steep price). I don't know anything about the label but when it comes out I will be taking this post down so grab it now.

Anonymous said...

there was a really (and I mean really long) song recorded that was sort of Dylan in the production and the length. At this particular time the label was headed by that stellar pop genius Mike Curb. Upon hearing this perhaps 11 minute opus he heard the word "joint"or at least thought he did uttered and called Don Hall's office in a panic. Don put him on the speaker phone without telling him and we all present got to hear his insane babbling about the label's new image and such ending with the cut had to go. Don who had anticipated this asked how with so many minutes cut off the album could it possibly be put out with so little time on it? Curb said he could put out albums with only 15 minutes of music on them anytime he felt like it and a lot of other nonsense about how the lameass MGM label and affiliates were going to turn rock around politically to be a force for real Americans. How or why he decided to tie all this baloney to poor Newbury was a mystery to us. Pretty funny though, as we were all laughing through his whole little monolog.

Max said...

Thanks for the story aka buda (or is it AKA Buda). That's the kind of response I would have expected from Mike Curb who's stupid musical decisions (like dropping Zappa & the Velvet Underground) where probably only matched by his stupid political ones.

Anonymous said...

As "anonymous" mentioned, yes this is the same guy who takes pictures of very young girls on the internet. He even talks about this album on his site. It's creepy and really taints this album.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing creepy or erotic with his sites as the previous poster and "anonymous" claims. All his models are above the age of 13 and are in their teens and all the photography is tastefully and professionally done. Before throwing stones at people you may as well go and see the forementioned sites yourself first.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Max,
You about ready to go on tour? lol I talk to Don Hall every now and then.
I still love that harmonica you laid downon Half a Month of Maydays.

Curb ain't doing half bad these days.

Take care, Curt

Mikey D said...

I PLAYED DRUMS FOR CURT IN THE EARLY 70'S HE HAD A PLACE IN VICORY PARK MARRIED A PRETTY MEXICAN GIRL AND SETTLED DOWN. LAST I HEARD HE WAS STILL JAMMING BUT DOING COTRACT WORK. My sister Debra is lead singer with Jane Doe my name is Mike Drouin

Mikey D said...

Curt Newbury should put a new album together he has so much new stuff but holds to his old style. One song in perticular is fantastic if I remember correctly it's called "Stonny Jonie" it blew me away!!!!!