Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Peanut Butter Conspiracy...

WTF's up with my peanut butter? They are probing it! Yuk.

To lend more depth to this serious issue, here's It's a Happening Thing by The Peanut Butter Conspiracy from the 1967 album The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading. Former Westie Punk and 60s music aficionado Gus Peverada would know all about these guys.

The PBC, according to the impeccible Wikipedia, "formed in Los Angeles in 1966 out of a folk-rock group, The Ashes, who included John Merrill (guitar/ vocals), Alan Brackett (bass/ vocals), Barbara "Sandi" Robison (vocals), Spencer Dryden (drums) and Jim Cherniss (guitar/ vocals). The group had earlier been known as The Young Swingers, who released two obscure singles. The Ashes released one single in 1966 on the Vault label, "Is There Anything I Can Do?" written by Jackie DeShannon. Dryden then left The Ashes to replace Skip Spence in Jefferson Airplane, Robison left to give birth, and the group temporarily disbanded. Alan Brackett hooked up with a new guitarist, Lance Baker Fent, and a new drummer, Jim Voigt, naming the new trio The Crossing Guards. Merrill and Robison rejoined, and the five-piece band became The Peanut Butter Conspiracy.

The group signed with Columbia Records in late 1966, releasing a single "It's A Happening Thing", produced by Gary Usher, which reached #93 on the national pop chart. The band's first album, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading, followed, also produced by Usher who brought in studio musicians including Glen Campbell and James Burton to bolster the group's sound. Their late 1967 single "Turn On a Friend (to the Good Life)" failed to chart. However, they toured nationally, added a new guitarist, Bill Wolff, and recorded a second album for Columbia, The Great Conspiracy, generally regarded as their best."

No comments: