84. The Beau Brummels - Triangle (1967)




















Track Listing

1. Are You Happy
2. Only Dreaming Now
3. Painter Of Women
4. The Keeper Of Time
5. It Won't Get Better
6. Nine Pound Hammer
7. Magic Hollow
8. And I've Seen Her
9. Triangle
10. The Wolf Of Velvet Fortune
11. Old Kentucky Home

Review

And i'm back! I actually missed this.

This is an album that I had never heard, and a band I really wasn't aware of, even though I've since found out that they have had an appearence in the Flintstones. From my trawling in the Internets this seems to be a quite divisive album, for reason's I really don't understand. It is really a lovely album. Not really edgy or raw or any of that but a very above par pop-folk album.

So, if you can imagine what would have happened to Nick Drake if he was a happy American guy this is possibly what Five Leaves Left might have sound like, there are great orchestral arrangements here, some very good lyrics and lots of stuff you are soon able to sing along to. This does not mean, however, that quality has been sacrificed at the altar of the tyrannical god of pop. In fact there is not a bad track in the whole album.

Sal Valentino's voice is great, and sometimes sounds like a cleaner Dylan (or at least it does to me). And all the tracks are wonderfully evocative, particularly by its use of original orchestration like french-sounding accordion or a more rednecky banjo. More than anything it is a very enjoyable album to just listen to. And that is really what you should be doing. Buy it at Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. The Wolf And The Velvet Fortune
2. Magic Hollow
3. Only Dreaming Now
4. Painter Of Women

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

My girlfriend wanted me to give it a 10 and she states for the record that "It's lovely".

From Wikipedia:

The band took its name from a 19th Century English dandy, Beau Brummell, as a way of identifying with the British music scene. Additionally, band members figured that since everyone was looking for and at Beatles records, having a name that naturally followed Beatles alphabetically would be a shrewd move. In addition, the band took to wearing British-influenced "Mod" clothes. As a result of their sound and look they were often mistaken for an English band, especially in their first few years. However, as their music progressed they mixed the British sound with American folk and country music and created a distincly American sound.

The Beau Brummels are considered to be the first folk rock group, and influenced numerous other acts in the genre, particularly later San Francisco groups including Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.