V.A. - An Apple A Day - More Pop-Psych Sounds From The Apple Era 1967-1969 (2006)
RPM Retrodisc / Cherry Red Rrecords Ltd.
When the Beatles launched Apple Records in 1967, they were determined to make it a bone fide record label and not just a vanity imprint, and while their lack of business acumen quickly became apparent, they had learned one important lesson since ... Full Descriptionstarting out -- publishing is where the money is in the music biz, and they were determined not to miss out on it. With this in mind, they set up Apple Publishing along with the record company, and signed songwriters as well as performing artists; An Apple a Day is RPM's second collection of music from Apple's contract songwriters. There are a few recognizable names here, most notably the Iveys (who would soon evolve into Badfinger) and Gallagher & Lyle (who would go on to a long career as a duo after a stint in McGuinness Flint and backing Ronnie Lane), but nothing here was a hit and outside of the Iveys none of the artists here actually recorded for Apple. Still, the Fab Four and their associates certainly knew talent when they heard it, and there's some marvelous U.K. psychedelic pop featured here. Many of the cuts sound like simple publishing demos, while the tracks from the Iveys, the U (Don't) No Who, and Denis Couldry have a good bit more production polish (through only seven of these 22 saw release prior to this collection). While there isn't much here that would qualify as a lost classic, these songs are marvelously evocative of their time and place, and there are some true gems -- the Iveys' cuts display a harder, mod-style edge missing from their later releases, "Fairytale" by Second Hand and "Somebody's Turning on the People" from Goldrush are entertaining lysergic pastiches, Mortimer's "People Who Are Different" is an epic-scale bit of folk-rock that suggests John Barleycorn Must Die-era Traffic a year early, and Gallagher & Lyle's demos rank with the best of their later "official" releases. Even the relatively "commercial" stuff here is quite charming, especially "Sister Saxophone" by Turquoise (which could pass for a trippy version of the New Vaudeville Band) and "Great Idea" from Jigsaw. An Apple a Day is of minimal interest to listeners who don't already have a passionate interest in British pop arcana, but pop-psych obsessives will be delighted by these scraps from the Apple empire's brief heyday. ~ Mark Deming
94 Baker St, (RPM 270) , the Pop Psych Sounds from the Apple Era has been one of the RPM catalogue's strongest sellers in recent years. Thus with the assistance of, the author of the History of the Beatles Apple Organization book, we have constructed a second volume. The Apple Music publishing company was first into battle for the new organisation, making its initial signings in mid 1967, in fact before the company even got to 94 Baker St. Over the next two years they demo'd many writers and placed recordings where possible. Inevitably given the amount recorded much remained unissued and we are happy to be able to give many of those songs a well deserved airing. Highlights includes four more previously unissued Iveys tracks, the first recordings of Gallagher & Lyle, and the cult Bachdenkel who provide the title track. The sleeve notes are a lovingly documented essay by Stefan Granados including many rare pics and memorabilia.
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