THE BEAU BRUMMELS: TRIANGLE (1967)
1) Are You Happy; 2) Only
Dreaming Now; 3) The 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.
The title obviously refers to the band's being
reduced to a trio — upon the departure of guitarist Don Irving and drummer John
Petersen, following the embarrassment of '66.
(And if that ain't enough, take an extra look at the album cover). Of course,
one could always try to uncover additional meanings — for instance, attempt to
define Triangle as a trendy
concoction, consisting of one-third American country-/folk-rock, one-third
British Kinks-style pop, and one-third world-wide psychedelia. That could
probably work.
Anyway, the very fact that, having just
recorded the most superfluous album in their history and gone through critical
disinterest, fanbase decay, and loss of several members, The Beau Brummels
found it in them to regroup, start anew, and present themselves as artists with
interesting stuff to say in 1967, deserves merit. Triangle did not sell at all well, for understandable reasons: the
Brummels were effectively kicked off the train by the end of 1965, and it would
have taken a miracle to catch up with it in the whirlwind atmosphere of 1967.
Besides, most people preferred their psychedelia with a harder edge at the
time, and Triangle is totally music
for sissies. However, some reviews were positive, and since then, the record
earned itself a stable place on all sorts of «great albums from the past that
you have never heard about» lists.
The most notable song is ʽMagic Hollowʼ — the
band correctly realized that it was the most accomplished creation on the
album and put it out as a single, unfortunately, forgetting that «most accomplished
creations» do not always qualify for single releases: the sleepy, hypnotic
attitude of the song is quite far removed from the dynamic punch that the
record buyer usually expects when he puts down the cash for about three minutes
worth of A-side music. But the fact that it flopped commercially does not
diminish the accomplishment — mainly in terms of arrangement, which weaves a
dense and unique sonic web of harpsichords (played by Brian Wilson's SMiLe partner, Van Dyke Parks),
guitars, accordeons, chimes, and strings. It is, indeed, one of the finest
representatives of the baroque pop era — and, as far as my own perception can
tell, it does paint a musical picture of a «magic hollow» without the aid of
any particularly «trippy» effects or studio trickery, other than a bit of
toying around with the delay effect on the vocals at the end.
However, the same perception also suggests to
me that, in general, Triangle is not
much of a «lost masterpiece». Unlike so many true masterpieces of the psychedelic era, its songs do not have a
lot of staying power. The band seems hung up in mid-air, somewhere in between their
folk roots and «art-rock»... but that is not the real problem — many wonderful
things were generated over time in such a hung-up state — the real problem is
that the songs, with but a few exceptions, never seem to know how to build up
to full stature.
Take something like ʽOnly Dreaming Nowʼ, for
instance. There is an attractive cello riff that drives it, but it does not
mesh at all well with the accordion melody — the song seems torn between its
baroque fundament and some sort of gay Parisian attitude: an unusual marriage,
perhaps, but not a particularly meaningful one. Much worse, however, is the
fact that its ominous introduction never develops into anything «stronger» —
the climax of the song involves nothing other than Valentino rising high to
bleat out the chorus. Likewise, ʽThe Painter Of Womenʼ is basically just an
acoustic guitar / brass-led mantra; its chorus is a little louder than its
verses, but that's about it.
The album's magnum
opus is the five-minute long ʽWolf Of Velvet Fortuneʼ, an attempt to write
a mystical-magical mini-epic, influenced by mid-Eastern music, Tolkienish
fantasy, and just a pinch of acid. Again, the premise is nice enough — the little creepy echoey guitar
flourishes, the ominous notes in the singing — but the eventual resolution (the
chorus of "Delight! Delight!"...) is not quite enough a pay-off for
the monotonousness of the verses. It's a good song, but it never crosses
borders — there is a good reason why everybody knows and loves Led Zep's
ʽBattle Of Evermoreʼ, but not this Beau Brummels tale of happenings in a
parallel world (and I was never even a big fan of ʽBattle Of Evermoreʼ in the
first place).
Then there are some things that are just
strange. For instance, what was the point of ending the album with a Randy
Newman song? Just so as to please the album's producer Lenny Waronker, a good
pal of Randy's? ʽOld Kentucky Homeʼ is indeed a hilarious send-up of redneck
attitudes, but it doesn't exactly have a lot to do with psychedelia — and even
though it's one of the best tunes on the album (since it belongs to Randy), its
positioning right after "delight, delight, the wolf of velvet fortune is
upon his merry flight" is befuddling.
So, to be honest, Triangle is a mixed bag, really. The Beau Brummels were a decent
folk-rock band, and the only kind of hooks Ron Elliott knew how to manufacture
were folk-rock hooks. When pressed with the necessity of living up to the
times, they accidentally fell upon a unique kind of sound — that one thing I am
quite ready to admit: Triangle
sounds lovely and intriguing — but the substance did not have enough time to
catch up with the form. So no, I do not think Triangle really could belong in the same category with Pet Sounds, Forever Changes, or even The Left Banke's killer singles.
But on the other hand, it could have been much
worse. Most bands of The Beau Brummels' caliber were simply blown away for
good by the psychedelic revolution, or, at best, tried to squeeze out miserably
laughable simulations of «the real stuff». (Bands like The Hollies were
actually the opposite of the Brummels — they continued to write better songs,
but nothing that they did in 1967 was as individually inventive as ʽMagic
Hollowʼ in terms of pure sound). From that point of view, Triangle is an artistic miracle that, regardless of any criticism,
absolutely belongs in the collection of every art-pop lover, let alone the
abstract «musical annals». You may fall under its spell or resist it if you
wish, but there seems to be no reason to disagree with a thumbs up, particularly if all
things are taken in the context of the Brummels' own career, rather than in the
context of 1967 as the year of Sgt.
Pepper, Are You Experienced, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, or Days
Of Future Passed.
Check "Triangle" (MP3) on Amazon
When I listen to stuff like Hollow Magic (I don't like the exaggerated vibrato of the vocalist btw) or Rainbow Eyes (it's a Blackmore fetish really) I always wonder why I wouldn't go for the real stuff, like Arensky's wonderful Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky for String Quartet or Borodin's even more dreamy Nocturne from his Second String Quartet. They even have better melodies.
ReplyDeleteI only appreciate pop/rock when it offers something Classical Music doesn't. From this point of view Hollow Magic is superfluous (and so is Rainbow Eyes).
Then I like The Wolf better - when the verses get boring there is still the imaginative accompaniment.
My encyclopedia of 60's musiс calls this one a very 'cultured album', and I find that to be a pretty accurate description. Triangle is nice, well-written, melodic, tasteful, but it also hovers about you without actually having any particular impact. Having said that, I consider it their best.
ReplyDeletesounds very much like mamas and the papas/hollies imitators (not thats a bad thing in mid sixties) who have heard days of future passed played at a neighbours house with the wrong breeze.
ReplyDelete