LOST TREASURES

SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND

“Without Reservations“

By Peter Marston

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Like most of the bands featured in the Lost Treasures, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound are little known―but, surprisingly, they are perhaps least known for Without Reservations, their sole LP, released on Parlophone in 1967. They are better known for their top ten British hit “Kites”—also released in 1967—though the light psychedelic tone of that track was largely out of character for the band, who basically played R&B and soul. They may be even better known as the alter-ego of the Moles, whose one-off single “We Are the Moles” was briefly rumored to be the Beatles (a rumor, in fact, planted by the band as a publicity stunt). Undoubtedly, though, they are best known as the forerunner of the successful prog-rock band Gentle Giant, both bands built around the three Shulman brothers, Derek, Phil and Ray.

Said brothers got their start in the Howling Wolves, a typical British beat group following in the wake of the Beatles’ breakthrough, though their repertoire leaned more toward Memphis soul than American rock ’n’ roll. Name changes followed, first to the Road Runners and then to Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, the latter name imposed by their manager, John Bedford. Now, while there was no deliberate effort to identify the “Simon Dupree” in the band, it was quickly attached to lead singer Derek Shulman, which ruffled some feathers in the band—including Derek’s. In 1966, the band was signed by EMI to the Parlophone label and the group was assigned to producer David Paramor. A debut single was released—the excellent “I See the Light” b/w “I’m Finished”—and received moderate airplay on Radio Caroline and Radio London. Two follow-up singles were released in early 1967 and, having met with similar success led to the recording of the band’s first and only LP, Without Reservations.

The album opens with a medley of Isaac Hayes’ and David Porter’s “60 Minutes of Your Love” and Homer Banks’ “A Lot of Love.” It’s classic Swingin’ London soul with shouting vocals and an energetic horn arrangement. “Love” offers more of the same, adding a great fuzz guitar lead line. “Get Off My Bach” is in more of a pop vein, but still has plenty of soul in the choruses. “There’s a Little Picture Playhouse” has some charming psychedelic touches and is a little reminiscent of the Herd, Peter Frampton’s pre-Humble Pie band. “Day Time, Night Time”―recorded first by Manfred Mann under the title, “Each and Every Day”—is given a terrific pop-soul treatment, sounding very much like the Foundations. “Teacher, Teacher” is a clever nursery rhyme send-up, featuring a kitchen-sink production, with soul organ and shouted grunts along with harmonies and hooks that strongly recall “Jennifer Eccles”-era Hollies. There is also a terrific ska-flavored version of the spiritual “Amen” and a solid cover of Ben E. King’s “What Is Soul?,” along with the aforementioned “I See the Light.”

Without Reservations was largely ignored at the time of its release, due mostly to inopportune timing. All the material on the album was recorded before the watershed release of Sgt. Pepper, when British R&B and blue-eyed soul were still quite viable. After Sgt. Pepper inaugurated the Summer of Love, such music seemed archaic and, frankly, few could be bothered. Of course, the trend was not lost on Paramor, who promptly directed the band to record the trippy pop-psych single “Kites,” which reached number 9 in the British charts in November 1967. Subsequent singles failed to match this success and gradually, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound lost the attention of their label. The one-off single as The Moles was released in the fall of 1968 and by the end of the following year, the Shulman brothers were well underway forming their new band Gentle Giant, to much greater success.

While Without Reservations is long out of print, EMI put out a first-rate anthology, called Part of My Past, in 2004. It includes the entire LP, the “Kites” single, the Moles’ tracks and virtually every other release by the band. Fans of ’60s British pop/soul/psych should definitely give it a listen!

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   They will have a track on the upcoming “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation due in March, 2015.

You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

WIKIPEDIA:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Dupree_and_the_Big_Sound

AllMusicGuide:  http://www.allmusic.com/album/without-reservations-mw0000837217

VIDEOS:

“Kites”

“Castle in the Sky”

“60 Minutes”