The group's second single, "Mary Jane" was taken off the BBC playlist after they realised that the song was the slang term for Marijuana. The third single, Volcano, was written by Howard & Blakely, who had written hits for Dave Dee etc. After three singles and the album, major success had still not been achieved. The agent at the time, Terry King, had booked the group a lot of shows, they were regularly appearing on the BBC on John Peel's show, among others, they were playing, touring and promoting hard, but recording success was still elusive. Colin Forster was then replaced by Paul Brett but this still didn't acheive the desired result.

Disagreements erupted within the band, which lead to a split from Elmer and so the Velvet Opera was formed. Elmer Gantry remembers : "eventually, EGVO broke up due to a change of direction within the band. Paul Brett, (who incidentally I had worked with previously and had brought into the band following our initial success) although a brilliant guitarist, had a strong interest in more folkish music and, with Hud's increasing interest in playing instruments other than drums, the band started to change direction. I did not welcome this change, and whilst I had great admiration for all the other members as musicians, was not interested. There followed a coup in which the other members of the band attempted to just replace me and keep the name.

This would clearly have been ridiculous as I was already known as Elmer Gantry and the band was largely know for its riotous, envelope-pushing stage presence, not for electro-folk. The result was that they brought twelve string guitarist folk-blues guitarist Johnny Joyce in, and continued as The Velvet Opera and eventually The Strawbs and The Monks producing the novelty hits "Union Man" and "Nice legs, shame about the face" and I continued with a new line-up, formed from the Downliners sect, as the Elmer Gantry band. I also later had a lead role in "Hair" in the west end, recorded on two Alan Parsons Project albums, did the lead vocals on Cozy powell's album, sang and wrote with Jon Lord on his solo album. 1. Intro (Gantry) - 1:00
2. Mother Writes (Ford) - 2:07
3. Mary Jane (Ford, Gantry) - 2:26
4. I Was Cool (Brown Jr.) - 2:59
5. Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey (Cannon, Ford, Forster) - 3:10
6. Air (Forster, Hudson) - 3:12
7. Lookin' for a Happy Life (Forster, Hudson) - 3:01
8. Flames (Terry) - 3:11
9. What's the Point of Leaving (Ford, Gantry) - 2:11
10.Long Nights of Summer (Gantry) - 2:35
11.Dream Starts (Ford, Forster, Hudson) - 3:00
12.Reactions of a Young Man (Ford, Gantry) - 2:38
13.Now She's Gone (Ford, Gantry) - 2:26
14.Flames (Single Version) (Terry) - 3:15
15.Salisbury Plain (Single Version) (Ford, Forster, Horrocks, Hudson, Terry) - 2:38
16.Mary Jane (Single Version) (Ford, Gantry) - 2:34
17.Dreamy (Single Version) (Ford, Gantry) - 2:33
18.To Be With You (Ford, Terry) - 3:24
19.And I Remember (Ford, Terry) - 2:46
20.Talk Of The Devil (E. Woolfson) - 3:02
21.The Painter (D. Terry) - 2:59

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
*Dave Terry ("Elmer Gantry") – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
*Colin Forster - Lead Guitar
*Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) – Organ, Flute
*John Ford – Vocals, Bass Guitar
*Richard Hudson – Vocals, Drums, Sitar

the Free Text
Posted by Marios at 9:19 AM 60's Lover said...

Wow, don't know why I passed on this album elsewhere in the past, but I'm so glad you've posted it here @ Rockasteria Marios! This is right up my alley with it's freakbeat/mod/r&b/bluesy jazz/rockabilly/psych musical meanderings. Thanks!

P.S. additional comment posted in chatbox at Phrock

March 18, 2012 at 2:23 PM echoes said...

I have Ride... but not this one.
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