In 1967, a group of English lads formerly known as The Shots turned out one of the defining moments between the beat sounds warped by mid-Sixties mod bands, and the all important sounds of British psychedelia. Blistering guitar lines, and one single line of the lyric, which opened their most famous song:"My friend Jack eats sugar lumps"
With that lyric, The Smoke's future in England evaporated. Sure, they were packing clubs; but without airplay on the BBC, who deemed this to be a thinly veiled LSD reference to acid laced sugar cubes, record sales were minimal and The Smoke were off to find some mild degree of fame in Germany, and a loyal cult following in England.
In the years following, nine singles, numerous television appearances and a single German album came and went. With little else to show for their efforts, The Smoke, well, it cleared.
The only official album It's Smoke time appeared in 1967, however only on the German market (Constanze Rec./Metronome/Germany, MLP15279). In the 70s "Its Smoke Time" was reissued in UK on the short-lived Motown subsidiary Gull Records.
I have never seen the release on Gull Records, so if you know anything about it, let me know.
Line-up:
Mick Rowley - vocals
Mal Luker - guitar
Zeke Lund - bass
Geoff Gill - drums
Tracks:
1. My Friend Jack
2. Waterfall
3. You Can't Catch Me
4. High in a Room
5. Wake Up Cherylina
6. Don't Lead Me On
7. We Can Take It
8. If the Weather's Sunny
9. I Wanna Make It with You
10. It's Getting Closer
11. It's Just Your Way of Lovin'
12. I Would If I Could But I Can't
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5 comments:
http://rapidshare.com/files/88626332/The_Smoke.zip.html
Thanks very much for the up. This is great, though I should have been more specific (and accurate) in my request. Here's what I was looking for:
"Copies of Smoke's self-titled album are highly valued by collectors of West Coast soft rock and psychedelic music. The album certainly deserves its reputation as one of the masterpieces of 1968. It opens with the organ-driven "Cowboys and Indians," which was producer/songwriter Michael Lloyd's personal homage to Brian Wilson's "Heroes and Villains" and lyrically makes mention of war (obviously the Vietnam war was very much on everyone's minds at the time). Lloyd had met Wilson after Beach Boy Bruce Johnston invited him to the recording sessions for "Good Vibrations." In addition to Beach Boys-style production values, there are also references to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band throughout. The chorus to "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is even quoted in the fade to Lloyd's "Fogbound." Other references pop up in the warm "Gold Is the Colour of Thought," which features an amazing arrangement encompassing Sgt. Pepper's-esque bursts of trumpet, strings, harpsichord, and sweet harmonies. The harpsichord-driven "October Country," a song previously recorded by the Lloyd-produced group of the same name earlier that year, reappears here with Lloyd handling the vocal lead chores this time, wrapped around bright strings. The album is dedicated to Stuart Sutcliffe. Fans of post-Pet Sounds West Coast psych-pop or Curt Boettcher-produced groups (the Millennium, Sagittarius) will love this album, which is not available on compact disc." Allmusic.com
Aight, ok I'll see what I can do. cheers
The (US) Smoke LP from '68 can be found here:
http://lost-in-tyme.blogspot.com/2008/01/smoke-us-smoke-1968-vinyl.html
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