Chapter 9: I'm a Believer (June 1967 - September 1968)

1 June - 30 December 1967

The Zombies, 1967.

By the start of 1967, St Albans rock group The Zombies were beginning to fall out of favor with music fans. Out of desperation to retain chart success, the band, fronted by keyboardist Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone, signed a new contract with Capitol Records.[1] Their previous label, Decca, had seemingly not given a single thought to their material, despite its quality.

ROD ARGENT: "We were failing at the rate of a lead balloon. Our singles were falling off the charts like flies, and our material was left unreleased. We could've released about four albums by the start of '67, but it seemed as if nobody gave a damn about the Zombies anymore." (2016)

The first Zombies album under Capitol was to be titled Odessey and Oracle (the title came about after the word "odyssey" was misspelled by Terry Quirk) and recording had begun no sooner than the release of the Beatles' Merseyside; it was John Lennon's Mellotron that the Zombies used during the recording.

Whilst the recording was going on, there came the death of Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson from heart attack and the subsequent posthumous release of his masterwork Smile. With the Beach Boys having fallen apart, another gap in the world of rock music needed to be filled.

COLIN BLUNSTONE: "Rod seemed to jump at the chance of filling the void the Beach Boys had left behind after they put out Smile. I was uninterested in being part of the Zombies at this point, but Rod was confident that Odessey and Oracle would be what would save us. If it was a success, I'd stay on. If not, I was out of here." (1997)

CHRIS WHITE: "Rod was really hellbent about saving our group from failure. He practically begged for Capitol for an aggressive promotion towards Odessey. I thought he'd have a breakdown like Brian Wilson had." (2004)

The Zombies at Abbey Road's Studio 3, June 1967.

Tensions were high and the pressure was on. Blunstone and guitarist Paul Atkinson were particularly irritable during the recording of "Time of the Season", to be featured as the final cut on Odessey and Oracle. Blunstone became frustrated when Argent insisted that he sing the song a certain way and told the songwriter to sing it himself. But despite this argument, he still sang the vocal as required.

"Time of the Season" had been picked as the first single off of the album for a November release. Blunstone's first choice was "Care of Cell 44", the story of a person writing to their partner in prison. As a compromise between the band and the label, both tracks were released as a double A-side.[2]

To simultaneous surprise and relief among the band, "Time of the Season" had reached #3 in the United States by the end of the year. It was kept out of the #1 spot by the Monkees' "Daydream Believer" and the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye", but that didn't stop the single from being successful among fans and critics. "Care of Cell 44" topped out at #19.

"I thought you were crazy about this album," Colin told Rod upon hearing the news, "but you were right and I was wrong. Perhaps we'll make it after all. Long live the Zombies!"

19 April 1968

The cover for the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle album, released April 1968.

Odessey and Oracle was finally released under the Capitol label, with hype having been built up following "Time of the Season", being regarded as an anthem for the counterculture of the 1960s. The second single off the album, "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)", was a response to the Vietnam War, but unlike "Time of the Season", a Top 10 hit, "Butcher's Tale" only managed to reach #29 in America.

This little slump didn't hurt the success Odessey and Oracle received upon release. To promote the albu, the band performed live in the United States for a series of shows, with "Time of the Season" almost always performed as an encore.[3] It had become the anthem for the Summer of Love the year previous.

Whilst the Zombies were out on tour, Capitol was in negotiations with their previous label Decca to release their unreleased material from 1964-1967 as a box set. They would soon come out by the end of the year under the title From Beyond the Grave, with the songs being organized by period.[4] With the box set's release, fans have since speculated on what the albums would've been like had the material been released earlier.

With the Zombies once again a success, the members began to discuss material for the next album.

February - July 1968

The Yardbirds, 1967.

For their initial first few years, the Yardbirds were a bit of a revolving door with members coming and going; the first lineup upon formation in 1963 would feature Keith Relf, Top Topham, Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty. Topham would leave in favor of Eric Clapton, who would then leave in 1965 in favor of Jeff Beck. In 1966, Samwell-Smith would leave in favor of Jimmy Page, and by the end of the year, Beck was kicked out for being a consistent no-show.

By the start of 1968, the lineup for the Yardbirds seemed to have been stabilized, with Relf, Dreja and McCarty being the most consistent members. But even with familiar company, it couldn't last forever.

JIM McCARTY: "We had Mickie Most to produce our previous album, Little Games, and it was sort of dismal, looking back. Unwilling to repeat the mistakes, Jimmy offered to produce our next album." (1995)

JIMMY PAGE: "Nobody seemed to agree on what they wanted; Jim and Keith wanted something inspired by classical music and folk. I wanted a more heavy sound, and Chris wanted to pursue an interest in photography." (1977)

CHRIS DREJA: "It was Keith who suggested that we try and bring in Norman Smith to produce what would eventually become Dazed and Confused. Norm declined our offer, but he suggested we bring in Nick Mason of Pink Floyd instead." (1983)

Nick Mason (front right) with the rest of Pink Floyd, 1968. David Gilmour is not pictured.

At that time, Pink Floyd were in the midst of recording their third album, Scream Thy Last Scream.[5] Nick Mason was volunteered into helping the Yardbirds produce their fifth album, and he even brought Roger Waters along with them to, as Mason would put it, "keep the buggers in line." (2006)

JIM McCARTY: "With Nick and Roger in the studio, there was little tension among us; you always have to be on your best behavior in front of guests." (1995)

ROGER WATERS: "I was involved in the studio with Keith, Chris and the Jims, but I did not contribute any songs of my own. Okay, maybe a lyric or two. *chuckles* With me and Nick in charge, they got things done quickly. The Yardbirds needed something to keep themselves from splintering." (1980)

To further keep things calm between the band members, Jimmy Page had invited his friend John Paul Jones into the studio to perform bass duties. The band was more or less in two halves; Dreja, Relf and McCarty on one half, and Waters, Page and Jones on another, both being produced and managed by Mason. Whilst recording was going on, the Yardbirds went on tour in America for the spring; it would also be the last tour the Yardbirds would take with Chris Dreja as a member. During the tour, one of the album's tracks, "Think About It", would be released as a single to showcase their new sound. Although it didn't chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it would become a cult hit among fans.

19 July - 25 September 1968

The Yardbirds - Dazed and Confused

Released: 19 July 1968

Recorded: February-April 1968

Producer: Jimmy Page and Nick Mason

Track listing[6]

Side A

Henry's Coming Home
Taking a Hold on Me
Love Mum and Dad
My Baby
Think About It
L.S.D.
Dazed and Confused

Side B
Goodnight Sweet Josephine
Knowing That I'm Losing You[7]
Black Mountain Side
Shining Where the Sun Has Been
Together Now
De Lane Lea Lee[8]

JOHN PAUL JONES: "Dazed and Confused is an interesting album in Yardbirds history. The title reflected how everyone was feeling at the time. *laughs* But if you dig a little deeper, it's a transitional album. It was the first album I took part it, and it was the last before Robert [Plant] and Bonzo [John Bonham] came into the picture."(2008)

The fifth Yardbirds album, Dazed and Confused, was released shortly after the Yardbirds had finished their tour in Scandinavia. With the tour now completed, Chris Dreja left the group and was subsequently replaced by John Paul Jones on bass guitar.

Dazed and Confused was viewed a little more positively than Little Games the year previous, but despite the difficult circumstances, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty had chosen to stick around for a little bit longer, despite Robert Plant and John Bonham coming into the picture. For the time being, Relf and McCarty would serve as mentors to Plant and Bonham before deciding to leave the Yardbirds for good. It was the beginning of a new era for the Yardbirds.

Footnotes

1. In OTL, the Zombies were transferred to Columbia Records (then known as CBS).
2. Only "Care of Cell 44" was released as a single in November 1967 with "Beechwood Park" as the B-side. "Time of the Season" would come out in March 1968, months after the band had broken up, before making a breakthrough the following year.
3. In 1969 in OTL, fake versions of the Zombies were created by promoters to cash in on the success of "Time of the Season". This time around, the real band performs.
4. OTL's Zombie Heaven, minus the material from Begin Here and Odessey and Oracle.
5. OTL's A Saucerful of Secrets.
6. Tracks are sourced from the 1992 expanded edition of Little Games, Yardbirds '68 (or Cumular Limit, depending on what you have), and Led Zeppelin from early 1969. Some of the bonus tracks were done by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty as the duet group Together.
7. "Knowing That I'm Losing You" would eventually morph into "Tangerine" on Led Zeppelin III.
8. "De Lane Lea Lee" is the longer version found on Cumular Limit running for about ten minutes; it plays after ten minutes of silence following "Dazed and Confused".

Author's Comments

Those poor Zombies; they're a great example of great things falling through the cracks. Happily though, they've been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so they're finally getting the recognition they should have received five decades ago. Having them signed up to Capitol Records and releasing "Time of the Season" as part of a double A-side, I figured, might've been what could've saved the Zombies from falling apart before their time. Or maybe it couldn't - who knows?

And as for the Yardbirds, it's surprising that they had enough material for one more album, a transitional one before it metamorphosed into Led Zeppelin (in a manner of speaking), and yet no one bothered to compile a proper swan song for them back then. My interpretation obviously would not have been called Dazed and Confused, but probably something else instead, and maybe with Keith Relf and Jim McCarty's solo singles from that time (i.e. "Henry's Coming Home") to flesh it out a bit. Anyone up for that challenge on their own blog?

I'm honestly a bit iffy about this chapter; it's not outright awful, but it's not as great as I feel it could be. If you have any ideas as to what I could change up here, that'd be great. I promise the next chapter will be better.