Extra Scenes: The Zombies and Russ Ballard (February 1971 - December 1974)

19 February 1971 - 6 December 1974

Russ Ballard - Ring of Hands

Released: 19 February 1971

Recorded: 1969-1970

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[1]

Side A

Chained
Liar
Be Free
Schoolgirl
Lothlorien

Side B

Lonely Hard Road
Cast Your Spell Uranus
Sleep Won't Help Me
Stepping Stone
Bring You Joy

By the end of the 1960s, the Zombies had gone through a major shakeup with its band members. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent had both stayed on as vocalists, with the latter also taking up keyboards, but they were joined by Bob Henrit (drums), Russ Ballard (guitar) and Jim Rodford (bass; Argent's cousin) following the departure of Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy. Even though Chris White stopped performing with them, he still stayed on as a non-performing songwriter and even became joint producer for the Zombies alongside Argent.

As well as doing guitar parts for the Zombies, Russ Ballard had taken up songwriting and singing. To avoid having to fight over album space, Ballard was granted the opportunity to put his own material out on solo albums with the Zombies playing as his sidemen and White and Argent in the producer's chair. The resulting album was Ring of Hands, which received mixed to positive reviews from critics but did not chart in either the United States or the United Kingdom. Nor did the sole single, "Liar", backed with "Schoolgirl".

The Zombies - Ennismore

Released: 21 April 1972

Recorded: 1971

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[2]

Side A

Celebration
I Don't Believe in Miracles
Sweet Mary
Andorra
I Want Some More
Hold Your Head Up

Side B

Quartet (Exclusively for Me/A Sign/Every Sound/How Wrong)
Pleasure
I've Always Had You
Time's Running Out
I Am the Dance of Ages

The Zombies' follow-up to Back from the Dead, however, fared much better, charting at #23 in the United States and #13 in the United Kingdom. The lead single off of Ennismore was "Hold Your Head Up"/"I've Always Had You", which hit #5 in both countries, being regarded as one of the band's greatest ever singles alongside "Time of the Season". The follow-up single, "I Don't Believe in Miracles"/"Celebration", hit #31 in the United Kingdom.

Russ Ballard - All Together Now

Released: 28 July 1972

Recorded: 1971

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[3]

Side A

Keep on Rollin'
He's a Dynamo
Tragedy
Where Are We Going Wrong

Side B

Be My Lover, Be My Friend
Pure Love (Fantasia/Prelude/Pure Love/Finale)

The majority of Ballard's sophomore album was recorded alongside Ennismore, and it even featured songwriting contributions from Argent and White, notably "Keep on Rollin'", "Be My Lover, Be My Friend", and the "Pure Love" suite. But like Ring of Hands, All Together Now didn't leave much of an impression on the charts on either side of the Atlantic.

Russ Ballard - In Deep

Released: 21 September 1973

Recorded: 1972-1973

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[4]

Side A

God Gave Rock and Roll to You
It's Only Money, Part 1
It's Only Money, Part 2
Love

Side B

Thunder and Lightning
Rosie
Man for All Reasons
Gonna Meet My Maker

Unlike Ballard's previous efforts, In Deep managed to hit the charts in the United States, but at a measly #149. However, he did manage to gain a hit single in the United Kingdom, "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", at #18. (It also hit #114 in America.) In fact, it was notable enough to have cover versions recorded by Petra (1977 and 1984) and Kiss (1991), both times with altered lyrics.

The Zombies - Christmas for the Free

Released: 1 February 1974

Recorded: 1973

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[5]

Side A

Wonderful
The Coming of Kohutek
Beware
Once Around the Sun
Infinite Wanderer

Side B

Christmas for the Free
Beginning
Keep the Curtains Closed Today
Music from the Spheres

Although it wasn't known at the time, Christmas for the Free turned out to be the last Zombies album for at least seventeen years, citing exhaustion within the band, although this has never been fully explained. The album hit #90 in the United States and #49 in the United Kingdom, but no singles were released off of it. Shortly afterward, the Zombies performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 24 February and then St. Albans City Hall on 9 March. These recordings would be put out on the live album, Encore: Live in Concert, on 6 December.

Shortly after the live performances, Russ Ballard had left the Zombies to pursue a solo and songwriting career, writings hits such as Hot Chocolate's "So You Win Again" and Rainbow's "Since You Been Gone". By the end of 1974, the Zombies had split up for good, with Argent, Henrit and Rodford carrying on with two new guitarists, John Verity and John Grimaldi, to form the band Argent. They recorded one album to fulfill their contract with Capitol Records, Circus, and then one more album under RCA Records, Counterpoints, before breaking up for good in 1976.

But what about Colin Blunstone? Like the members of Argent, he recorded one more album under Capitol Records, Planes, for 1977, before transferring to Highway 61 Records at the start of 1978.

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Argent's eponymous album from 1970 and Ring of Hands.
2. Tracks are sourced from Argent's Ring of Hands and All Together Now, as well as Colin Blunstone's Ennismore.
3. All tracks are sourced from Argent's All Together Now, excluding "Where Are We Going Wrong", taken from Ring of Hands.
4. Tracks are sourced from Argent's In Deep and Nexus.
5. Tracks are sourced from Colin Blunstone's Journey and Argent's Nexus; "Christmas for the Free" is sourced from In Deep.

Author's Comments

Wow, it has been over a year since I last featured the Zombies, hasn't it? It's really ironic that after I'd given them more recognition than they got in this timeline, I completely forgot about them for Phase Two! Hopefully this Extra Scene will rectify that issue, but even then, the Zombies couldn't last forever. Their story continues just about as it did in OTL, with the only difference being that they get more recognition by the time they reunite in the early 1990s. They deserved far better than what they got, but thankfully, being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year gave them attention, even if it was over half a century too late...

Chapter 16: Ain't No Mountain High Enough (November 1969 - August 1970)

3 November 1969 - 4 January 1970

The Beatles, September 1969.

After a month off to spend time with their loved ones, the Beatles returned to the basement studio of Savile Row to work on their next album. Following the blowout between Paul McCartney and George Harrison at the end of the Get Back sessions, it was agreed that the latter would have more say in what songs the Beatles would include on their albums.

This would ultimately prove to be a good decision in retrospect, especially when Paul had brought forth the murder ballad "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", set to a jaunty tune. The other three Beatles reacted negatively to the tune, John Lennon especially.

JOHN LENNON: "Listen here, Macca; you already had your granny shit included on [Beatles] '68 when we did 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-bloody-Da', and we're not going through that bollocks again with 'Maxwell'! Even if we wanted to, it would never be made as a single anywhere." (to Paul McCartney, 1969)

Instead, the Beatles opted for "Come and Get It", a tune McCartney had written and produced for Badfinger for their next album, due for a single release next week. Seeing as the others were unwilling to play on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" - "It was too complicated to work with," said Harrison (1995) - he withdrew the song from the potential track list and worked on a new version of "Comet and Get It". However, for the final track listing, it would be credited to McCartney alone as opposed to Lennon/McCartney, to which Lennon admitted to feeling hurt by being left out of the writing process.

Paul McCartney, December 1969.

Another controversial contender for the next album was Lennon's "Cold Turkey", inspired by his experiences recovering from a brief heroin addiction alongside Yoko Ono. Well, that was what he claimed at first, but in later years, he revealed that it was about a severe case of food poisoning he and Yoko suffered after eating leftover Christmas turkey that was cold. McCartney was concerned about the content of the song, but Harrison was supportive, even providing an impromptu guitar solo that gave the track its own sound. The track was included anyway, citing Lennon as going through writer's block at the time.[1]

PAUL McCARTNEY: "It just seemed strange, really. They wouldn't include 'Maxwell' for being granny music - as John put it - and yet they were okay with 'Cold Turkey' despite the drug implications. That was, in hindsight, another sign that the others were getting fed up with me." (1984)

When it came to deciding how the new album would be structured, Lennon preferred the more traditional release with self-contained songs whilst McCartney and George Martin wanted another album with a thematic approach akin to Merseyside by including a medley. Side A would fulfill Lennon's wish whilst side B fulfilled McCartney's and Martin's collective wish.

Ringo Starr and George Harrison during the recording sessions for Everest, 1969. George Martin can be seen behind Harrison.

Out of the four Beatles, Harrison finally received a chance for his songwriting to shine with the love song "Something" for his wife Pattie and "Here Comes the Sun". The former was considered by both Lennon and McCartney as the best song of the album, as well as the best song Harrison had ever written. So much so that it was planned to be the first single released ahead of the album with McCartney's "Let It Be" as a double A-side. Harrison's third and final contribution to the album was "I Me Mine", a commentary on his fractious relationship with McCartney at the time; it became part of a medley with Lennon's "Polythene Pam", and would also be the last song for several years that all four Beatles would record together on the same track.

9 January 1970
GEORGE MARTIN: "Brian Epstein came to me after the boys had put out Get Back, and he noted to me that there were a lot of songs that Capitol had not put out on an album. It was a similar case for the United Kingdom, so I went over all of their albums from the days beginning with Please Please Me all the way up to Abracadabra. The United Kingdom compilation, which ultimately became known as Past Masters, was easy to assemble. The American compilation was a lot more difficult to put together, because there were only ten tracks that hadn't been on an American album. I discussed this issue with the boys, and they agreed to put out some tracks that weren't put on an album at all. It really gave Sessions some exclusivity when it came out." (2003)

The original Past Masters 1963-1966 cover; it was later replaced with a plain black cover with white text in 1988.

The Beatles - Past Masters 1963-1966

Released: 9 January 1970

Recorded: 5 March 1963 - 16 April 1966

Producer: George Martin
Compiler: George Martin

Track listing[2]

Side A

From Me to You
Thank You Girl
She Loves You
I'll Get You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
This Boy
Long Tall Sally
I Call Your Name
Slow Down
Matchbox

Side B

I Feel Fine
She's a Woman
Bad Boy
Yes It Is
I'm Down
Day Tripper
We Can Work It Out
Paperback Writer
Rain

The Beatles - Sessions

Released: January 9, 1970

Recorded: 6 June 1962 - 5 August 1969

Producer: George Martin
Compiler: George Martin

Track listing[3]

Side A

Besame Mucho
How Do You Do It
Misery
There's a Place
From Me to You
One After 909 [original version]
Sie liebt dich
Can't Buy Me Love
A Hard Day's Night

Side B

I Should Have Known Better
Leave My Kitten Alone
If You've Got Trouble
That Means a Lot
I'm Down
Paperback Writer
Rain
Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues

Past Masters and Sessions were released on the same day in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Past Masters compiled every track that was not included on an album in the United Kingdom, excluding the single version of "Love Me Do" and the Germany-released single "Komm, gib mir diene Hand"/"Sie liebt dich". The latter two tracks were included on the German release closing out sides A and B, respectively. Later CD releases would place the two tracks in between "This Boy" and "Long Tall Sally".

Sessions, meanwhile, included not only the ten tracks that had not received an album release in America, but it also included seven outtakes - including the original version of "One After 909" - ranging from before they had even released their first album ("Besame Mucho", "How Do You Do It") to the most recent Get Back sessions ("Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues"). The outtakes were included to flesh out the compilation a little more, and at the time, it was considered an exclusivity before the seven outtakes were later included for the Savile Row compilation album in 1995.[4]

17 April 1970

The Beatles - Everest

Released: 17 April 1970

Recorded: 3 November 1969 - 4 January 1970

Producer: George Martin

Track listing[5]

Side A

Because
Something
Come and Get It
Cold Turkey
Octopus's Garden
Her Majesty
I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Side B

The Long and Winding Road
Here Comes the Sun
Cosmically Conscious
Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam/I Me Mine
Let It Be
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End

The Beatles' fifteenth album, Everest, was released to near universal acclaim. The album received its title after Geoff Emerick's favorite brand of cigarettes, but also after the gigantic mountain in the Himalayas. An initial idea was to travel there for a photo session, but the idea was shot down and instead, an image of the band was placed overseeing Mount Everest, designed by Klaus Voormann, who also designed the cover for Abracadabra.

Everest reached #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, backed by the success of the double A-side "Something"/"Let It Be" released that February. Both tracks reached #1 in America, but stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom. A second single was released exclusively in the United States, McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road" with Ringo Starr's "Octopus's Garden" as the B-side. This was not dissimilar to the "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby" single from four years previous with a children's song performed by Starr contrasted by a more depressing track by McCartney. The single hit #1 in the United States, their 27th single overall to reach #1 in either country.

But despite two successful albums at the end of the old decade and at the start of a new one, not all was well within the group.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1970.

GEORGE HARRISON: "When we finished recording for Everest, we needed a break. John and Yoko both undertook primary therapy from psychologist Arthur Janov that lasted about five months. Paul and I were off writing more tracks and producing for Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax. Ringo stayed at home." (1985)

Whilst Lennon was undergoing primal therapy, he would record demos for songs such as "Mother", "Working Class Hero", "Isolation", and "God", as well as a re-working of a track from India, "Look at Me". Similarly, McCartney was recording demos for older songs such as "Every Night", "Teddy Boy", and "Junk", as well as newer songs such as what many would consider his masterwork, "Maybe I'm Amazed". Harrison now had a big stockpile of songs he was unable to record with the Beatles with songs like "Isn't It a Pity", "Let It Down", "Hear Me Lord", "All Things Must Pass", and a collaboration with Bob Dylan, "I'd Have You Anytime". It looked as though, when they reunited towards the end of summer, the Beatles would end up recording a double album's worth of material, possibly a triple, had it not been for a meeting between a certain ringed drummer and their manager.

RINGO STARR: "Just a couple of weeks after Everest came out, I came into Brian's [Epstein] office and told him that I didn't want to just play music all the time. I wanted to have a side career of my own as an actor, especially after the movies we did as a band in the 1960s. It was rather quick for a meeting, but Brian promised that he'd find a way to work something out, and not long after that, he came into contact with an American director called Mel Stuart." (2001)

Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published in 1964, featuring a young boy called Charlie Bucket receiving an inside tour of a chocolate factory run by eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The idea of a film adaptation came about when Mel Stuart's daughter Madeline read the book and asked her father if he could make a film out of it. Stuart then presented the book to his film-making partner and producer David L. Wolper. By an amazing stroke of coincidence, Stuart and Wolper received a telephone call from Brian Epstein, asking if they had a film in the works.

Ringo Starr, 1970.

MICHAEL LINDSAY-HOGG: "Brian brought in Mel Stuart and David Wolper into a meeting in London, along with the book's author Roald Dahl, about making an adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ringo was also present at the meeting, having told Brian about wanting a side career in acting. David was in the midst of talks with Quaker Oats at the time when it came to introducing a new candy bar from its subsidiary in Chicago now known as the Willy Wonka Candy Company." (2001)

With a lot of negotiation, it was decided that the film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would be co-produced by Apple Films, Wolper Pictures and the Quaker Oats Company with Warner Brothers as its distributor. The film would be a children's musical, and Dahl would write the screenplay, although the title was changed to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for marketing purposes.

Ringo himself was cast as the titular character, with the knowledge that out of the Beatles, he was easily the most popular and approachable. The other three Beatles were surprised at the announcement of their drummer being the lead character of the movie, and even asked to be in the film as well. Although initially reluctant, Stuart agreed to their presence in the film with Paul being cast as Bill, the owner of the Candy Shop, George as Mr. Turkentine, and John as Mr. Slugworth.[6] In later years, Dahl felt that the presence of the Beatles distracted from the movie as a whole, though he did admit to liking their music. Filming for the movie would begin at the end of August in Germany.

14 August 1970

The Zombies - Back from the Dead

Released: 14 August 1970

Recorded: 1969-1970

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[7]

Side A

Like Honey
Her Song
Caroline Goodbye
Though You Are Far Away
Dance in the Smoke

Side B

Mary Won't You Warm My Bed
The Feeling's Inside
Freefall
I Can't Live Without You
Rejoice
Say You Don't Mind

With the Zombies having received a resurgence in popularity with "Time of the Season" from Odessey and Oracle, the band put out all of their previously-unreleased material from 1964-1967 under Capitol called From Beyond the Grave, and they even put out a new album the year previous with the ironic title of R.I.P..[8] But where would they go from here?

ROD ARGENT: "Chris [White] was no longer interested in playing on the albums but he still took part in songwriting. But Paul [Atkinson] and Hugh [Grundy] had left the band before R.I.P. was even released." (1990)

The Zombies, 1970. Not pictured: Colin Blunstone.

The Zombies were given a revamp by bringing in drummer Bob Henrit, guitarist Russ Ballard and bassist Jim Rodford, but the core of the band was always going to be Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone. The revamped Zombies were soon back in the studio recording their fourth album, Back from the Dead. In a surprising turn of events, Colin Blunstone was now writing up his own material and Russ Ballard had vocal spots on not only the songs by Argent and Chris White, but on his own songs as well.

It was eventually decided that Ballard's vocal spots would be compiled on a solo album called Ring of Hands, for an early 1971 release, whilst songs sung either by Blunstone or Argent would be on Back from the Dead.

Back from the Dead was released on August 14 to generally positive reception. Many critics and fans lamented the absence of Chris White (despite his presence in the songwriting), Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy, and the album was not a Top 40 hit in the United States, but the music was still considered to be enjoyable for what it was, especially "Say You Don't Mind", originally by former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. The Zombies' cover version reached #15 in the United Kingdom as a single.

Footnotes

1. "Cold Turkey" was brought forth as a potential single for the Beatles, but Paul McCartney rejected it. That was the final straw for John Lennon privately quitting the Beatles and releasing it as a solo single under the Plastic Ono Band. Ringo Starr appears on the track on drums.
2. All tracks taken from Past Masters.
3. Tracks are sourced from the Anthology trilogy, Please Please Me, Past Masters, and A Hard Day's Night.
4. A compilation album called Sessions was planned for release in 1985, but it was shot down by the three surviving Beatles and the tracks were later included on the Anthology albums.
5. The tracks are sourced from the following:
1. "Because", "Something", "Octopus's Garden", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and "Here Comes the Sun" are all sourced from Abbey Road.
2. "Come and Get It" is from Anthology 3.
3. "Cold Turkey" is a John Lennon single that can be found on compilations such as Power to the People: The Hits.
4. "Her Majesty" is an audio rip from The Beatles: Rock Band with the closing chord from "Mean Mr. Mustard" cut.
5. "The Long and Winding Road" is taken from Let It Be... Naked.
6. "Cosmically Conscious" is the short version that be found as a hidden track from Paul McCartney's Off the Ground following "C'Mon People". Although somewhat anachronistic, the track has origins tracing back to 1968. The closing sound effects from "You Never Give Me Your Money" are added at the end as "Cosmically Conscious" fades out, fading into the next track.
7. "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" are both sourced from Abbey Road and joined together as a single track with the closing chord of the latter re-inserted.
8. "Polythene Pam" is from Abbey Road with the ending, taken from "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", extended and fading out at the end, cross-fading into "I Me Mine", taken from Anthology 3 with the opening dialogue cut.
9. "Let It Be" is the single version found on Past Masters.
10. "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", and "The End" are all sourced from Abbey Road and joined together to form a single track.
6. The roles of Willy Wonka, Bill, Mr. Turkentine, and Mr. Slugworth were portrayed by Gene Wilder, Aubrey Woods, David Battley, and Gunter Meisner, respectively.
7. Tracks are sourced from Colin Blunstone's One Year and Argent's self-titled album from 1970, with "Rejoice" taken from Ring of Hands.
8. R.I.P. is soniclovenoize's version that he did back in July 2014; his full take can be seen here.

Author's Comments

Yep, we're finally leaving the 1960s behind and are just about to enter the 1970s. An interesting note in regards to Colin's One Year album from 1971 is that all four members from Argent appeared on three tracks, which sort of made me wonder what might've happened if the Zombies carried on but with different members. How would it have compared to the original lineup? I'm not sure.

The idea for a Beatles-starred take on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory came from my good friend Mike Nicholson. I did a poll asking which Beatle would be best suited for Wonka, and Ringo was the winner with John coming in a close second. On one hand, John would've perfectly fit Wonka's eccentricity and occasional mad rambling, but on the other, Ringo also has the sort of fatherly charm to him. Gene Wilder managed to do both sides of him brilliantly, and I'll admit it's kind of sacrilege, but heck, it's alternate history. It does also make me wonder how the film would've differed from OTL.

Only a few more chapters to go for Phase One, and after the last chapter is written up, I'll be writing up the complete timeline of events thus far.

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.