Odessey and Oracle 1968: Album review and songs from Answers.com

Odessey and Oracle

Released

April 19, 1968 (UK)
June 1968 (US)

Recorded

"Changes" recorded November 1967, Abbey Road. All other tracks recorded June-August 1967, Abbey Road and Olympic Studios.

Genre

Psychedelic pop, Baroque pop

Length

35:18

Label

CBS (U.K.)
Date Records (U.S.)

Producer

The Zombies, Al Kooper (American reissue)

Professional reviews

The Zombies chronology

Begin Here
(1965) (UK)
----
The Zombies
(1965) (US)

Odessey and Oracle
(1968)

New World (1991)

Odessey and Oracle is a psychedelic rock, baroque pop album by The Zombies released in 1968.

1 Album information
2 Reunion performances
3 Reception
4 Album sleeve
5 Track listing
- 5.1 CD bonus tracks
- 5.2 Rock Machine (MACD 6) (1986)
6 Personnel
7 Notes
8 See also

Album information

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only "true" Zombies album. While their first album included several cover versions, Odessey consisted entirely of original compositions by the group's two main songwriters, Rod Argent and Chris White.

The group began work on the album in June 1967. Nine of the twelve songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release.

In August, when Abbey Road was unavailable, the Zombies temporarily shifted base to Olympic Studios where they recorded Beechwood Park, Maybe After He's Gone and I Want Her She Wants Me. They returned to Abbey Road Studios in September. The sessions ended in November and the final two tracks to be recorded were Time Of The Season and Changes.

By then, morale within the band was at a low point. Two singles, Care Of Cell 44 and Friends Of Mine, had been released to total indifference. Colin Blunstone and Paul Atkinson felt disillusioned and tempers flared during the recording of Time Of The Season. Blunstone wasn't at all keen on the song written by Argent, who insisted Colin sing it a certain way. Colin's patience snapped and he effectively told Argent to sing it himself.^[1] To everyone's relief, Blunstone finally sang the vocal as required. Little did they realize the song would become an enduring rock classic.

The album was recorded using a Studer four track machine — the same type of tape machine used on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — and was mixed down in stereo using an experimental transistor console at EMI Studios in 1967. Source:Recording_The_Beatles^{[citation needed]}

Argent and White mixed the album down into mono, but when they handed the master to CBS, they were informed that a stereo mix was required. The recording budget having been spent, Argent and White were forced to dip into their songwriting royalties in order to pay for the time and resources needed to create the stereo mix. Unfortunately, this was the last straw for Paul Atkinson and Colin Blunstone, who quit and effectively split up the band. The stereo mix was completed on January 1st 1968, but by then the Zombies were no more.

One major problem arose when it came time to mix This Will Be Our Year into stereo. Zombies original producer Ken Jones had dubbed live horn parts directly onto a mono mixdown. With the horns not having been recorded on the multi-track beforehand, a faked stereo mix had to be made of the mono master, and it wasn't until the 1997 Zombie Heaven boxset that it was finally given a stereo mix, albeit minus the horns. This was made possible because the Zombies owned the multi track masters, which are in the possession of Chris White.

Because the album was recorded to a tight budget and deadline, the Zombies worked quickly in the studio, having rehearsed rigorously beforehand. This meant that there would be no outtakes or unused songs recorded during the sessions. Cello and Mellotron parts were added to A Rose For Emily but discarded at the final mixing stage. Alternate mixes of that song featuring the discarded overdubs can be heard on Zombie Heaven and the 30th anniversary release of the album.

Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK on April 19, 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a different album cover that severely cropped the original artwork.

American CBS boss Clive Davis initially decided not to release the album. However, at the urging of staff producer Al Kooper, the U.S. CBS/Columbia Records label was eventually persuaded to release the album on their small Date Records subsidiary label. Kooper had picked up a copy of the album during a trip to London, and when he returned to America and played the album, he loved it and believed it contained three hit singles. CBS chose to release Butcher's Tale as the first single in the States, feeling the song's anti-war theme would resonate with record-buyers due to the Vietnam conflict. ^[2] After its release, Time Of The Season slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in 1969, by which time Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent.

The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44" has been covered by a number of artists including Elliott Smith and Of Montreal .

Velvet Crush's singles compilation, A Single Odessey, is misspelled in dedication to the Zombies' album.

Reunion performances

Because the band split before the album was released, they never got to perform any of the songs onstage. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent reunited in 2001 and over the next few years resurrected The Zombies as a recording and touring unit with ex Argent bassist Jim Rodford, his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey on guitar. They performed various songs from the album, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release, in March 2008, Chris White and Hugh Grundy returned to perform three shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London during which they performed Odessey and Oracle in its entirety with assistance from Darian Sahanaja and various friends. Paul Atkinson had died in 2004 so Keith Airey took his place.

The original 5 piece line up had reformed briefly in 1997 for the launch party of the Zombie Heaven boxset. Held in London's Jazz Cafe, they performed She's Not There and Time Of The Season. There was one final reunion in 2004 at a benefit gig for Paul Atkinson and though Paul was very ill, he insisted on performing with them. The 2008 shows though were the first time Argent, Blunstone, White and Grundy performed to the British public as a unit since the split back in December 1967.

The Zombies were insistent on being as authentic as possible, hence the extra singers, Darian filling in keyboard and Mellotron parts via use of a Memotron and Rod Argent himself played an original Mellotron on a couple of numbers. Argent also tracked down a Victorian Pump Organ dating from 1896 so they could recreate White's Butcher's Tale, the original organ having long since been given away or sold by Chris.

The concerts were sell outs and critically acclaimed. One of the shows was recorded and filmed and are now available on CD and DVD as Odessey and Oracle (Revisited).

The reunion was so successful, they decided to reprise the show on a short 4 date British tour in April 2009 playing in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and ending on April 25th at the Hammersmith Apollo in London which Argent stated would be the very last time the album would be performed on stage.

Reception

In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Odessey in 80th place on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time^[3]. In addition it has appeared on a number of greatest albums lists.

Stylus magazine selected it as the 196th on their 101-200 Favorite Albums List.^[4]
The Guardian placed it 77th on their Top 100 Albums That Don’t Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time^[5]
Mojo magazine named it the 97th greatest album ever made.^[6]
It placed 32nd on NME's list^[7] and 51st on Q magazine's list of the greatest British albums ever.^[8]

Odessey consistently ranks in the top 50 on the constantly changing Rate Your Music greatest ever albums list. ^[9]

Album sleeve

The album sleeve contains a short text written by keyboard player Rod Argent quoting William Shakespeare's The Tempest.^[10]

The famous misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover (to be confirmed with artist shortly - August 2009), Terry Quirk (who was the flatmate of bass player Chris White). The band tried to cover this up at the time of release by claiming the misspelling was intentional.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

"Care of Cell 44" (Rod Argent) – 3:56
"A Rose for Emily" (Argent) – 2:19
"Maybe After He's Gone" (Chris White) – 2:33
"Beechwood Park" (White) – 2:43
"Brief Candles" (White) – 3:30
"Hung Up on a Dream" (Argent) – 3:01
"Changes" (White) – 3:19
"I Want Her She Wants Me" (Argent) – 2:51
"This Will Be Our Year" (White) – 2:08
"Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" (White) – 2:47
"Friends of Mine" (White) – 2:17
"Time of the Season" (Argent) – 3:33

CD bonus tracks

There are various CD editions of the album available, almost all of which contain a varying number of bonus tracks.

Rock Machine (MACD 6) (1986)

This, the first issue on CD (made in France) had alternate cover art known as The Old Man in the Temple. No bonus tracks.

Bluemoon Records (1988)

This (now out of print) CD release of Odessey contains the following bonus tracks in addition to the twelve original album songs:

"I'll Call You Mine"
"Imagine the Swan"

Big Beat Records (1998), also re-issued by SonyBMG (2004)

This CD release contains both original mixes of Odessey - the first 12 tracks consist of the original stereo album (track 9 is mono only), followed by the full version of the mono album. In addition this edition also offers 3 stereo bonus tracks remixed in 1998. The Alternate Version of "Time of The Season" is especially interesting because it has instrumental backing underneath the vocals during the entire chorus. The instruments were mixed out of part of the chorus on the original stereo and mono versions to create an a cappella vocal section.

"A Rose for Emily (Alternate Version 2)"
"Time of the Season (Alternate Version)"
"Prison Song (Care of Cell 44 backing track)"

Repertoire (REP5089) (2008)

This 40th anniversary release consists of two discs: CD1, the 12 tracks of the original 1968 mono album; and CD2, the same 12 tracks in the 1968 stereo mix. CD1 also contains the following six bonus tracks:

"I'll Call You Mine"
"Imagine the Swan"
"Conversation off Floral Street"
"If It Don't Work Out"
"I Know She Will"
"Don't Cry for Me"

Personnel

Colin Blunstone – vocals
Rod Argent – organ, piano, keyboards, vocals, Mellotron
Paul Atkinson – guitar
Chris White – bass, vocals
Hugh Grundy – drums

Production notes:

Geoff Emerick – engineer
Peter Vince – engineer
Jools DeVere – design

Odessey and Oracle

Review

Tracks

Credits

Contents