The Beau Brummels
Band members Related acts
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line-up 1 (1963-65) - Ron Elliott -- guitar, vocals - Ron Meagher -- bass, guitar, vocals - Declan Mulligan (RIP 2001) -- vocals, rhythm guitar - John Petersen (RIP 2007) -- drums, percussion - Sal Valentino (aka Salvatore Willard Spampinato) -- vocals
line-up 2 (1965-66) - Ron Elliott -- guitar, vocals - Ron Meagher -- bass, guitar, vocals - Sal Valentino (aka Salvatore Willard Spampinato) -- vocals
line-up 3 (1966-67) - Ron Elliott -- guitar, vocals - Ron Meagher -- bass - John Petersen -- drums, percussion - Sal Valentino (aka Salvatore Willard Spampinato) -- vocals
line-up 4 (1966-67) - Ron Elliott -- guitar, vocals - Ron Meagher -- bass - Sal Valentino (aka Salvatore Willard Spampinato) -- vocals
supporting musicians: (1967) - The Blossoms – backing vocals - James Burton -- guitar - David Duke – French horn - Jesse Ehrlich – cello - Gene Garf – accordion - Jim Gordon -- drums, percussion - Dick Hyde – trombone - George Hyde – French horn - Carol Kaye -- bass - Raymond Kelley – cello - Lou Klass – violin - Donnie Lanier -- guitar - Van Dyke Parks -- harpsichord, keyboards - Gale Robinson – French horn - Shari Zippert – violin
line-up 5 (1968) - Ron Elliott -- guitar, vocals - Sal Valentino (aka Salvatore Willard Spampinato) -- vocals
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- Ron Elliott (solo efforts) - Giants (Ron Elliott) - Jackie Greene / Sal Valentino & Friends - Harpers Bizarre (John Peterson) - Tina and David Mellzler (Don Irving) - Joyful Noise (Musical Ensemble) (Ron Elliott) - Pan (Ron Elliott) - Sal Valentino (solo efforts) - The Serpent Power (Don Irving) - Stoneground (Sal Valentino) - Sal Valentino (solo efforts) - Vejtables (Ron Elliott)
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Genre: psych Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Triangle Company: Warner Brothers Catalog: WS-1692 Year: 1967 Country/State: California Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: stereo pressing Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4574 Price: $40.00 Cost: $66.00
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As you can tell from the cover, by the time 1967's "Triangle" was released The Beau Brummels had lost rhythm guitarist Don Irving to his local draft board, while drummer John Peterson moved on to Harpers Bizarre. That left singer/guitarist Ron Elliott, bassist Ron Meagher and lead vocalist Sal Valentino to continue The Beau Brummels nameplate. Adding injury to insult, during the recording sessions Meagher was called to active duty in the Army.
Produced by Lenny Warnoker and with backing from Van Dyke Parks and members of the famed Wrecking Crew, this is one of those albums that has puzzled me in a number of ways. Perhaps the weirdest was why did they decide to abandon their successful pop oriented sound for a more folk oriented approach that simply dripped of Dylan influences? Anyone who'd bought the previous "Beau Brummels '66" collection of pop covers was going to wonder what was going on. Equally puzzling was trying to decide whether this was a concept album. If it was a concept piece the resulting plotline was totally lost on me. Stan Corney's cryptic liner notes didn't exactly clarify the story - "Enter here a Magic Forest. Enter with one man, as he travels through this wilderness that is his life. Travels, not chronologically, but emotionally. And here him, as he tells hisl life." I'll readily admit to missing the group's patented pop efforts. These Dylan-esque numbers weren't nearly as tuneful and the lyrical content was frequently dark and enigmatic. To my ears it sounded like getting lost on your way home in a cold, stoned fog. Still, this may be the best thing these guys ever recorded. In fact, it's probably worthy of being dubbed as a lost classic; made even more appealing by the fact it remains readily available and affordable. And that leads to another question - why didn't the LP do better commercially? It faltered at # 197 on the US Billboard album charts. The album was a major change from the band's earlier top-40 orientation. That change in direction was probably a disappointment to their legion of pop fans (helping explain the resulting lack of sales), but propelled by Valentino's instantly recognizable voice and Elliott's surprisingly bizarre lyrics ("Painter of Women", '"he Keeper of Time" and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune"), the set's experimental edge more than made up for the lack of top-40 orientation. Musically the title track ''Are You Happy?" and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune" offered up a fascinating blend of prototype Americana (two decades before it became popular), country-rock. folk and even lite-psych influences. The ever eclectic Van Dyke Parks guested, providing harpsichord on "Magic Hollow".
So what's the bottom line here? Well, if your experience is similar to mine, this isn't a collection that is going to instantly rock your world. You certainly won't be playing it at your next party. That said, it's a fascinating collection, groundbreaking in it's embrace of what we'd call Americana today, while reflecting a distinctively mid-'60s vibe. You have to be in the right mood, but given the chance and effort, it will begin to charm you.
1.) Are You Happy? (Bob Durand - Ron Elliott) - 2:17 rating: *** stars "Are You Happy?" was the first of four collaborations between Elliott and high school friend and frequent writing partner Bob Durand. Framed by a bouncy Lovin' Spoonful styled folk-styled melody, it wasn't the most commercial thing they've ever recorded, but it did have a certain low-keyed charm. And then there was the Dylan influence ... The opener served to showcase The Beau Brummels had not been immune from Dylan influences. Here's what Cornyn's liner notes had to say about the song: "At the edge of this forest. He first pauses - staring back as someone still unforgotten. Looking at her in open inquiry. Asks, of this someone, now gone from his side, "How do you feel?" Are you happy, running to Summer with winter on your heels? And are you happy, running to shelter, when shelter won't conceal ..." 2.) Only Dreaming Now (Ron Elliott - Sal Valentino) - 2:06 rating: *** stars "Then
a few steps deeper into this forest, her past warmth now even less by him,
his head dances in the memory of when he saw her crying, crying 'cause their
hearts were'n't ling ... but now, they're ony dreaming now."
Oh yeah, that
clarified it for me - not. 'Only Dreaming Now' was the first
Elliott-Valentino collaboration to make it on record. A heavily
orchestrated ballad, kicked along by Gene
Garf's accordion, the
track sounded like something borrowed from the soundtrack from a French
"B" flick. Valentino didn't sound particularly comfortable
on the lead vocal. "Deeper still, this uncommon Everyman wanders the forest. Isn't he a sight, with his fancies in flight, this painter of women, whse hands are his eyes. Always around were there love to be found. He has chosen his dream, and cannot stop without it." With Elliott on lead vocals, the epic "Painter of Women" mixed folk with a touch of psych influences, wrapped in some heavy orchestration. The results dripped Dylan influences. Quite cool. 4.) The Keeper of Time (Bob Durand - Ron Elliott) - 2:09 rating: *** stars Against a horn arrangement the prominent banjo and acoustic guitar gave "The Keeper of Time" a country feel. Another track that was very Dylan-esque. "And as he wanders, thoughts of passing, empty moments worry him. He thinks ahead, ahead of himself in his tomorrow years, as the keeper of time, falling behind the hours, blinking and nodding." 5.) It Won't Get Better (Ron Elliott - Sal Valentino) - 2:20 rating: *** stars Another track seemingly reflecting Lovin' Spoonful influences, "It Won't Get Better" mixed reflective lyrics with a surprisingly poppy melody. It was the perfect song for a folk club ... "In such a mood, man tells himself it won't get better and he'd best act now, in his Summertime, when all the girls are in their prime, Time won't be re-arrange all the things that you need to be changed."
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2) And you thought only Dylan had discovered country in the mid-'60s ... "Nashville Skyline" didn't come out until 1969. The first of two covers, listening to their version of Merle Travis' "Nine Pound Hammer" you might as well get ready for the next album - 1968's' "Bradley's Barn". Yeah, it was a country tune, but their performance (particularly James Burton's slide guitar and Valentino's energetic vocals), made it one of the album's most energetic performances. "But even in this Magic Forest, life is wearying. Lift up that nine pound hammer. Know it's inevitability. Know that when death comes, your trombone must be made if number nine coal." 2.) Magic Hollow (Ron Elliott - Sal Valentino) - 2:52 rating: **** stars Showcasing Van Dyke Parks on harpsichord and Gene Garf on accordion, 'Magic Hollow' was one of the prettiest things the band ever recorded. Like Valentino's vocals, the results were fragile, pastoral and mystical - the sweet ballad reflecting a weird "stoned Renaissance" vibe. It was an interesting choice for a single, though you could understand Warner Brothers' frustration with the album since nothing here was particularly AM radio-friendly. "The traveler asks "Won't you follow. follow, through the dark?" He, in his dream world, hears the lark of Magic hollow, and calls out her melody, veiled within his own memory. Magic."
- 1967's "Magic Hollow" b/w "Lower Level" (Warner Brothers catalog number 7079).
3.) And I've Seen Her (Bob Durand - Ron Elliott) - 1:59 rating: **** stars "The struggle between hope and resignation, between heart and mind, waivers to the mind's favor: he remembers her: and I've seen her sleeping; she is keeping to herself. She is waiting to be known, but living all alone. But she'll never give in. She'll go to sleep again." Opening up with a catchy mix of banjo and acoustic guitar, "And I've Seen Her" was one of the album's catchier performances. It's also one of the tracks that showcases criticisms of Valentino's quivery voice. I can understand the criticism, but my ears quickly acclimated to his limitations. 4.) Triangle (Ron Elliott - Sal Valentino) - 2:17 rating: **** stars Wow, that was a lot of words to fit in two minutes. Nice horn arrangement and when the tune actually got rolling, it revealed one of the album's strongest and somewhat commercial melodies. "Alone his thoughts turn outside him, to the forest around. And to the fertile triangle which has caught him up; the triangle of love and sun and rain. The eternal mandala he is part in." 5.) The Wolf of Velvet Fortune (Ron Elliott - Sal Valentino) - 4:52 rating: **** stars Welcome to old Spain ...Even though I don't have a clue what it was about I've always thought "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune " was the album's coolest song. Imagine a stoned young Al Stewart. "In this, the deepest part of the forest, the air is full of strangeness. An unfamiliar breeze blows. He Sleeps. And as the world of velvet fortune, he becomes a giver without thought of receiving, or of return. Delight! Delight! Hearing a crying, frightened flower, he embraces. And in this embrace, travels in the beauty of the silver-glowing night." 6.) Old Kentucky Home (Randy Newman) - 2:05 rating: *** stars I'm not a Randy Newman scholar, but this is one of the earliest Newman covers I'm aware of. Newman's own version of the song didn't appear until the release of his second album - 1970's "12 Songs". Newman's song reflected a loose adaptation of Stephen Foster's classic "My Old Kentucky Home" with The Beau Brummels arrangement kept the basic melody and all of Newman's sarcasm. Interesting way to close the album. "He is wiser. He pauses. Epilogue, and release from the magic forest: Old Kentucky home, singing, head back, if turpentine and dandylion wine. "Got fire in my belly and fire in my head; goin' higher and higher, until I'm ..."
© Scott R. Blackerby May 2025
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