line-up 1 (1967-68)

- Don Braucht (RIP 2023) -- bass, rhythm guitar, percussion 

- Paul Cannella -- lead guitar

- Don Agrati (aka Don Grady, aka Luke R. Yoo) (RIP 2012) -- 

  vocals, drums, percussion,

- Forrest 'Frosty' Green -- keyboards 

- Alex Valdez -- vocals, drums, percussion

  supporting musicians: (1967)

- Gary Zekley (RIP 1996) -- vocals

- Don Agrati (solo efforts)

- The Breakaways (Don Braucht)

- The Five of Us (Paul Canella and Alex Valdez)

- Frosty (Forrest Green) (solo efforts)

- Don Grady and the Windupwatch Band (solo efforts)

- The Mouseketeers (Don Grady)

- The Palace Guard (Don Grady)

- The Raggamuffins (Gary Zekley)

- The Rising Sons (Forrest Green) 

- Alex Valdez (solo efforts)

Genre: sunshine-pop

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Title:  The Yellow Balloon

Company: Canterbury

Catalog: CLPS-1502

Year: 1967

Country/State: California

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+; still in shrink wrap (opened)

Comments: stereo pressing

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 4484

Price: $70.00

Cost: $66.00

It looks like a classic slice of '60s sunshine pop. Groovy band name.  Band name in a hip looking font.  Cover with five young guys hangin' on a sunny Southern California Beach ...  Quick word of warning - 1967's "The Yellow Balloon" is another mid-'60s album some dealers have labeled as psych.  It isn't.  Think some of the lamest sunshine-pop ever recorded and you'll be in the right musical niche. That isn't to imply the album doesn't have a few virtues. 

The Yellow Balloon started as a studio entity - the brain child of producer/songwriter Gary Zekley.  Zekley had made his name working with and writing material for Jan and Dean.  In the wake of Jan's near fatal 1966 car accident, Zekley continued working with Dean Torrence on a planned solo album (to be credited as a Jan and Dean product).  Zekley provided Torrence with several tunes, but was disappointed with the studio recordings, eventually deciding to shop the songs around himself.  

Finding an interested party in the form of Ken Handler's LA-based Canterbury Records (Handler's parents owned Mattel Toys), Zekley convinced Canterbury to rush release one of the songs as a single.  With Zekley on lead vocals, credited to 'The Yellow Balloon', 1966's "Yellow Balloon" b/w "Noollab Wolley" (Canterbury catalog number C-508) provided all concerned with an unexpected top-40 hit.  

The resulting publicity and demand for touring support forced Zekley to start looking for a touring band.  At the same time Canterbury had signed child star Don Grady (known for his role as Robbie on My Three Sons) to a solo recording contract under the name Don Agrati.  In addition to his television work, Agrati/Grady had been a member of the folk-rock outfit The Palace Guard and while touring with the band and working as a solo act he'd accumulated a list of musicians he'd seen and worked with whom had impressed him.  Put in touch with Zekley the two agreed on a collaboration with Grady subsequently calling up some of those musicians.  The final Yellow Balloon line up consisted of ex-The Five of Us lead guitarist Paul Canella and singer Alex Valdez, former Rising Sons keyboardist Forrest Green and ex-The Breakaways bassist Don Braucht.   

Produced and largely penned by Zekley (credited as Yodar Critch), the album's always struck me as one of the lamest sunshine pop albums ever released.  The set was seriously feeble, making competitors such as The Association, The Fifth Dimension, The Sunshine Company and The Turtles sound like hardcore rockers.  Interestingly with the famed Wrecking Crew playing on most of the album, musically the performances sound great. Shame the material was so weak.  I guess part of the explanation can be traced to the fact the eleven tracks reflected a mixture of Zekley-penned tunes including Jan and Dean castoffs, earlier demos and new material written and hurriedly recorded with a mix of studio musicians and the newly recruited band.  Exemplified by performances like "Baby Baby It's You", "Good Feelin' Time" and "How Can I Be Down" the album offering up a mix of Beach Boys-styled pop, Spanky & Our Gang old-timey cuteness ("Panama Red") and harmony rich sunshine pop that was frequently just this side of easy listening elevator music. Admittedly the album benefited from a couple of decent melodies ("Springtime Girl", "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" and "Junk Maker Shoppe") and there were those lovely Beach Boys-styled harmony vocals.  Unfortunately lyrically most of the album was a throwaway.  Perhaps there was something to be found in the sugary themes found on  "Baby, Bay It's You", "I've Got a Feeling for Love" and the old timey "Panama Red" but to my ears this stuff was nothing short of saccharine.  Another problem stemmed from the fact Green, Valdez and the un-credited Zekley weren't great singers.  Tracks like "How Can I Be Down" and "Panama Red" simply sounded flat.  Agreti was better and his performance on "Junk Maker Shoppe" was one of the album highlights.  My advice would be to avoid the hype surrounding this one.

Canterbury had little in the way of promotional resources and in spite of floating three singles the album did little commercially.  Within a year the group called it quits.

Under his given name Agrati went solo including releasing a 1973 solo album for Elektra  "Homegrown" (catalog number EKS-75057).

Braucht returned to Oregon and then back to California where he kicked around various local groups before joining"The Relatives" which featured a young, singer named Lynda Carter (of future Wonder Woman fame). They ended up playing Caesar's Palace in Vegas for several years.  Braucht pass on in 2023 .

Under the name "Frost" Green recorded a solo single:

- 1970's "I Want To Know" b/w "Monkey" (MGM catalog number K-14109)

In 1985 he reappeared with a solo album - "On the Right Track" (ASR catalog number ASR-1002)

Valdez recorded some solo material, but I've never been able to track any of it down.  He's also written at least one novel:  Alexander Valdez – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com

"The Yellow Balloon" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) How Can I Be Down (Don Altfeld - Jill Gibson - Gary Zekley) - 2:14 rating: ** stars

Apparently an early Zekley demo; he also handled the vocals, imagine Brian Wilson and company recording whilst they were all suffering from ear infections.  "How Can I Be Down" was an okay slice of sunshine-pop.  The lyrics sounded like something an fifth grade class came up with; the melody wasn't particularly strong and the vocals were noticeable flat.

2.) Stained Glass Window (Don Agrati - Gary Zekley) - 2:03 rating: *** stars

Opening with some pretty Forrest 'Frosty' Green keyboards and Agrati (aka Luke R. Yoo) on vocals the fragile ballad "Stained Glass Window" wrapped the song in a Baroque-influenced arrangement.  With little bit of a Left Banke vibe on this one.  The group harmonies stood as the song's strongest feature. The song also appeared as the "B" side on their "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" 45.

3.) Baby Baby It's You (Dick St. John - Gary Zekley) - 1:57 rating: ** stars

With Green handling lead vocals, the harpsichord powered "Baby Baby It's You" was another track with a distinctive Beach Boys flavor. The problem with this one stemmed from the fact it wasn't a very good Beach Boys song.  Billed as The Group, co-writer Zekley released a similar version of the song as a promotional 45:

- 1966's "Baby Baby It's You" b/w "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" (Warner Brothers catalog number 5840)

4.) Panama Red (Jay Lee - Gary Zekley) -1:39 rating: * star

Complete with "party crowd" sound effects "Panama Red" was one of those mid-'60s  "good timey" tracks.  It may or not have carried a "druggy" orientation, but it would not have sounded out of place on a Spanky and Our Gang album.  Clearly meant to be cute, it wasn't ...  Still, it was short and grandma would have tapped along with it.

5.) I've Got a Feeling for Love (Don Altfeld - Jill Gibson - Jay Lee - Gary Zekley) - 2:18 rating: * star

Geez, Featuring Valdez on lead vocals "I've Got a Feeling for Love" was so easy going it made a children's' lullaby sound dark and threatening.  I'm hard pressed to think of a song that is lamer than this one.  The spoken word segment and faux Beach Boy harmonies just made it worse.

6.) Yellow Balloon (Jay Lee - Dick St. John - Gary Zekley) - 2:16 rating: *** stars

Oh for goodness sakes, "Yellow Balloon" actually sounded like a children's lullaby.  Zekley had previously placed the song with Dean Torrence who recorded it for the 1966 Jan and Dean album "Save for a Rainy Day".  Recorded in the wake of Jan Berry's horrific April 1966 car accident, the album was really a Torrence solo album. The track was also released as a Jan and Dean 45 though it generated little attention.  The Yellow Balloon version was even more easy going.  Their harmonies were sweet, but the song drove home the point much of the album sported a saccharine "sounds-alike" feel.  As mentioned earlier, the song had previous been released as the group's debut single, with the flip side "Noollab Wolley" simply being the title track played backwards.

- 1967's "Yellow Balloon" b/w "Taste of Rain" (Columbia catalog number 4-40306)   

YouTube has a clip of the band lip-synching the song for an appearance on  ABC's Shebang?  Weird, but they appear at Angels Stadium; the clip filmed before the start of an Angels' baseball game.  The crowd, including a couple of folks dancing and The Angels themselves seem totally bored.  Groovy Movies: The Yellow Balloon (w/Don Grady) on "Shebang!" U.S. TV 1967 w/intro+song+interview  There's also a clip of the band lip-synching the song for Dick Clark's American Bandstand: American Bandstand 1967 The Yellow Balloon

(side 2)

1.) Good Feelin' Time (Don Agrati - Gary Zekley) - 2:12 rating: *** stars

Fey pop ...   "Good Feelin' Time" was one of the album's more commercial performances.  With Agrati on lead vocals the song reminds me of a cross between a Monkees tune - perhaps something Mickey Dolenz would have handled, wrapped in patented Beach Boys harmonies.  It was released as the album's second single:

- 1967's 'Good Feelin' Time' b/w 'I've Gotta Feeling for Love' (Canterbury catalog number C-513)

2.) Follow the Sunshine (Paul Byrne - Patrick Ferrell) - 2:35 rating: *** stars

Written by Paul Bryne and Patrick Ferrell (who'd released a couple of singles as Paul and Patrick),  "Follow the Sunshine" was suitably poppy, but with some abrupt time changes, generated more energy than most of the band's original numbers. 

3.) Springtime Girl (Paul Byrne - Patrick Ferrell) - 2:06 rating: **** stars

The second Bryne-Ferrell number "Springtime Girl" was clearly sunshine-pop, but reflected a nice "ear candy" melody, some tasty lead guitar and more energy than three of four of the original tunes combined.  One of the few highlights.

4.) Can't Get Enough of Your Love (Marlene Anthony - Dick St. John - Gary Zekley) - 2:16 rating: **** stars

Opening up with a mix of harpsichord and a killer bass line (Carol Kaye?), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" was the album's best "original" tune. This was actually another Zekley tune previously released by The Group.  The tune served as the "B" side to the 1966 single "Baby Baby It's You".   Sporting a wonderful melody, strong lead vocal and nice backing harmonies it's actually better than the "A" side.  Perhaps that's why Canterbury tapped it as the album's third single:

- 1967's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" b/w "Stained Glass Window" Canterbury catalog number C-516)

5.) Junk Maker Shoppe (Don Agrati) - 2:37 rating: **** stars

Agrati's "Junk Maker Shoppe" was very different than the rest of the album.  Kicked along by nice harmonica, it was simultaneously the album's most rock and psych-tinged offering.  Assuming Agrati handled the lead vocals, his voice was far better than Zekley's.  

© Scott R. Blackerby March 2026