THE SHARONS/SOMEONE TO TURN TO JDR 325 (-70) UK MONO

Not to be confused with the Dutch sixties rock group bearing the same name. The LP shown here was from a Scottish band, playing a kind of primitive beat music with lyrics having Christian motives, on back sleeve labeled as "Gospel Beat". This was their only issue. All songs written by band leader Colin MacKenzie. Recorded at "Emblem Sound" with a John McLarty credited for production and Walter Paterson as engineer. Seen it documented as "private press", but I doubt that. Emblem Records was a small independent label with its own studio and issues mostly concentrating on Christian music and I don't think any private release would have a laminated E.J. Day sleeve as in this case. The music on it has been described as "psychedelic" and that may be - but only in a very broad sense of the word. Setting and song structures resembles ordinary UK sixties pop band music - sounding a lot more 1964-65 than 1970. The oddest cut - "Judy" - has fuzz guitars to a good organ and there's some rattling guitars and distortion on a few other places, but the main bulk is soft beat. What makes it special to my ears is the meeting between two absolute opposites. The vocals are as clean and angelic as you would expect from a Christian band with confessional lyrics while the backing is unrefined garage - messy and amateuristic with a genuine live feeling. The production is minimal and some of the mixing unbalanced. Audio shifts from OK to rather bad. This is nothing for the fainthearted collector, but if you're into odd garage or just have a taste for the bizarre it's quite agreeable. Original release in UK only and never re-issued on LP or CD. (UKÖ*)(ÖGÄ*)