Genre: psych
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: The Further Adventures of Charles Westover
Company: Liberty
Catalog: LST 7539
Year: 1968
Country/State: Grand Rapids, Illinois
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: minor ring, edge and corner wear; still in shrink wrap (opened)
Available: 1
GEMM Catalog ID: 5090
Price: $100.00
It seems that by 1968 every musician under the sun was growing their hair long (nice sideburns Del), donning mod clothing and jumping aboard the psychedelic bandwagon. With his recording career in commercial limbo, Del Shannon
was no exception to the rule. Co-produced by Dugg Brown and future manager Daniel
Bourgoise, 1968's
"The Further Adventures of Charles Westover" (yeah, that was
his birth name - no wonder he opted for a different stage name), was an all-out assault on the realm of downer-psych.
Instinctively you'd probably think the resulting album would be hysterically
inept, however having listened to it a dozens of times, the set's goofy, but surprisingly good. Complete with over-the-top orchestration, backward strings,
harpsichords, sitars, female backing vocalists and supposedly deep and insightful lyrics
(you can just hear Shannon thinkin' c'mon folks, take me as a serious artist ...), material such as
'Silver Birch', 'Colour Flashing Hair' and 'Magical Musical Box' was surprisingly
cool and attractive. Personal favorites included the poppy 'Think I Love
You' and the country-ish 'River Cool'. Unfortunately as was to be expected, the change in musical direction was too much for old fans to handle, while the younger psych-oriented audience wanted nothing to do with this golden oldies act.
For goodness sake, many of their parents owned Del Shannon albums.
Caught in that demographic dead zone, the album failed to sell and by the end of the year Shannon had ended his
longstanding professional relationship with Liberty.
"The Further Adventures of Charles Westover" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Thinkin' It Over (Del Shannon - Beau James) - 2:47
2.) Be My Friend (Dug Birch) - 2:20
3.) Silver Birch (Del Shannon - Jonathan M. Perkins) - 2:59
4.) Think I Love You (Del Shannon) - 4:09
5.) River Cool (Del Shannon - Jonathan M. Perkins) - 2:09
6.) Colour Flashing Hair (Del Shannon) - 2:40
(side 2)
1.) Gemini
(Del Shannon) - 3:02
2.) Runnin' On Back (Del Shannon - Sharon Sheeley) - 3:30
3.) Conquer (Del Shannon) - 3:01
4.) Been So Long (Del Shannon - Brian Hyland) - 2:54
5.) Magical Musical Box (Del Shannon - Jonathan M. Perkins) - 3:13
6.) New Orleans (Mardis Gras) (Jim Pulte) - 4:39