History:
In 1966, The Brain Train formed and was managed by Sunset Strip hipster Bud Mathis. They recorded one single – "Black Roses", written by Wolfe Dios – before changing their name to Clear Light and signing to Elektra Records. The Doors' producer Paul A. Rothchild took over management of the band.
The core members of Clear Light were Bob Seal, lead guitarist and vocals, Robbie "The Werewolf" Robison, rhythm guitar and vocals, Doug Lubahn bass and vocals, Dallas Taylor drums, and Michael Ney on, unusually, another set of drums. The original line-up was featured in the 1967 motion picture The President's Analyst, with Barry McGuire cast as their leader and vocalist. They soon added Cliff De Young on lead vocals; the version of the band seen on their only album cover. However, sometime during the recording process, often described "brutal", Paul Rothchild was not happy with Robison's guitar playing skills and pressured the group to remove him - he was replaced by keyboard player Ralph Schuckett.
In what has been called the band's finest hour, drunken customers in a Park Avenue club heckled them so brutally that Ralph Schuckett, the usually gentle organist, hurled a few choice words back at them. They then walked off the stage, retired to the Albert Hotel, and woke up in the morning to find that they had become underground heroes.
Clear Light was the only album released by the 1960s American psychedelic rock band Clear Light. It was released in September 1967 and peaked at number 126 on the Billboard pop albums chart. It combined elements of folk, rock, psychedelic, and classical music. It is an AMG music pick, although the album was not a success at the time.
A notable track from the Clear Light album, was "Mr. Blue," a psychedelic version of a folk song written by Tom Paxton and a popular request on underground radio at the time. Lasting over six minutes, the rather sinister, psychedelic song is considered a classic of the genre. Its lyrics, which alternate between spoken word and song, include verses opening with such lines as, "Good morning, Mister Blue, we've got our eye on you," "Step softly, Mister Blue, we know what's best for you," and "Be careful, Mister Blue, this phase you're going through ...."
The album also included a reworked version of "Black Roses", released as a single, and some of guitarist Bob Seal's psychedelic folk-rock songs, namely "With All in Mind" and "They Who Have Nothing." It had some success in England, but was largely ignored in the U.S, reaching No. 126 on the Billboard album chart. Paul Rothchild then pressured the other members of the band to fire Bob Seal". Seal was replaced by ex-Fug Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar; Cliff De Young was soon to follow, and after having started work on a second album the group disbanded in 1968. Two tracks from the sessions for the second album surfaced in 2006, "Darkness of Day" and "What a Difference Love Makes"; the latter showed the group moving into more commercial territory due to Kortchmar's influence.
Personnel:
Cliff De Young - vocals
Bob Seal - guitar, vocals
Douglas Lubahn - bass
Ralph Schuckett - keyboards
Dallas Taylor - drums
Michael Ney - drums
Bruce Botnick - engineer
Jac Holzman - production supervisor
Gordon Anderson - executive producer
Discography:
Clear Light (1967)
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