Singer/guitarist Tony Decker and bass player Dean Wilden started their recording careers as members of the Grand Junction, Colorado band The Tuesday Club. That band managed to record an obscure single for Philips before collapsing. For anyone curious to hear it, just be warned, this may be one of the fey-ist songs you've ever heard. By 1968 Decker and Wilden had morphed The Tuesday Club into "Wells Fargo" which was quickly abbreviated to Fargo. With a line-up rounded out by keyboardist Daryl Cooper and drummer Pete Frease the group hit the Southwest club circuit. Frease was subsequently lost to the draft and the band called it quits. Decker and Wilden relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah where they resumed their musical partnership under the Fargo nameplate. Recruiting drummer Randle Potts they began recording demos, finding a mentor in producer Martin Cooper who helped them get signed to a recording contract by Capitol. The trio made their label debut with a mildly interesting folk-rock single: - 1968's 'Robins, Robins' b/w 'Sunny Day Blue' (Capitol catalog number 2149)
Dropped by Capitol, the following year the trio rebounded signing a contract with RCA Victor. Recorded at Al Casey's Studios in Hollywood, the sessions were produced by Martin Cooper and arranged by Allan Capps. A host of uncredited studio musicians including keyboardist Dr. John Rebbenack and drummer Jim Gordon were brought in for support. For whatever reason RCA Victor marketing effectively ignored the album. Promotion was non-existent; no single was released, and backing by new drummer Bob Holman, touring was limited to a series of performances at high schools and colleges in Utah. Within a matter of months the band was history and the album relegated to cutout bins.
I SEE IT NOW is fine, shiny piece of post-PEPPER'S baroque pop beamed in directly from Planet 1969. The record sank in '69 and has wallowed in obscurity And while the harmonies are on point, the production is a little flat and, in places, downright odd. Still, the record is a breezy pleasure (the longest track clocks in at 2:45), and is a must for fans of early Bee Gees, the Association, Love, the Monkees, and (of course) the Fab Four. This is an overlooked and underrated 1960s folk-psych-pop album by a group that reminds me of a cross between the Kitchen Cinq and the Blue Things. Really great songs with jangly guitar and dark lyrics. If you like the aforementioned groups, you'll like this - it blows away so many other genre pieces from the era.
Fargo – I See It Now
Label: Lion Records – Lion 223
Format: CD, Album, Repress 2017
Country: Germany
Released: 1969
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Folk Rock
TRACKS
01. 'Round About Way Of Describing Our Situation 2:37
Written-By – Decker
02. Lady Goodbye 1:52
Written-By – Wilden, Cooper
03. The Sound Of It 2:40
Written-By – Decker
04. Places Everyone 2:01
Written-By – Decker
05. A Castle In Wales 2:50
Written-By – Decker
06. Talks We Used To Have 2:35
Written-By – Decker
07. When The Dew Drops Change To Teardrops 2:11
Written-By – Wilden
08. Promises Of Love 2:17
Written-By – Decker
09. You Need Me 1:24
Written-By – Decker
10. Cross With No Name 2:49
Written-By – Wilden, Cooper
11. I See It Now 2:29
Written-By – Decker
LINE - UP
Vocals, Guitar – Dean Wilden
Vocals, Guitar - Tony Decker
Bass – Terry Paul
Guitar – Rick Cunha
I don't know it, thank you.
ReplyDeleteJosef