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Odessey and Oracle

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"Odessey" redirects here. For the epic poem by Homer, see Odyssey.

Odessey and Oracle
Studio album by
the Zombies
Released19 April 1968 (1968-04-19)
Recorded1 June – 7 November 1967
StudioEMI and Olympic, London
Genre
Length35:18
Label
ProducerThe Zombies
The Zombies UK chronology
Begin Here
(1965) 		Odessey and Oracle
(1968) 		New World
(1991)
The Zombies US chronology
The Zombies
(1965) 		Odessey and Oracle
(1968) 		Live on the BBC 1965–1967
(1985)
Singles from Odessey and Oracle
  1. "Friends of Mine"
    Released: September 1967
  2. "Care of Cell 44"
    Released: November 1967
  3. "Time of the Season"
    Released: March 1968
  4. "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)"
    Released: June 1968

Odessey and Oracle is the second studio album by the English rock band the Zombies. It was released in the UK on 19 April 1968, by CBS Records and in the US on 15 July 1968, by Date Records.[8] The album was recorded primarily between June and August 1967 at EMI (now Abbey Road Studios) and Olympic Studios in London.

The Zombies, having been dropped from Decca Records, financed these sessions independently. After signing with CBS, two singles and later the album itself were released to critical and commercial indifference, and the band quietly dissolved. A third single from the album, "Time of the Season", became a surprise hit in the United States in early 1969 after CBS staff producer Al Kooper recommended it be released on Date Records.

The album gradually achieved critical praise and a cult following, and has since become one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1960s. It was ranked 80th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.[9] When Rolling Stone revised its list in 2020, the album ranked 243rd.[10]

Recording and production

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Odessey and Oracle was recorded after the Zombies signed a recording contract with the UK CBS label. They began work on the album in June 1967. Nine of the twelve songs were recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios). "Friends of Mine" was recorded on 1 June, "A Rose for Emily" was started on 1 June and completed on 10 July (take 5 reduction of take 3), "This Will Be Our Year" was recorded on 2 June (take 4) and 15 August (horn overdub), "Hung Up on a Dream" was recorded on 10–11 July (take 7 reduction of take 3), and "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" was recorded on 20 July (take 1). The EMI sessions used the same Studer four track machine used on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[11]

In late July, when EMI was unavailable, the Zombies temporarily shifted base to Olympic Studios where they recorded "Beechwood Park", "Maybe After He's Gone" and "I Want Her, She Wants Me". They returned to EMI in mid-August to record "Care of Cell 44" (take 5 reduction of take 4) and "Brief Candles" (take 10 reduction of take 9) on 16–17 August and "Time of the Season" (14 September, take 1). The sessions ended in November and the final track to be recorded was "Changes" (take 5) on 7 November 1967.[12][13]

Because the album was recorded to a deadline and tight budget, the Zombies worked quickly in the studio, having rehearsed rigorously beforehand. This meant that there would be no outtakes or unused songs recorded during the sessions. Cello and Mellotron parts were added to "A Rose for Emily" but left out at the final mixing stage.

Colin Blunstone and Paul Atkinson felt disillusioned and tempers flared during the recording of "Time of the Season". Blunstone was not at all keen on the song. When writer Rod Argent insisted that he sing it a certain way, Blunstone's patience snapped and he effectively told Argent to sing it himself.[14] Blunstone finally sang the vocal as required.

Argent and Chris White mixed the album down into mono, but when they delivered the master to CBS, they were informed that a stereo mix was required. The recording budget having been spent, Argent and White used their own money to pay for the stereo mix. One major problem arose when it came time to mix "This Will Be Our Year" into stereo. Record producer Ken Jones had dubbed live horn parts directly onto the mono mix. With the horns not having been recorded on the multi-track beforehand, a "re-channeled" stereo mix had to be made of the mono master of this track. The stereo album mix was completed on 1 January 1968.[citation needed]

Morale within the band was at a low point at the end of the recording. Two singles, "Care of Cell 44" and "Friends of Mine", had been unsuccessful, and the band had a declining demand for live appearances, so after a final gig in mid-December 1967, the band split up.[15]

Album sleeve

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The album sleeve contains a short text by Argent quoting William Shakespeare's The Tempest.[16] The misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover, Terry Quirk (a friend of White's).[17] The band tried to cover this up at the time of release by claiming the misspelling was intentional.[17]

Release history

[edit]

Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK on 19 April 1968. Clive Davis, the head of CBS in the US, initially decided not to release the album. However, the US Columbia label had released the single "Care of Cell 44" on 21 November 1967 to complete indifference.

CBS staff producer Al Kooper had picked up a copy of the album during a trip to London, and when he returned to America and played the album he loved it. He believed it contained three hit singles. At the urging of Kooper the US division of CBS was eventually persuaded to release the album on the little known Date Records subsidiary label in June.

Date released "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" as a single in the US, feeling that the song's anti-war theme would resonate with record-buyers due to the Vietnam War.[14] The next single, "Time of the Season," slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in March 1969. After the song became a hit, Date re-released Odessey and Oracle with severely cropped artwork. This time the album charted, reaching number 95 in the US. By then Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent.

Other versions

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For the 1997 Zombie Heaven box-set, "This Will Be Our Year" was given a full stereo mix, albeit minus the horns. This was made possible because the Zombies owned the multi track masters, which are in the possession of Chris White. Alternate mixes of "A Rose for Emily", featuring discarded overdubs of cello and Mellotron, appear on Zombie Heaven and the 30th anniversary release of the album.

Reunion performances

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Because the band split before the album was released, they never performed any of the songs onstage. However, due to the surprise success of "Time of the Season", several "fake" versions of the Zombies were created by unscrupulous promoters in 1969 to cash in on public demand to see and hear the band.[18]

The original five-piece line-up reformed briefly in 1997 for the launch party of the Zombie Heaven boxset. They performed "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season" at London's Jazz Café. In 2001, Blunstone and Argent resurrected the Zombies as a recording and touring unit with ex-Argent and the Kinks bass guitarist Jim Rodford, his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey on guitar. The Blunstone-Argent lineup toured for several years, performing a number of songs from the album. There was one final reunion of the original five members in 2004 at a benefit gig for Paul Atkinson, and though Atkinson was very ill, he insisted on performing with them. Atkinson died later that year.

In March 2008, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album's release, the four surviving members performed Odessey and Oracle in its entirety for three shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. They were joined by Keith Airey, Darian Sahanaja and various friends. The Zombies were insistent on recreating the sound as authentically as possible, hence the extra singers, Sahanaja filling in organ and Mellotron parts via use of a Memotron, and Argent himself playing an original mellotron on a couple of numbers. Argent also tracked down a Victorian pump organ dating from 1896 so they could recreate White's "Butcher's Tale", the original organ having long since been given away or sold by White.

The 40th anniversary concerts were sold out and critically acclaimed.[citation needed] One of the shows was recorded, filmed, and released on CD and DVD as Odessey and Oracle (Revisited). The reunion was so successful that they decided to reprise the show on a short four-date British tour in April 2009, playing in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester, and ending on 25 April at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, which Argent stated would be the very last time the album would be performed on stage, at least until the songs are reverted to public domain. This ended up not being true as the surviving members once again reunited to perform the album in its entirety across America in 2015.

In 2016, the band announced that they would do a final tour to commemorate the album's 50th anniversary the following year. They are also planning a coffee-table book about the making of the album.[19]

In 2019, the surviving original members performed the album in its entirety on a string of dates supporting Brian Wilson, including a stop at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on 12 September and one at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on 26 September 2019.[20]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[21]
Robert ChristgauA−[22]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[23]
Pitchfork9.3/10[24]
Q[25]
Record Mirror[26]
Sputnikmusic5/5[27]

While the album was received indifferently upon its release, it has since gone on to gain a cult following and become a critically respected album. In their retrospective review, Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five, calling it "one of the flukiest (and best) albums of the 1960s, and one of the most enduring long-players to come out of the entire British psychedelic boom".[21] BBC Music wrote "To this day it remains a word-of-mouth obscurity. But by those who know it's held in such regard that the remaining living members of the band are to perform it in its entirety this year, on the fortieth anniversary of its release."[1] treblezine.com wrote "Odessey and Oracle, even by today's standards, is impossible to top."[28]

Legacy

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  • Paul Weller of the Jam has often named the album as one of his all-time favourites, citing in particular its "autumnal" sound. In 2008, he included "Beechwood Park" in a playlist compiled for a magazine and has also covered "Time of the Season" during various radio sessions.
  • Opeth's frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt called the album "a masterpiece".[29]
  • It was voted number 637 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[30]
  • In 2012, Rolling Stone placed Odessey at number 100 in its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[31]
  • Stylus magazine placed it at number 196 on their "Top 101–200 Favourite Albums Ever" list.[32]
  • The Guardian placed it at number 77 on their "Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever" list.[33]
  • Mojo magazine placed it at number 97 in their "100 Greatest Albums Ever Made" list.[34]
  • NME placed it at number 32 on their "100 Greatest British Albums Ever!" list.[35]
  • Q magazine placed it at number 26 on their "50 Best British Albums Ever!" list.[36]
  • It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[37]

The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44", has been covered by a number of artists including Elliott Smith and Of Montreal. "This Will Be Our Year" has also been covered by multiple artists including OK Go, the Mynabirds, Dear Nora, Foo Fighters, and the Avett Brothers.[38] Both songs were also included on Pitchfork Media's list of the "200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[39][40]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Care of Cell 44"Rod Argent3:57
2."A Rose for Emily"Argent2:19
3."Maybe After He's Gone"Chris White2:34
4."Beechwood Park"White2:44
5."Brief Candles"White3:30
6."Hung Up on a Dream"Argent3:02
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Changes"White3:20
8."I Want Her, She Wants Me"Argent2:53
9."This Will Be Our Year"White2:08
10."Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)"White2:48
11."Friends of Mine"White2:18
12."Time of the Season"Argent3:34

Personnel

[edit]

Accolades

[edit]
Rankings for Odessey and Oracle
Year Organization Accolade Rank
1995 Mojo 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made[42] 97
1997 The Guardian Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever[43] 77
2003 Q 50 Best British Albums Ever![44] 26
2003 Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 80[45]
2012 Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[46] 100
2013 NME The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 145
2017 Pitchfork The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s[47] 47
2020 Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[48] 243

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jones, Chris (22 February 2008). "The Zombies Odessey & Oracle – 40th Anniversary Edition Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  2. ^ Donaldson, Jonathan (9 October 2015). "Live Review: The Zombies stand the test of time, and the season, at the Wilbur Theatre". Vanyaland. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b R. Unterbeger, "The Zombies", AllMusic, retrieved 3 July 2010.
  4. ^ Krewen, Nick (30 March 2017). "The Zombies live on – thanks to a 50-year-old cult classic album". The Star.
  5. ^ Umile, Dominic (15 January 2013). "Mods and Mellotrons: The Zombies at Abbey Road, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  6. ^ Boehme, Mike (17 November 1994). "The Zombies"Odessey and Oracle" (1968)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  7. ^ Grimstad, Paul. "What is Avant-Pop?". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  8. ^ Russo 2016, pp. 84, 91.
  9. ^ [1] The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time : Rolling Stone].
  10. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  11. ^ Ryan, Kevin; Kehew, Brian (2006). Recording The Beatles. Curvebender. ISBN 0-9785200-0-9.
  12. ^ Zombie Heaven booklet pages 35-36, 49-52, released on Big Beat in 1997
  13. ^ Johansen, Claes (1 September 2001). The Zombies: hung up on a dream : a biography 1962–1967. SAF Publishing Ltd. p. 174. ISBN 9780946719341. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  14. ^ a b Track, Central (12 March 2013). "Back From the Dead (2013)". Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  15. ^ Johansen, Claes (1 September 2001). The Zombies: hung up on a dream : a biography 1962–1967. SAF Publishing Ltd. p. 201. ISBN 9780946719341. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  16. ^ Hansen, Adam (25 November 2010). Shakespeare and Popular Music. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-4411-2698-6.
  17. ^ a b Lynch, Joe (21 July 2015). "Exclusive: The Zombies Reteam With 'Odessey & Oracle' Illustrator for New Album Cover Art". Billboard. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Imposter Zombies Page". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Zombies Announce Final 'Odessey & Oracle' North American Tour". Rolling Stone. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  20. ^ Blistein, Jon (7 May 2019). "Brian Wilson, Zombies Plot 'Something Great From '68' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  21. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Odessey and Oracle". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  22. ^ Christgau, Robert (1998). "Odessey and Oracle: 30th Anniversary Edition". Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  23. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  24. ^ Singer, Liam (1 August 2004). "The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  25. ^ Fyfe, Andy (September 2007). "The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle". Q (254): 110.
  26. ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (4 May 1968). "The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 373. p. 8. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  27. ^ "Sputnikmusic Review". Sputnikmusic. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  28. ^ Terich, Jeff (22 September 2004). "Zombies". Treble. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  29. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Opeth – Guitar Lesson – The Grand Conjuration" – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 210. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  31. ^ "80 | Odessey and Oracle – The Zombies". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  32. ^ "Top 100–200 Favourite Albums Ever: The Stylus Magazine List". Stylus Magazine. 22 March 2004. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  33. ^ "Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  34. ^ "MOJO: THE 100 GREATEST ALBUMS EVER MADE". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  35. ^ "NME 100 Greatest British Albums Ever! – 2006". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  36. ^ "50 best British albums ever!". muzieklijstjes.nl. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  37. ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear – 2008 Edition". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  38. ^ G, David (12 January 2011). "Happy Anniversary, Noise Narcs!". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  39. ^ "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s – Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  40. ^ "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s – Page 3 – Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  41. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Buskin, Richard. "Classic Tracks: The Zombies 'Time of the Season'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  42. ^ "Rocklist.net...Mojo Lists..." rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  43. ^ "Rocklist.net...The Guardian Best Albums Lists..." rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  44. ^ "Q – 5o best British albums ever! (july 2003)". muzieklijstjes.nl. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  45. ^ "Odessey and the Oracle ranked no. 80". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  46. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  47. ^ "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s – Page 8". Pitchfork. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  48. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2021.

Sources

[edit]
  • Russo, Greg (2016). Time of the Season: The Zombies Collector's Guide (4th ed.). Crossfire Publications. ISBN 978-0-9791845-9-8.
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