Customer Reviews

Feelin Groovy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoy the music, but the sound quality stinks from an audiophile perspective. I have the original LP which blows this away. I find the sound edgy and grainy in the vocals; just a lousy digital transfer. This is fine to listen to in a car or a boom box. I can't listen to this CD on a high performance system. Enjoyable music. Mediocre sound. UGHHHHHHHHH

Harper's Bizarre is one of my favorite 60s groups. And this is a great selection.
You know Simon and Garfunkle's version of "Feeling Groovy," but give a listen to the harmonies of their version.
"Peter and the Wolf" is a great pop version of Prokofiev.
Very mellow, very nice.

If any group and song was the prototype for sunshine pop, it would be Harpers Bizarre and their hit version of "Feelin' Groovy". Their high range choir boy harmonies, positive themed material, and sophisticated arrangements were all part of the genre's model.
Along with Spanky and Our Gang, The Association, The Sunshine Company, The Free Design, The Cowsills, and the Fifth Dimension, Harpers Bizarre produced music that poured out of AM radios in the 1960's.
"Feelin' Groovy featuring 59th St. Bridge Song" was the first LP release for the group in 1967 and the first release in the Sundazed CD reissue series of the group. The complete ten song track list is intact and includes two bonus cuts.
The production pattern ,set on this release, was as follows: regardless of the song style, each song is gussied up in the Harpers Bizarre sound of Ted Templeman and Dick Scoppettone's voices singing soft and high; lush background harmonies weaving in and out of orchestration with strings, flutes, oboes, horns; and John Petersen drumming with brushes to tie it all together.
The title song reached #13 on the charts in 1967 and its soaring Van Dyke Parks composed follow up "Come to The Sunshine" reached #37 that same year.
The LP contained a catchy version of "Happy Talk" from the musical "South Pacific"; a couple of smooth pop nuggets ("Come Love"and "Raspberry Rug"); and three Randy Newman tunes("Simon Smith and The Amazing Dancing Bear", "Happyland", and "The Debutante's Ball").
Bonus tracks include two original songs recorded when the group was known as The Tikis-"Bye Bye Bye" and "Lost My Love Today". The vocals are similar, but the accompaniment is pure British Invasion garage guitar and drums.

BACK IN 1992 WHILE I WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL I BOUGHT THIS ALBUM ON VINYL. I RECORDED IT ON TAPE(CASSETTE)AND OF COURSE THE SPEED OF THE TURNTABLE AND THE TAPE RECORDER WERE DIFFERENT, SO THE TAPE SOUNDED A LITTLE ON THE SLOW SIDE. THERE WERE ALSO OF COURSE A COUPLE OF POPS FROM THE VINYL. UP UNTIL NOW THIS WAS ALL I HAD. I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP PLAYING THE RECORD(PRESERVATION SAKE).
THIS ALBUM IS JUST PLAIN EXCELLENT. THE DEBUT ALBUM OF THE BIZARRE IS DEFINITLY THE STONGEST AND MOST ENJOYABLE OUT OF ALL FOUR OF THEIR ALBUMS.ALL THOUGH I DO ENJOY THE OTHER 3 BIZARRE ALBUMS,"FEELIN' GROOVY" HAS PROBABLY THE COOLEST AND ONE OF THE MOST DIFFERNT AND ORIGINAL SOUNDS THAT CAME OUT OF 1967. THIS ALBUM HAS MANY HIGHLIGHTS, FROM VAN DYKE PARKS' ARRANGED "COME TO THE SUNSHINE" TO THE QUIRKINESS OF "RASPBERRY RUG," FROM SOUTH PACIFICS "HAPPY TALK" TO RANDY NEWMANS'"SIMON SMITH AND THE AMAZING DANCING BEAR." THIS ALBUM IS UNUSUALLY COMPLEX YET PLEASING. AN EXCELLENT ALBUM FOR EARLY SUMMER MORNINGS OR DREARY FALL AFTERNOONS.

If you like happy, feel-good music then you will enjoy this CD. Happy, tunes from a simpler, more carefree time. As the words from "Happy Talk" say, "You got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true." Take a some time with these tunes and dream a little. Enjoy!

Got the CD in good time/great shape and enjoyed revisiting my past! Thanks for the help! Great transaction!

Before it drops out of print, buy! This is a perfect example of the cheerful music of the '60s. LYrics that you can understand and consist of actual words. Much better than "yu is mah baby" repeated 40 times, or "ooh ooh ooh booty down" or "I want you..I want you..Iwant you" and on and on. You get the idea. Do yourself a favor and get all the Harpers albums... Enjoy