Harpers Bizarre 4

Harpers Bizarre

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: October 9, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
• ASIN: B00005QZ79
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,954 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This Sundazed Music remastered reissue features 2 bonus tracks, 'Poly High' & 'If We Ever Needed The Lord Before'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HAROLD FINE, GERTRUDE STEIN, AND ALICE B TOKLAS, December 7, 2001

By	"paulkristi" (Mount Prospect, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

THIS IS THE FINAL INSTALMENT OF HARPERS BIZARRE ALBUMS. THIS IS ALSO A VERY GOOD ALBUM, CUT IN 1969, IT CONTAINS A NICE COVER OF "BLACK BIRD" AND "KNOCK ON WOOD." THE ALBUM HAS A COUPLE OF OTHER COVER TUNES BY THE BIZARRE. BUT DEFINITLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF THIS ALBUM (AT LEAST FOR ME) IS "I LOVE YOU ALICE B TOKLAS." LOVED THE MOVIE(WHICH CONTAINED PETER SELLERS) LOVED THE SOUNDTRACK (WHICH CONTAINS AN ALTERNATE "MOVIE" VERSION OF THE SONG)FOR THOSE CARE, THE SONG WAS ALSO COVERED BY A GROUP CALLED "THE BLADES OF GRASS" EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE BIZARRES'VERSION.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Eclectic Set From Classic Sunshine Pop/Rock Group, December 24, 2008

By	Boomertunes (Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

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.
"Harpers Bizarre 4" was originally released in 1969 as their fourth LP and is now the fourth release in the Sundazed CD reissue series of the group. The complete twelve song track list is intact and includes two bonus cuts.
This set finds the group breaking away from their usual sound. Ted Templeman and Dick Scoppettone are still singing soft and high, but the lush orchestration of strings, flutes, and oboes, has been augmented with a more organic mix of guitars, horns, and prominent percussion.
The song choices are different, also. Instead of new takes on standards and show tunes, there are two Otis Redding compositions("Knock On Wood" and "Hard To Handle"); a Beatles favorite ("Blackbird); some folk ("Cotton Candy Sandman" and "Leaving On A Jet Plane"); plus the usual smattering of originals ("When The Band Begins To Play", "There's No Time Like Today", and "All Through The Night"). The prototypical Harpers Bizarre sound is featured on the movie theme "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas".
Highlights include their absolutely hypnotic take on Jim Pepper's "Witchi Tai To"(wow!); Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin's "Something Better" and their own autobiographical "Soft Soundin' Music"(with some nifty guitar work).
Bonus tracks include Harry Nilsson's eccentric "Poly High" and Tommy Dorsey's gospel tinged "If We Ever Needed The Lord Before".
There would not be any more releases from the group until 1976, when 4/5 of the original line-up reunited for the Forest Bay LP release, "As Time Goes By".

5.0 out of 5 stars UNBELIEVEABLY GREAT, December 14, 2007

By	Stephen M. Amy (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There's not one track that's not ultra-pleasing to the ear (all are great, some unbelieveably), but I'd specifically mention two: "Something Better"- the production and arranging on this are nonpareil. Oh geez, is it, like, spiritually uplifting! Really. And "Witchi Tai"- the rhythmic repitition of the harmonies just carries it right along. Another immortal track, it is.