Art - Supernatural Fairy Tales (1967)

Art - Supernatural Fairy Tales (1967)

Everybody that love the first two Spooky Tooth album gonna love this one too, because this is really the first Spooky Tooth album, in everything but the name, the music is the same they did on their fist two albums, the only different is that Mike Harrison is the lone keyboard player, because it gonna take a year before Gary Wright arrive, and they begin with the two keyboards/lead vocals duo.

01 - I Think I'm Going Weird (3:19)
02 - What's That Sound (For What It's Worth) (2:47)
03 - African Thing (4:04)
04 - Room With A View (3:38)
05 - Flying Anchors (2:40)
06 - Supernatural Fairy Tale (3:34)
07 - Love is Real (3:18)
08 - Come On Up (3:01)
09 - Brothers, Dads And Mothers (3:27)
10 - Talkin' To Myself (1:39)
11 - Alive Not Dead (2:12)
12 - Rome Take Away Three (3:00)

All tracks written by the Art
Except track two by Stephen Stills

Mike Harrison - Piano, Vocals
Luther Grosvenor - Guitar, Vocals
Greg Ridley - Bass
Mike Kellie - Drums

Produced by Guy Stevens

Sleave designed by Hapshash And The Coloured Coat

Review by Richie Unterberger

Patchy but occasionally worthwhile British psychedelia, particularly when it's on the brooding side of that sub-genre. The heavy guitars and organ put this on the path to progressive rock, but the songs are rather more on the straightforward and popish side than those that Spooky Tooth would play when Art evolved into that group. "I Think I'm Going Weird" points to the morbid streak that would become sharper in Spooky Tooth; "African Thing," with its long African-styled drum solo, is the sort of strange, at least by the standards of 1967, item that groups would throw in to show they weren't limiting themselves to traditional rock forms anymore; "Come On Up" is almost a soul-rocker throwback to the V.I.P.s days; and the title track, with its mellotrons, is as close as Art got to the trippy baroque/whimsical mood that blew through so much British psychedelia in 1967 and 1968. The album has been reissued on CD by Edsel.

Biography by Richie Unterberger

Art were the psychedelic halfway house between the V.I.P.s, the soul- and R&B-rock group they evolved from, and Spooky Tooth, the much more famous progressive rock group that Art evolved into in the late 1960s. Art did one album for Island at the end of 1967, Supernatural Fairy Tales, produced by Guy Stevens, and indeed it's almost exactly at the midpoint between British R&B-soul-rock and British prog. Actually it's not too much different from early Spooky Tooth, except that the material's a little more psych- and pop-oriented. It's fair, though not great, psychedelia that's most effective when the vocals are sullen and the melodies haunting.

I don´t think that Mr Unterberger really understand this fine music that Art had provide, because this is not patchy at all, ok that it´s psychedelia or shall we say pre prog, but pop no not at all.

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A 'progressive' outfit Art later evolved into Spooky Tooth in October 1967 with the addition of Gary Wright. Their finest moment was What's That Sound, which was a rehash of Buffalo Springfield's superb For What It's Worth. It's now quite hard to obtain but was included on Island's You Can All Join In compilation.

Their album is adventurous and quite unique British psychedelic rock. It's quite primitive in places, but utilises a wide range of instruments with plenty of sound effects and variety, although side two is a bit nondescript. Guy Stevens handled the production duties. It's well worth a spin.


Tracks
1 I Think I'm Going Weird Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:21
2 What's That Sound (For What It's Worth) Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 2:49
3 African Thing Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 4:06
4 Room With a View Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:40
5 Flying Anchors Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 2:43
6 Supernatural Fairy Tales Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:36
7 Love Is Real Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:19
8 Come on Up Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:01
9 Brothers, Dads and Mothers Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:29
10 Talkin' to Myself Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 1:41
11 Alive Not Dead Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 2:14
12 Rome Take Away Thee Grosvenor, Harrison, Kellie ... 3:00