Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
The Zombies - "Beechwood Park"
And the breeze would touch your hair
Kiss your face and make you care
About your world
Your summer world
When people look back at the British Invasion of the 1960’s, the groups that immediately come to mind are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and perhaps The Kinks. Of course, many other groups were part of the British Invasion, they just tend to be forgotten because they didn’t achieve the level of success that these groups did (remember Herman’s Hermits?). The Zombies are another example of a semi-forgotten British Invasion band. In 1965 The Zombies had two top-ten singles in the US: "She’s Not There" and "Tell Her No." During the next couple years The Zombies released several singles that couldn’t replicate their earlier success. Believing that they were unlikely to make it in the music business much longer, in 1967 The Zombies got together to record what they decided would be their final album.
That album, Odessey and Oracle, was released in 1968 to little or no fanfare and the group broke up shortly thereafter. Strangely, a year after its release the album’s last song, "Time of the Season," became a big hit in the US. Although it wasn’t enough to bring the full band back together, various incarnations of The Zombies have toured over the years and "Time of the Season" is still a staple of classic rock radio stations (or are they Oldies stations now?).
Still, even though many people have heard "Time of the Season," the Odessey and Oracle album itself tends to get overlooked. That’s a shame because it’s an amazing record, easily one of the best pop albums of the 1960s. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to the entire album, however I’m going to spend the rest of this post highlighting one of my favorite songs from the record.
Basically there are two types of songs on Odessey and Oracle: bright, up-tempo pop tunes and slower, darker, more reflective songs. "Beechwood Park" belongs to the latter category although it is more wistful than dark. The lyrical content is a simple reminiscence of a place in Hertfordshire, England where Zombies bassist Chris White (the writer of the song) spent summers in his youth. But the lyrics themselves are quite beautiful; I particularly like the refrain that I have included at the top of the blog post. The first thing that stands out musically is the tremolo guitar part. It begins as a string of single notes forming a melody that, while different from the vocal melody, still manages to fit with it well. When the vocals get to the first refrain, the guitar begins playing chords on each beat with the same tremolo effect before going back to a different single note melody. Drums, bass and a very cool organ part round out the instrumentation, but it’s the guitar part that really stands out and gives it a dream-like quality.
Like the guitar part, the melody and vocals are also hauntingly beautiful, particularly the way Colin Blunstone’s voice gives it a smooth and airy quality. Background vocals are also expertly utilized, first in the refrain as a complimentary vocal line, and then in the bridge to beef up the main vocals and provide harmonies. Taken together, this song is 1960s pop at its finest. It takes a simple subject matter and builds an appealing melodic song around it that, while not containing anything groundbreaking or deep, still conveys real emotion in a beautiful and accessible way.
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Keith Doughty is a non-profit finance professional who in his spare time dabbles in music, politics, and interesting food. He lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.
Contact him at neuroticmonkey.