Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The Collage - smash records - 1968








hey all :

here is another great lost psych pop records of the late 60`s. obviously my fave genre`.
again , not much i can find on these guys , tho the band consist of 2 females & two males.
great harmonies here , ala mama`s & papa`s , sunshine co.
i guess this would be classified as sunshine pop as well , really groovy songs !
also includes a cover of "would you like to go" by sagattarius written by curt boettcher.
this LP always sells on ebay , i finally found me a copy here in dallas - very clean - sounds great boyz.
if you enjoy this one , please take a sec & let me know what you think , cool ...:)!
enjoy another lost treasure brought to you by da` shaman.

aka`

[ transferred from original wax & encoded @ 320 kbps ! file size = 52mb ]

The Collage - debut - 1968 , tracklisting :

1 - lookin at a baby
2 - driftin`
3 - rainy blue memory day
4 - any day`s a sunday afternoon
5 - my mind`s at ease
6 - virginia day`s ragtime memories
7 - can i go
8 - she`s just laughin` at me
9 - ragged clown
10 - would you like to go


download -- here --

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've just downloaded this and it's wonderful. Thank you.

BTW, whether or not we know anything about the people in this group, it's still worth noting the incredible pedigree that accompanies this album. I took a closer look at the back of the LP cover scan you thoughtfully included, and I noticed that it's arranged & conducted by Perry Botkin, Jr., and produced by Steve Douglas, and that one of the recording locations is Gold Star Studio. Doesn't get more exalted than that!

Thanks again for making this fine LP available.

--jack

Anonymous said...

I Try to download this file but I try many times just can't link to this download...asking for help !

Anonymous said...

copy the link, than change
megauload
to
megaupload
...

akashaman said...

i fixed the link , sorry bout that !
jack , thanks for the info & all.
i knew this LP had a high pedigree , also know its pretty sought after.
thanks again & please check back , more great stuff to come.

aka`

Anonymous said...

It's pretty good!

Reminds of a cross between the Associations, Spanky & our Gang, Free Design and Love Generation!

akashaman said...

that sounds about rigght there master3d ~

i have 4 of the free design re issue lp`s , i wonder if i should post these sometime soon - prob will , since they aree new & super clean. sound great !?
thanks for feedback.

aka`

Anonymous said...

I will admit that it was only recently that i heard of "Free Design" , but they were good and i would classify them as almost folk rock rather than psych.

And they are a cross between two obscure bands "Pipe Dream" and "Original caste" (just a little mellower).

Anonymous said...

akashaman, anything you want to upload is okay by me. The Free Design material would be terrific.

But if...we are allowed to make requests? I would love to hear the American Breed and 1910 Fruit Gum Co. albums.

--jack

Max said...

Thanks for the post even if I was thinking of putting this one up myself. Great blog, too.

Anonymous said...

AkaShaman Welcome to the bloggers world. You have some very interesting posts of which I know nothing of so Im really looking forward to listening to them.Listening at the moment to The Collage - great mix of sunny harmonies and orchestral soundbites. I will be adding your blog high on my list of favorites for sure. good luck.

wima said...

Thanks for this sort of close harmony group. Keep posting more!

WiMa

Anonymous said...

I looked up this group in Joynson's book & what I read just infuriated me. Rebeschini is a 'narrow-eared' guy, I told him that once. You may cut this entry out (if you have a paper book) & bring it to the loo (as they liked to call it at those times).

In fact, 'Driftin''s a very fine song, and also their rendering of Sagittarius track is unusual and a pleasure for anyoune who's not stuck to stereotypes. Thanks really for that rare bird, let that Rebeschini listen his Groundhogs up to his death-hour! I mean if you're in to help make a cyclopedia you must be objective as only you can get!

Thanx, very much. That's A find.

Michael R

Anonymous said...

Wonderful, marvellous...

Anonymous said...

thank you! The Collage are great!

Anonymous said...

I've loved this album since my sister bought it after hearing the group on the old Mike Douglas Show one afternoon. I've wondered about the personnel for years and actually contacted Perry Botkin a few years ago. He didn't remember much--it was "just another job" to him. Note that "Driftin'" is by Bobby Kimmel of the Stone Ponys.

Anonymous said...

Wow!-I remember having this 30 years ago- Excellent work making this obscure gem available. Sounds fantastic as well. Lovers of Sunshine Company, Free Design etc, rejoice.

MIInsane??? said...

This is a wonderful album!! Anyone into pop/psych should download it!!! Been a fan of it since I discovered it in the late eighties.

Steve said...

Thank you thank you. I've been looking for this on and off for at least 25 years. One of my older sibs had this album when I was in Jr. High & I always loved it. (I still think a younger sister made off with it...)
Thanks for posting the file - YOU RULE!

Cheshire Adams said...

Cheers for this!

Anything of mine you want? Feel free to leave a comment on my blog.

Peace,
~C.A.~

Anonymous said...

Hi, tried to download, but the link [http://uploaded.to/?id=795432] goes to some site I've never worked with before, and will not download. I tried Firefox, Chrome & IE browsers - no luck.

Suggestions??

pidge said...

I was so happy to find the Collage album and comments on the group. I was married to Ron Joelson, a member of the group and writer of some of the songs. Ron passed away in 1997 so this is especially sweet to me. I have lost contact with the other 3 members but have fond memories. Thank you so much. Pidge Joelson

Anonymous said...

My older sister bought this album at the drugstore for some ridiculous price like 'nineteen cents'. She loved it. I was 14 and listened to it over and over again.

That was 40 years ago and I've never seen or heard of it again, until now. Thanks for letting me hear this again.

Anonymous said...

thats why i am here ! ENJOY MY FRIEND ~

AKA

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. Great site. I remember buying a 45rpm of Driftin' when it came out, only to find the sound was distorted. I tried 3 copies and all were the same. So I scraped together the $$$ and got the LP, which sounded much better. I just digitized it today, only hours before finding it on your site.
BTW, The Stone Poneys recorded Driftin', too.

To pidge, thanks for sharing. Any more info would be appreciated. Such as, how long were they together? Did they pick the songs? Where were they from and what happened after The Collage?

pidge said...

Hi Anonymous, This is Pidge. I will try to answer some of your questions regarding the Collage. The group formed in the late 60's and continued until sometime in the early 70's. Besides recording, Ron and Jerry were song writers under contract with Warner Bros. The group did some T.V. They appeared on American Bandstand and some other similar shows of that time. They opened for Dinah Shore when she played Lake Tahoe and other engagements. The group met in Hollywood during the 60's. Ron was originally from Fargo N.D., Jerry and Jodi are from Arizona originally and Donna is from L.A. Thanks for your interest in the Collage. Pidge

BYRD said...

Hey, Pidge,
Just happened onto this site and saw your posts...knock me down!!! It's BYRD here, (Donna Byrd of the Collage...the blond)..Jodie and I are still in touch and I've often wondered how to reach you.
Would like to thank all of you who wrote with appreciation of the album..we surely thought we had put togethet some pretty good tunes..Ron and Jerry were great writers..the 60's were a prime time for harmony...The group did MANY TV appearances..including not only American Bandstand..but several Steve Allen shows..several appearances on Woody Woodbury's show..Playboy After Dark..and Paul Revere and the Raiders show.Live appearances included Lake Tahoe with Dinah Shore..the Sands Hotel main room in Vegas, and the lounge at Caesar's Palace.
After leaving the Collage..I went on to travel and sing with another group called the Gringos out of Arizona..http://www.thegringos.com ...what a time we all had!!
Fun to think others are still listening to and enjoying the fruits of our labors..thanks to you all...BYRD

akashaman said...

hey donna !
wow , very kewl u found the blog ...
so your the hot blonde on the front eh ? ..............:)
i bet you kids had alot of fun doin` this , sure sounds as if ~
glad you are ok w/ the share & all.
surely one of my fave late 60`s lp`s.
thanks for posting ~

aka`

pidge said...

Donna, Email me when you can so we can catch up. pidge@joelson.com

Anonymous said...

The lyrics to Driftin' are IMHO among the finest poetry of the twentieth century. I recorded this song off of FM Stereo in San Francisco in 1968 and searched and searched to learn more about its origins. Thanks for this blog and the info there. A few years ago I was lucky enough to find a sealed copy of the LP on Ebay.

jerry43 said...

The Collage Album has been re-mastered in stereo and will be re-released on CD in March of this year 2011. It will contain a 16 page booklet with a full Collage Bio and many pictures of the group. I will post a new comment here on the day it is released and info on where you can order it.

akashaman said...

thats great news !! thanks for the heads up Jerry ~

Jerry said...

the new Collage CD has been released. It is a stereo re-master of the original tapes and also has 10 bonus tracks of previously unreleased songs. The package contains unpublished photos of the group and full bio of the group along with a full detailed account of the groups history. You can order the CD at

http://cherryred.co.uk/nowsounds/artists/collage.php

or

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ITYRCG/ref=s9_simh_gw_p15_d3_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1YSFYKXDTXBG8EZNEHK5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

Anonymous said...

Hey, Jerry (Careaga of the Collage)..was going to give AKA a heads up on this but you beat me to it!! LOL!! Amazing the activity on this after 40+ YEARS!! And, yes, AKA...I'm the blond...still kickin' it!! Thanks again for your blog and great reviews of the album...are you on Facebook?? Friend me!!

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Vermont - Thank you for posting this fine looking Lp.

Anonymous said...

The link on this seems to be broken, or at least I can't get it to work. I don't know if the author is reading this, but I would be eternally grateful to get the download link to this album. :)

Arlee Bird said...

Just happened to be listening to my copy of this fine album. I haven't listened to any of my vinyl in years and had forgotten about this gem. Curiosity led me to do a Google search which led me to your blog post. Not much found, but your content sheds some light. Especially the comments from Pidge and Donna.

Lee
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