Odessey and Oracle

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Odessey and Oracle
Studio album by The Zombies
Released April 19, 1968 (UK)
June 1968 (US)
Recorded "Changes" recorded November 1967, Abbey Road. All other tracks recorded June-August 1967, Abbey Road and Olympic Studios.
Genre Psychedelic pop, Baroque pop
Length 35:18
Label CBS (U.K.)
Date Records (U.S.)
Producer The Zombies, Al Kooper (American reissue)
Professional reviews
The Zombies chronology
Begin Here
(1965) (UK)
----
The Zombies
(1965) (US)		 Odessey and Oracle
(1968)		 New World (1991)

Odessey and Oracle is a Psychedelic rock, Baroque Pop album by The Zombies released in 1968.

Contents

[edit] Album information

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only true Zombies album. While their first album included several cover versions, Odessey consisted entirely of original compositions by the group's two main songwriters, Rod Argent and Chris White.

The group began work on the album in June 1967. Nine of the twelve songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release.

In August, when Abbey Road was unavailable, The Zombies temporarily shifted base to Olympic Studios where they recorded Beechwood Park, Maybe After He's Gone and I Want Her She Wants Me. They returned to Abbey Road Studios in September. The sessions ended in November and the final two tracks to be recorded were Time Of The Season and Changes.

By then, morale within the band was at a low. Two singles Care Of Cell 44 and Friends Of Mine had been released to total indifference. Colin Blunstone and Paul Atkinson felt disillusioned and tempers flared during the recording of Time Of The Season. Blunstone wasn't at all keen on this Argent penned song. Argent was insistent on Colin singing in a certain way, but Colin's patience snapped and he effectively told Argent to sing it himself. To everyone's relief, Blunstone finally sang the vocal as required. Nobody was aware it was to become a big rock classic.


The album was recorded using a Studer four track machine — the same type of tape machine used on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — and was mixed down in stereo using a experimental transistor console at EMI Studios in 1967. Source:Recording_The_Beatles[citation needed]

Argent and White mixed the album down into mono. When they handed the master to CBS, they were informed that a stereo mix was required. The recording budget having been spent, this forced Argent and White to dip into their songwriting royalties in order to pay for the time and resources needed to create the stereo mix. Unfortunately, this was the last straw for the rest of the band, with Paul Atkinson and Colin Blunstone quitting and effectively splitting the band. The stereo mix was completed on 1st January 1968. The Zombies were by then, history.

One major problem with mixing into stereo was This Will Be Our Year. The Zombies original producer Ken Jones had dubbed horn parts onto a live mono mixdown. With the horns therefore not being recorded on the multi-track, a faked stereo mix had to be made of the mono master and it wasn't until the 1997 Zombie Heaven boxset that it was finally given a stereo mix, albeit minus the horns. This was made possible thanks to The Zombies owning the multi track masters and they are in the possession of Chris White.

Because the album was recorded to a tight budget and deadline, The Zombies worked quickly in the studio, having rehearsed rigorously beforehand. Therefore this meant that there would be no outtakes or unused songs. Cello and Mellotron parts were added to A Rose For Emily but discarded at the final mixing stage and alternate mixes of that song featuring these discarded overdubs can be heard on Zombie Heaven and the 30th anniversary release of the album.

Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK in April 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a different album cover that severely cropped the original illustration.

American CBS boss, Clive Davis decided to pass on releasing the album. At the urging of staff producer, Al Kooper, the U.S. CBS/Columbia Records label was belatedly persuaded to release the album on their small Date Records subsidiary label. Kooper had picked up a copy of the album during a trip to London and when he returned to America and played the album, he loved it and believed it contained three hit singles. For reasons unknown, CBS chose to release Butcher's Tale as the first single in the States. Time Of The Season was released but ended up being a sleeper, gaining popularity over time before finally hitting the US charts in 1969 by which time Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent.

Because the band split before the album was released, they never got to perform any of the songs onstage. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent reunited in 2001 and over the next few years resurrected The Zombies as a recording and touring unit with ex Argent bassist Jim Rodford, his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey on guitar. They performed various songs from the album, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release, in March 2008, Chris White and Hugh Grundy returned to perform three shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London during which they performed Odessey and Oracle in its entirety with assistance from Darian Sahanaja and various friends. Paul Atkinson had died in 2004 so Keith Airey took his place.

The original 5 piece line up had reformed briefly in 1997 for the launch party of the Zombie Heaven boxset. Held in London's Jazz Cafe, they performed She's Not There and Time Of The Season. There was one final reunion in 2004 at a benefit gig for Paul Atkinson and though Paul was very ill, he insisted on performing with them. The 2008 shows though were the first time Argent, Blunstone, White and Grundy performed to the British public as a unit since the split back in December 1967.

The Zombies were insistent on being as authentic as possible, hence the extra singers, Darian filling in keyboard and Mellotron parts via use of a Memotron and Rod Argent himself played an original Mellotron on a couple of numbers. Argent also tracked down a Victorian Pump Organ dating from 1896 so they could recreate White's Butcher's Tale, the original organ having long since been given away or sold by Chris.

The concerts were sell outs and critically acclaimed. One of the shows was recorded and filmed and are now available on CD and DVD as Odessey and Oracle (Revisited).

The reunion was so successful, they decided to reprise the show on a short 4 date British tour in April 2009 playing in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and ending on April 25th at the Hammersmith Apollo in London which Argent stated would be the very last time the album would be performed on stage.


The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44" has been covered by a number of artists including Elliott Smith and Of Montreal .

Velvet Crush's singles compilation, A Single Odessey, is misspelled in dedication to the Zombies' album.

[edit] Reception

In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Odessey in 80th place on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[1]. In addition it has appeared on a number of greatest albums lists.

  • Stylus magazine selected it as the 196th on their 101-200 Favorite Albums List.[2]
  • The Guardian placed it 77th on their Top 100 Albums That Don’t Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time[3]
  • Mojo magazine named it the 97th greatest album ever made.[4]
  • It placed 32nd on NME's list[5] and 51st on Q magazine's list of the greatest British albums ever.[6]

Odessey consistently ranks in the top 50 on the constantly changing Rate Your Music greatest ever albums list. [7]

[edit] Album sleeve

The album sleeve contains a short text written by keyboard player Rod Argent quoting William Shakespeare's The Tempest.[8]

The famous misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover,[citation needed] Terry Quirk (who was the flatmate of bass player Chris White). The band tried to cover this up at the time of release by claiming the misspelling was intentional.[citation needed]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Care of Cell 44" (Rod Argent) – 3:56
  2. "A Rose for Emily" (Argent) – 2:19
  3. "Maybe After He's Gone" (Chris White) – 2:33
  4. "Beechwood Park" (White) – 2:43
  5. "Brief Candles" (White) – 3:30
  6. "Hung Up on a Dream" (Argent) – 3:01
  7. "Changes" (White) – 3:19
  8. "I Want Her She Wants Me" (Argent) – 2:51
  9. "This Will Be Our Year" (White) – 2:08
  10. "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" (White) – 2:47
  11. "Friends of Mine" (White) – 2:17
  12. "Time of the Season" (Argent) – 3:33

[edit] CD bonus tracks

There are various CD editions of the album available, almost all of which contain a varying number of bonus tracks.

[edit] Rock Machine (MACD 6) (1986)

This, the first issue on CD (made in France) had alternate cover art known as The Old Man in the Temple. No bonus tracks.

[edit] Bluemoon Records (1988)

This (now out of print) CD release of Odessey contains the following bonus tracks in addition to the twelve original album songs:

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "Imagine the Swan"

[edit] Big Beat Records (1998), also re-issued by SonyBMG (2004)

This CD release contains both original mixes of Odessey - the first 12 tracks consist of the original stereo album (track 9 is mono only), followed by the full version of the mono album. In addition this edition also offers 3 stereo bonus tracks remixed in 1998. The Alternate Version of "Time of The Season" is especially interesting because it has instrumental backing underneath the vocals during the entire chorus. The instruments were mixed out of part of the chorus on the original stereo and mono versions to create an a cappella vocal section.

  1. "A Rose for Emily (Alternate Version 2)"
  2. "Time of the Season (Alternate Version)"
  3. "Prison Song (Care of Cell 44 backing track)"

[edit] SMD/Reper (SonyBMG) (2005)

This is the most expansive CD version of Odessey, featuring sixteen bonus tracks.

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "She Loves the Way They Love Her"
  3. "Imagine the Swan"
  4. "Smokey Day"
  5. "If It Don't Work Out"
  6. "I Know She Will"
  7. "Don't Cry for Me"
  8. "Walking in the Sun"
  9. "Conversation off Floral Street"
  10. "I Want You Back Again"
  11. "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself"
  12. "Goin' Out of my Head"
  13. "She Does Everything for Me"
  14. "Nothing's Changed"
  15. "I Could Spend the Day"
  16. "Girl Help Me"

[edit] Repertoire (REP5089) (2008)

This 40th anniversary release consists of two discs: CD1, the 12 tracks of the original 1968 mono album; and CD2, the same 12 tracks in the 1968 stereo mix. CD1 also contains the following six bonus tracks:

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "Imagine the Swan"
  3. "Conversation off Floral Street"
  4. "If It Don't Work Out"
  5. "I Know She Will"
  6. "Don't Cry for Me"

[edit] Personnel

Production notes:

  • Geoff Emerick – engineer
  • Peter Vince – engineer
  • Jools DeVere – design

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 80) Odessey and Oracle : Rolling Stone
  2. ^ Top 101-200 Favourite Albums Ever : The Stylus Magazine List - Article - Stylus Magazine
  3. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/guardian100.htm#Alternative top 100 albums ever
  4. ^ Mojo Lists Page 1
  5. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm#Greatest British Albums
  6. ^ Q - 5o best British albums ever! (july 2003)
  7. ^ "Top Albums of All-time". rateyourmusic.com. http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/all-time. 
  8. ^ Odessey and Oracle liner notes

[edit] See also

v • d • e
The Zombies
Colin Blunstone · Rod Argent · Chris White · Paul Atkinson · Hugh Grundy
Albums
Begin Here (The Zombies) · Odessey and Oracle · New World · As Far As I Can See…
Singles
"She's Not There" · "Leave Me Be" · "Tell Her No" · "She's Coming Home" · "Whenever You're Ready" · "Remember You" · "Is This the Dream" · "Indication" · "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself" · "Goin' Out of My Head" · "Friends of Mine" · "Care of Cell 44" · "Time of the Season"

Check the Colin Blunstone's interview for a Chilean Radio Network Adictos al Ruido (version UK) on http://adictosalruido.com

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessey_and_Oracle"
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