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Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera — Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
(Bandcamp Think Like a Key TLAK1198, 1968/2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-06-14

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera Cover art

In the latter half of the 60s, things were moving very fast, and the trends in popular music were certainly no exception — what seemed totally hip one day could be laughably obsolete only six months or a year later. For anyone paying attention, the innocent beat and pop sounds coming from the British Isles in 1965 and 1966 would give way to a more overtly psychedelic sound in the following years; 1967 was the year of Sgt.Pepper, Between the Buttons, and Piper at the Gates of Dawn, as well as singles like “Itchycoo Park” and “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” It was exciting, and by the following year there was so much ‘me too’ out there that a lot of fine music releases never even got noticed. The debut by Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera was one such release, never quite getting the attention it rightfully deserved in mid-1968 amid all the psychedelic pop wanabees of the day. There was nobody in the band named Elmer Gantry — it was lead singer Dave Terry who adopted that persona — and along with guitarist Colin Forster, bassist John Ford, and drummer Richard ‘Hud’ Hudson, who had all been on the scene in various bands prior to their coming together in ‘67. By the time they had played enough gigs and found the studio time to record and release an album, it was already mid-’68 and things were changing fast again, and those who didn’t get their product out earlier were feeling that change. Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera did manage to get a single out in the last days of ‘67, a wonderful number called “Flames,” which to this day is what they are remembered most for. The album, which didn’t see release until the middle of ‘68, was equally engaging, thirteen brilliant slabs of prime British psychedelic pop, along with another single “Mary Jane” and album-only gems like “Lookin’ for a Happy Life,” “Long Nights of Summer,” “Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey,” and “What's the Point of Leaving,” among many others, hinting at the wild rockers they were reported to be in a live setting. The original album is rounded out with eleven bonus tracks, including singles that post-date the album’s release, mono single versions of “Mary Jane” and “Flames,” B-sides, and demos, as well as material recorded after Forster’s departure and replacement by guitarist Paul Brett. After Terry left the band, there was no more Elmer Gantry, and the band decided to continue as simply Velvet Opera — another story for another day.

Filed under: Reissues, 2025 releases, 1968 recordings

Related artist(s): Velvet Opera

More info
http://thinklikeakey.bandcamp.com/album/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera-2025-remaster

 

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