Harpers Bizarre--The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (1967)

     It was the summer of 1966 and Paul Simon was having issues with adjusting with his new found fame. He had been in England the year before writing in anonymity when an electric version of his song, "The Sound of Silence" broke on the charts. Along with singing partner Art Garfunkel, they quickly followed up with, "Homeward Bound" and "I Am a Rock", both top ten hits, but not necessarily songs that were considered upbeat. The rush of new found fame did little to put Simon in a happier frame of mind as he continued to churn out songs that were on the dour side.
     However, it was while coming home early one morning driving over the 59th Street Bridge (officially known as the Queensboro Bridge) that he began to take stock of what was going on around him. His hard work over the years had began to bear fruit, and rather than rush through it all, that he should step back a bit more and enjoy life a bit more. This was the genesis of what would become, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)".
     The song was included on the album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" which was released in October of 1966. This version was never released as an "A" side, but was on the "B" side of the top 20 single, "At the Zoo", released in the Spring of 1967.

      Meanwhile, producer Lenny Waronker was wanting to take the song and make a hit out of it. He approached Leon Russell who came up with a multi-layer arraignment reminiscent of something from the mind of Brian Wilson. Waronker then enlisted a group from LA known as The Tikis to record the song. The members were all for doing the recording, but were known around town as a group which did Beatle-type music, and didn't want any confusion concerning this new direction, so they were rechristened, Harpers Bizarre (a play on the magazine Harper's Bazaar).
     The song became a hit, reaching number 13 on the charts in winter/spring of 1967 and for the next two years found themselves on the charts with songs that were chocked full of vocal harmonies, although none of them did near as well. They broke up in 1969.
     One of the members to make note of was Ted Templeman who became a producer of artists such as The Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, and Van Halen.

  

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Tim Hardin--Simple Song of Freedom (1969)

       As a songwriter, Tim Hardin's career was defined his first two albums in 1966 and 67. Several of his songs, "If I Were A Carpenter", "Reason to Believe" and "Hang On To A Dream" have been a part of the musical lexicon almost from the time they were first recorded. However, what has not been stressed was his abilities as an interpreter of outside material as well. The several albums he released in the early 70's showed someone who's phrasing could take a song and make it his own. His life however was also defined by heroin, which was a constant companion throughout much of his life (most seem to think he developed it during a stint in Vietnam in 1959), and would finally take it in 1980 at the age of 39.
     His only chart success was a cover of Bobby Darin's, "Simple Song of Freedom", which was ironic considering that it was Hardin's, "If I Were a Carpenter" which re-ignited Darin's career in 1967. The song reached #50 in the fall of 1969, perhaps spurred on by Hardin's performance at Woodstock just several weeks before.

 

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Gale Garnett--We'll Sing in the Sunshine (1964)

     Gale Garnett was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and moved to Canada at the age of 11 in 1953. After high school, she chose to go into acting and singing. She got a parts in television shows of the early 60's, and made her New York club debut in 1963. Shortly afterward she was signed to RCA records.
     The song "We'll Sing In The Sunshine" was her own composition and was the single lifted off her first album, "My Kind of Folk Songs". The single went to number 4 on the charts, and won a Grammy in 1965 for best Folk Recording. She spent the rest of the 60's and 70's touring and recording.
      In the years since retiring from singing in the 80's, she continued to act, most notably in 2002's, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", and has also begun to write articles, essays, and book reviews. She has also written four novels since 1999.

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Richie Havens--Freedom (1969)/Here Comes The Sun (1971)

     Richie Havens died this past Monday (4/22) at the age of 71 of a heart attack at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. The last couple of years he had been dealing with poor health after a kidney transplant in 2010, although just retiring from performing last year. He had spent many years as an activist and educator on the subject of the environment, especially to children, but his fame was sealed due to his performance at Woodstock in 1969.
     Havens was born in Brooklyn in 1941, the oldest of nine children. Even at an early age he had an interest in the arts, having sung on many a street corner with his schoolmates hoping to be heard. In 1961, he moved to Greenwich Village to attempt to link up with others of like mind artistically. At first he wasn't inclined to perform, settling to write poetry and painting. Once he did pick up a guitar and start singing, it didn't talk long for him to be the talk of the village, which prompted Albert Grossman, who at the time was managing Bob Dylan to approach Richie about signing with him. He did, and soon had a contract with the Verve Forecast label.
     His first album, "Mixed Bag" was released in 1967 which was the first of six (!!) albums released between then and 1969. What he was becoming known for however was his spellbinding live performances. This landed him as the opening act at Woodstock in 1969.
     He certainly had enough material to perform, what was not planned however was the crowds. No one had predicted, much less planned for the tens of thousands who started showing up. This caused a massive bottleneck which caused not only delays for the concert goers, but for the performers as well who were having to be brought in by helicopter to fulfill their obligations to perform. With no other choice, Havens kept the crowds enthralled for three hours with several encores. Finally however, he was out of songs, this led him to improvise a song based on the old spiritual, "Motherless Child", what happened next was nothing short of musical magic.

      The live performance and subsequent movie catapulted his fame not only here in the US but also around the world. He actually only had one hit on the charts, and that was a cover of the George Harrison penned, "Here Comes The Sun" which reached the top 20 in 1971. Although he never stopped singing or releasing albums, Richie instead used his newly found fame to educate others about ecological issues. In the mid-70's he co-founded the Northwind Undersea Institute, an oceanographic museum for children in the Bronx. Throughout the rest of his life, he continued touring and investing his time and energy on a series of environmental pursuits.

 

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