Unique Music By Common People

Common People: Soon There’ll Be Thunder and I Have Been Alone
From: Of the People, By the People, For the People [Capitol 1968]

Myth busting on the Fuzz today as we switch up styles once more and enter the world of sixties psych music. For as long as I’ve known the music of The Common People it’s been linked to a major what if. As the story has always gone, David Axelrod was signed up to be the producer of the album and completed three tracks with the group before his wife was injured in a serious car accident. Axelrod then left the recording and the band completed the rest of the album without him.

The reason the story has never been questioned is that the first three songs on the album sound like classic late sixties Axelrod; full of swirling strings, lush percussion and a certain signature depth of sound. The rest of the album, though by no means bad, is a more standard set of sub-Love style recordings without any of the mournful beauty of the album’s opening.

However, when reading up about the group recently I stumbled across the following website which managed to locate some of the original band for a revealing interview. In this article the band members debunk the myth, stating categorically that Axelrod left the production before a single note had been recorded. The band are so sure of this it makes it hard to question though it also makes the contrast between the two wildly different styles on the record even more confusing.

Whatever you believe, there’s no confusion over why these tracks were held up as masterful Axelrod productions. As mentioned previously their combination of beauty and sorrow are up there with most of his releases from the period and make you long for lost recordings carried out with a similar sound. I’ve posted two of the three songs for your pleasure and they really are something special.

For a long time a lost gem of the sixties that never even got a domestic release in the US, the album has now been reissued on CD and by all accounts Fallout have done a cracking job. I’ve been meaning to pick up my own copy for a while now as it will no doubt do far greater justice to the recording than my crackly vinyl rip. Enjoy and feel free to wonder what if with me…….