Formed in earnest in 1967 after having their minds blown by seeing
Pink Floyd in concert,
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera were one of a handful of British psychedelic bands to successfully incorporate soul elements into their sound, delivering the strongest example of this with their debut single, "Flames." Though the group's time was brief, they were active and dramatic, with multiple lineup changes, name changes, and complete stylistic upheavals happening in the short three-year span they existed.
Long Nights of Summer chronicles all these changes and then some, with more than 70 tracks that include both the band's self-titled 1968 debut, their 1969 follow-up
Ride a Hustler's Dream, as well as multiple singles, demos, and BBC performances from across the group's various iterations. The material from the time of their debut is some of the most compelling, with tunes like the happy-go-lucky pop of "Mary Jane" and "Long Nights of Summer" balancing out the more soul-geared "Volcano" and "Flames," or experimental and
Moody Blues- or
Pink Floyd-informed numbers like "Reactions of a Young Man." Lead vocalist
Dave Terry (aka
Elmer Gantry) left the band before their second LP,
Ride a Hustler's Dream, was recorded, and that album is a different beast all together. There are some nice moments, like the
Dylanesque acoustic 12-string beauty of the minute-long title track and the jumpy, greasy funk-rock of "Don't You Realise," but on the whole the record is confused and uneven.
Long Nights of Summer exhaustively chronicles the many shifts of this short-lived band, including not just the sole 1970 single made by the last iteration of the group featuring
Tintern Abbey's
Dave MacTavish on lead vocals, but a BBC performance by this version of the band. Multiple BBC sessions are joined by mono mixes, singles, and demos, offering a thorough impression of every phase that this obscure group went through. ~ Fred Thomas
