The Magicians
Listen/Download – The Magicians – About My Love
Greetings all.
I hope the new week finds you all well.
I found the single you see before you about a year ago, out in the field, and even though I hadn’t heard it, had to grab it and take it home.
The Magicians were a short-lived New York folk rock group in the mid 60s that released a handful of 45s before dissolving.
They’d probably be completely forgotten if not for two of their members, Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner, who went on to write ‘Happy Together’, ‘She’d Rather Be With Me’ and ‘You Know What I Mean’ for the Turtles, ‘Put the Clock Back on the Wall’ for the E-Types, ‘Celebrate’ for Three Dog Night, and ‘Me About You’ (a favorite song of mine) for a bunch of people.
Oddly enough, today’s selection was not a band original, but a cover of a tune by folk singer David Blue.
‘About My Love’ was originally recorded in 1966 by Blue in a prime Dylan-folk rock style.
The Magicians got their hands on it later that year and whipped a little garage punk heat on it, with some wailing harmonica, pounding drums and twangy guitars.
Their’s is a pretty solid reworking of the song, giving Blue’s imitation Dylan a good kick in the pants.
The flipside ‘Angel on the Corner’ provides a real contrast, coming across with an almost pop/soul vibe.
It’s a cool 45, and as far as I can tell, pretty affordable.
Sundazed put out a ‘Best of’ comp by the group in 1999, with all of their single tracks and some unreleased things as well.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all next week.
Peace
Larry