TheCellarTapes

The Electric Prunes - Underground
(1967)



Tracks


Formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, The Electric Prunes were a Psychedelic group who were primarily remembered for producing two fantastic singles in 1967, both of these hits appeared on their debut album which has already been reviewed in this very journal; I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night).

After the commercial and critical success of this debut, The Electric Prunes in the same year got to work on the follow up. And so it was in August 1967, Underground was released on Reprise.

The first album, although an Electric Prunes record, is noted for having key contributions by song writing partners Mantz and Tucker, as well as being heavily played around with by producer Dave Hassinger and the record label. But after the success of the Prunes’ debut, Hassinger was far too busy to be dealing with a second Prunes album so soon after the debut. So despite label reservations, The Electric Prunes were pretty much left to their own devices, which was not necessarily a bad thing.

Probably due to this lack of interference, unlike their debut, Underground is missing a hit single or two, but I think for interest and all round appeal, the follow up is a better record all things considered. The album begins with The Great Banana Hoax, this is not a Mantz and Tucker song, this is in fact a song penned by members of the Prunes. If anything this song demonstrates that The Electric Prunes were indeed the West Coast Psychedelic geniuses I had always labelled them; this really is an epic song with wonderful moments.



Now track three is where this album really starts to move into another league; Wind-Up Toys, once again is a Prunes composition and although has elements to it which take you to Canterbury, England circa 1967, it feels wonderfully sparse and garagey making it unmistakably Electric Prunes.

Track four is our first chance to look at Annette Tucker and Nancy Mantz contributing to this album. Antique Doll, is a very dark and spooky song, and indeed compliments the Prunes penned materiel from this record flawlessly.

Track five is It’s Not fair, which fuses country elements with The Electric Prunes, quite an interesting song really. The next highlight sees the return of Mantz and Tucker with their finest moment on this album, the fuzz injected Dr Do-Good, belting stuff. However at this stage the relationship between The Prunes and Mantz & Tucker was becoming increasingly frosty as the band’s urge to escape into complete artistic freedom became overwhelming.

But let’s forget the negativity and remember that this release in essence is The Electric Prunes at their peak, trying to gain control of their own destinies and producing material of a quality which in my view surpasses their previous release. Underground would be the last hurrah for the original Electric Prunes line-up for thirty years, after this release their destiny would be snatched from them in a cloud of record company bureaucracy and internal wrangling. But before the band’s story drifts off into the realms of farce, they thankfully got the chance to show the world what they actually were capable of with triumphant results.

Incidentally The Electric Prunes are now back together and going strong with a couple of releases made in the last few years which further demonstrate the abilities of this great forgotten band, The Electric Prunes Website if you want to learn more.