SHAZAM

I'm so glad this group is included on ProgArchives but, at the same time, they pose a dilemma for me as a reviewer. While I wholeheartedly agree that they belong in the proto-prog bunch, I feel that many listeners might find that categorization to be a stretch. The fact that they were (and are still) relatively unknown in the U.S. presents a sizeable obstacle and the fact that their albums were such a hodgepodge of unrelated styles is yet another. I'll just say their appeal is an acquired taste and leave it at that.

This record in particular holds a special place in my heart because I discovered it shortly after I'd moved out of mom & dad's house, gotten my own apartment and started my life as a free-wheelin' college boy. In 1970 I spent more time in the campus record store than I did in class, having meaningful conversations/arguments about the state of music with the hippie owner and poring over the latest issue of Rolling Stone (Back then it was a respected, viable source of info about rock & roll. Now it's about as relevant as the National Enquirer). It was a glowing review in that rag that made me shell out my meager entertainment funds for this LP and it instantly met my #1 criteria the minute I got it on my turntable: The Move didn't sound like any band I'd ever heard in my life. They were, in a word, different, and that's what I couldn't get enough of.

Their repeated success on the British pop charts, while admirable, hadn't fulfilled their artistic souls. "Shazam" was a drastic departure from that constricting hit single mindset. It's a somewhat schizophrenic and, at times, progressive journey into the realm of extended album cuts. The first track, the rude "Hello Susie," has a big, proggy intro that snaps your brain to attention immediately before it levels out into a straight-ahead rocker that features Rick Price's thick bass guitar tone and Roy Wood's stacked 12-string electric guitars. Whereas most English singers of that era went out of their way to downplay their indigenous accent and sound "American," Roy's gritty native tongue comes barging through unhindered and I applaud him for letting it all hang out. It puts a raw but genuine edge on the song. The flanged harmonies on the chorus belie their psychedelic roots but Bev Bevan's weird drum fills on the accented breaks throw things for a curve. While at first I thought he was just being odd for odd's sake, I soon realized that BB is truly one of the worst drummers on the planet and the logic-defying Achilles heel of not only this group but ELO, as well. (Unfortunately, it's something I obviously have to accept about the band but I'll never, ever understand why he lasted.)

Between the first number and the second you are introduced to the most unusual aspect of this album that has always delighted and intrigued me. They interject spontaneous man-on-the-street interviews that have nothing to do with the music being presented and these unrehearsed snippets lend a levity to the proceedings that is, to my knowledge, totally unique. (The Who scattered faux radio spots on their "Sell Out" LP but these vignettes are something else entirely.) "Beautiful Daughter" is a clever, short ditty with deep acoustic guitars and a string quartet that shines a spotlight on lead vocalist Carl Wayne as he does his best Paul McCartney imitation. Clocking in at less than 3 minutes, it's over before you know it and you're on to the proggiest tune on the album, the incredible "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited." After a hilarious spoken-word introduction the group explodes into crisp, layered guitars and a gigantic bass sound as Wayne sings about life in a loony bin. There's never a dull musical moment and the straw-hat barbershop quartet refrain of "lock me in and throw the key away." fits perfectly at the end of every chorus. But it's in the instrumental section that things get really intriguing as they incorporate themes from Bach, Dukas and Tchaikovsky into the brilliantly arranged segment, culminating in a deranged vocal interpretation of one of Johann Sebastian's most recognizable melodies as warbled by a choir of inmates from the asylum. As humorous as it is, I'm still amazed to this day by the high level of musicianship displayed throughout this piece, especially by Wood on the guitars. (By the way, there's not a keyboard to be heard on "Shazam.")

The eleven-minute "Fields of People" is a great example of good news/bad news. First the good. It's a well-written, catchy song that rocks with tight, dense harmonies and slick, clean 12-string guitar work from Roy. What distinguishes it from most every tune I've ever heard, though, is the off-the-cuff spoken tomfoolery going on in and around Wayne's vocal track. Taking themselves too seriously was not one of this band's problems and the eclectic, carefree "why the Hell not?" nature of it all gives the tune a charm that I find irresistible. It's as if they weren't about to let cutting an album get in the way of having a bit of fun. You gotta hear it to believe it. The bad news is that, at about halfway through the number, they segue to a long, ridiculously overindulgent, amateurishly performed, sitar-driven Indian pseudo-raga that should have faded out after about 30 seconds. Instead it drones on. And on. And on. Gradually speeding up to go absolutely nowhere. It has no redeeming qualities at all so consider yourself forewarned and prepared to utilize the "skip" button. (In the days of vinyl I used to have to get up, physically lift the needle and skip over this noisy nonsense as if it was some unexplained ritual required to make it through the LP.)

Their heavy-handed, hard rock version of "Don't Make My Baby Blue" proves beyond a doubt that The Move was no longer some lightweight pop outfit. Here they are a supercharged power trio roaring behind Carl's strong, Paul Rodgers-like vocal with Wood sounding like he's pumping a Les Paul through five stacks of Marshall amplifiers set on 11 and peeling the paint off the studio ceiling. Self-restraint was not one of this group's strong points, however, and the out-of-control wah-wah guitar solo gets to be a bit much in the middle. The final tune is a remake of the Tom Paxton folk classic, "The Last Thing on My Mind," where Roy builds a wall of sound with ringing acoustic and 12 string guitars behind Wayne's cabaret-style crooning. But just when you think it's nothing more than a then-popular standard done up big time, Wood takes you on a psychedelic detour with swirling guitar lines and backwards masking that's as trippy as Pink Floyd on peyote. I won't call it great, but it's definitely interesting and memorable.

The remastered version includes 9 cover songs recorded live from the stage of the famous Marquee Club circa 1968 that only goes to show that The Move did their finest work in the confines of the studio. In concert they come off as a British garage band at best and the poor fidelity doesn't do them any favors. The tunes are a nostalgic curiosity, nothing more, and don't hold up to repeated listens.

In the history of progressive rock music I doubt that the playful "Shazam" had much influence on anybody in the genre. However, for the group it was a giant step up from the Top 40 mentality that dominated the recordings that came before and laid the groundwork for more challenging undertakings in the future. It will always remind me of some of the best years of my life so I cherish it for what it is, warts and all. It was Roy Wood's last project before saying farewell to Carl Wayne and joining forces with Jeff Lynne, and it offers hints of the proggier direction he was about to set out on with the final two Move albums and onward to the adventurous debut of The Electric Light Orchestra.

Are you going away with no word of farewell?

Having enjoyed their first taste of success in the album charts with their debut album in 1968, it took the Move another 2 years to release a follow up. During the intervening period, the band continued to find considerable singles chart success in the UK, including their first and only number one single "Blackberry way". During those two years, two members of the band (Ace Kefford and Trevor Burton) departed, but the core trio of Wood, Bevan and Wayne remained.

Continuing a policy the band had successfully exploited on their "Something else from the Move" EP, "Shazam" saw the band taking a couple of songs by other established artists and stamping their own identity on them, much like Vanilla Fudge had pioneered in the US.

"Shazam" represents a fundamental shift in emphasis for The Move, at least in terms of album tracks. While they would continue to record commercially appealing singles, this album serves as a first pointer towards the formation of the Electric Light Orchestra. Quite what caused such a sea-change in the band's style is unclear, especially in view of their continued attack on the singles chart.

With just 6 tracks in total, four of which run to over 6 minutes, it is immediately apparent that this album will not be as instantly accessible as the eponymous debut. We start however with another potential single. "Hello Suzie" (a song originally written by Roy Wood for Amen Corner, who took it into the singles chart as a pop number) is the heaviest song recorded by the band up to this point, but it retains a strong hook and superb vocals by Wood. The song is something of a cross between Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. "Beautiful daughter" is the only genuinely short track on the album, running to a shade under 3 minutes. The track has much in keeping with the first album, Carl Wayne taking lead vocal on a delightfully orchestrated light ditty.

With "Cherry blossom clinic revisited" we reach the real meat of the album. The song is a reworking of the aborted single from the band's debut. It opens with a mildly amusing spoken passage introducing a startlingly heavy interpretation of the song. The instrumental passage bizarrely includes an extract from Bach's "Jesu joy of man's desiring" played on acoustic guitar.

The first part of the 11 minute "Fields of people" is a slightly lighter psychedelic number with a catchy melody and effective harmonies. The song, which is credited to Wyatt Day / Jon Pierson, was originally recorded by the late 60's US band Ars Nova (although their version ran to under 3 minutes!). The Move's version is in two distinct halves, the latter part being a sitar recital. "Don't make my baby blue" was a hit for Frankie Lane in the early 60's, written by the renown song writing team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill. This is probably the heaviest track on a very heavy album. The blues leanings of the song remain, albeit rather drowned out by the rather chaotic sledgehammer beat.

In one of the most imaginative moves of their career, the final cover is of Tom Paxtons's folk classic "The last thing on my mind", a number often mistaken for a traditional folk song. This wonderful 6½ minute interpretation respects the integrity of the song, but presents it in a whole new prog orientated dimension, complete with a magical space rock instrumental section.

In all, a highly ambitious second album by The Move, which sees them taking bold steps into new territories. Those who acquired the album on the basis of the band's many great singles may have been puzzled by what they found, but in these parts, this is arguably a definitive proto prog album.

This would be Carl Wayne's final album with the Move. After unsuccessfully attempting to reunite the band with former members, and conscious of Roy Wood's fledgling ambitions relating to his Electric Light Orchestra project, Wayne opted for a solo career. He actually recorded with ELO, but the recording were not used at the time. He went on to work with Mike Oldfield (on "Earth moving"), and in 2000 replaced Allan Clarke in the Hollies. Sadly, Carl Wayne passed away in 2004.

It's hard to believe well into the 21st century that a band like THE MOVE which was hardly ever a household name outside of the UK, was in fact one of the top pop acts of the late 60s racking up an impressive number of hits, actually 20 in total in a short five year period but found little success outside of their British homeland. Taking a few cues from The Beatles and not just in the musical department, THE MOVE was one of those bands that released many singles that weren't included on the albums themselves and in the beginning the focus was more on the pop singles rather than on fully developed albums, therefore in this same five year period this band originally led by bassist / vocalist Chris Kefford only released two albums and much like the Beatles had transmogrified from a typical 60s beat garage rock sounding band with strong pop hooks into a veritable art rock band that wisely retained the pop sensibilities all the while increasing the complexity and weirdness into a heavy rock and proto-prog territory on their second album SHAZAM! (I reeeeally want to add a lightning bolt after that!)

Five years in, Kefford found his influence overpowered by guitarist / keyboardist / vocalist Roy Wood and in 1968 exited stage right after a nervous breakdown resulting from a liberal fascination, and excessive love affair with LSD experimentation. As Wood took the reins, THE MOVE, well?. moved into new territories and with Kefford's departure Trevor Burton would switch from guitar to fill his bass duties only to depart midstream only to be replaced by Rick Price. Making it even more complicated was the fact that Tony Visconti played bass on "Beautiful Daughter" which resulted in that track being used from older sessions, so while SHAZAM! was recorded in a much shorter time than the long term recording sessions of the debut album, this track in a way connected the band to their Beatles pop influences in the fact that it sounds like a reworked making of "Eleanor Rigby" complete with a exuberant violin and chamber pop backing.

SHAZAM is a few steps up from the eponymous debut, which i really found to be an excellent pop rock album of 1968, however on this sophomore outing Wood and company fine-tuned their overall sound into a veritable art rock band that foresaw many trends that made the 70s so great. This album is a testament to its era. It equally catches the zeitgeist of the 60s hippie vibe that was slowly waning all the while jumping ahead into progressive pastures that were blossoming all around them. The result is electrifying like that lightning bolt from the sky that like Billy Batson uttering the word SHAZAM! becomes the powerful superhero Captain Marvel. While the original album only had six tracks, they are quite diverse and all but "Beautiful Daughter" clock in at the five minute mark or more and despite continuing to hit the charts even in 1970 with singles, none of the six tracks on this album were even released as singles making SHAZAM truly an art rock album oriented musical ride all the way.

"Hello Susie" starts things off with a blistering heavy guitar riff oriented sound for 1970 allowing singer Carl Wayne to wail his vocals in a snarling heavy rock shout-a-thon where he battles to be heard over the heavy guitar, bass and surprisingly sophisticated drum techniques implemented by Bev Bevan. At this point THE MOVE was known for their mixing it up with Roy Wood penned originals and covers of other artists. The first three tracks are Wood's creations whereas the second half of the album is all covers. "Beautiful Daughter" rescued from past sessions and a 2.0 version of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" unleashes a string savvy power ballad as well as the shortest track on the album at a less than three minute running time. Then we come to one of my favorite tracks of the album: "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited." As the name implies, this one is taken from the first album but perfected in every way. Firstly, the instrumentation is impeccable with guitars, bass, drums and vocals ramping up their respective roles. The stylistic changes suit the music perfectly and the medley type ventures toward the end that incorporate different variations on classical pieces by J.S. Bach and Tchaikovsky is stunningly brilliant and surprisingly amusing.

Side two begins with the other genius track of "Fields Of People," which although a cover of an Ars Nova hippie dippie track from a few years prior is crafted into a bona fide masterpiece of musical pleasure with a marriage of classical music sensibilities with the 60s beat pop rock that THE MOVE made their own. The verse / chorus infectious pop grooves evolve into a veritable Indo-raga finale which takes the entire track to close to the eleven minute mark yet not for one second does this one get boring. The remaining two tracks are sort of the more ordinary of the bunch. "Don't Make My Baby Blue" is a rather Janis Joplin sounding bluesy rocker with heavy guitar riffs and soul gusto while "The Last Thing On My Mind" dips back into the psychedelic pop 60s for a wild trippy guitar rock track that meanders on into the ethers and beyond for a seven and a half minute ride. The album is rather light-hearted as THE MOVE adopted the rather Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band approach of silly narrative between and even with tracks to add a personal touch of mood and situation to add some personal connections.

Wham bam i love SHAZAM! This was a grower and not one that immediately revealed its secrets to me. It was like a worm that embedded itself in my soul and only really unleashed its magic after probably the fifth listen or so. And then i was hooked! While highly accessible upon the first listen, it doesn't really differentiate itself from other contemporary pop music at first at least not for me despite the progressive nuances. This album was yet another crossroads in the band's history. After SHAZAM singer Carl Wayne would part ways and Jeff Lynne would join the band and effectively take control and make THE MOVE a proto-Electric Light Orchestra outfit. And it's no surprise that Lynne had his eye on this band since ELO's mission statement was based on the fact that they wanted to take the classical pop characteristics of The Beatles and take them even further. Well, that exactly what THE MOVE was doing on SHAZAM. Don't let the horrible album cover fool you. This is one of 1970's coolest pop rock albums to have been recorded. It's like something The Beatles should have recorded somewhere down the road had they not broken up and ventured even further toward progressive pastures after "Sgt. Peppers."

4.5 but not quite good enough to round up

The Move are a Psych-turned-Prog band, I feel a latter-day reflection on the Freakbeat movement. This album features one of my favorite songs of the era, "Beautiful Daughter". But firstly, "Hello Susie" is a gritty opener, very of the time and yet really looking forward in so many ways. Compositionally, at first glance, it may not look like much, but there's quite a bit of rhythmic complexity and, otherwise, vision. I feel like it's still Proto-Prog in focus, but looking forward, I feel this could be Proto-Glam, which is really very cool! The ending features a very silly interview with someone the interviewer is convinced is not British. And guess what! They are! And they love Reggae haha. Onto the aforementioned, "Beautiful Daughter". This is absolutely perfect early-70s Psych. The lyrics and melodies are very whimsical and just wonderful to me. A must-hear, if you don't know it. It's a tad Beatles-esque here, but also may call S.F. Sorrow (The Pretty Things, 1968) to mind. Again, perfect. Love it.

Up next, the narrated, autobiographical "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" (a rerecording from their debut). Sometimes you have to sign your life away for your own mental health. Hmmm... I can't believe I don't remember this one! What a bombastic, fun song! It's really no wonder this band eventually spawned ELO (fellow lovers of Psychedelia and Classical alike). Bright and regal, despite being from the perspective of a committed person. The guitars are so heavy. We enter a new section around minute 3. This features a reference to the classic "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (J.S. Bach), which morphs into a dark, distorted section. I couldn't place it, but this then references the "Chinese Dance" from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Quite the neo-classical mini-epic, lasting nearly 8 minutes! Impressive.

The longform continues on the very familiar 11-minute Ars Nova cover, "Fields of People". Still neo-classical, but like a tongue-in-cheek Flower Power tune. Ooooooh the group harmonies over the chorus are just amazing! Huge song, this'n. Quite the endeavor. Color me... inspired? Bit of a false ending around minute 6... resulting in a low drone, which turns surprisingly upbeat, but also is a bit of a Raga (though I can't help but think that it's clearly anglicized). Fantastic stuff. This is another that finishes off with a short interview. It's clear they had a lot of fun recording these. Still in a longer-than-Pop form, next is the Blues Rockin' "Don't Make My Baby Blue". A bit reminiscent of Deep Purple or, in guitar beefiness, Black Sabbath (though bright). I'm not one to stick around for the Blues, but this has some special sauce, no doubt. The dual-solo in the middle is very nice. Wicked Hendrix-type something, no? And finally, the last thing on the original album is "The Last Thing On My Mind". With the 6th-chord at the start, immediately brought "Fool on the Hill" to mind. I love the sound. And this is still very much in a Psychedelic vein, but also balladic. I did get a tad bored, though, not even midway through the song. Another solid guitar solo is hereafter. I guess best I can say is I'd rather listen to Led Zeppelin II.

The ending (those last two tracks)? Sort of a blight on an otherwise fantastic album.