Forever & Ever – The First Look At….. (1967)

Artist: Forever & Ever
Title: The First Look At….
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Jubilee

A poetry of words and music had not beeline of the legacies of rock ‘n roll’s influence on the pop music scene until the recent development of folk rock. When performers came from the field of “pure” folk music and found an eager and hit-making audience among much of the beat generation, it was as predictable as the ending of a western whose hero stands tall on a white horse that a fusion of folk and rock would materialize.

It is my belief that what could have been an artistic holocaust has proven to be extremely beneficial to both musical forms. Folk has rewarded rock with intelligence, insight and melodic interest, while many fascinating rock concepts have come along to underscore the many emotional levels on which fine folk material can be written. Folk music has helped rock ‘n roll come of age. Rock, in turn has provided folk material with an orchestration it has long been in need of.

A fortunate sign that we have by no means heard the last of talented folk-rock performers appears in the arrival of a new duo, FOREVER and EVER. Like their fellow talents in this bag, they are 20th Century minstrels, for Bob Corbin and David Hanner write and render their own material and are thus masters of their own fate in the world of entertainment.

Once “Lost Lambs,” a straight rock group that tried to buck the hard rock market over a two year period, Corbin and Hanner ventured into the folk-rock area in 1966, pooling their versatile talents as singers, musicians and writers to develop vocal arrangements of songs whose poignancy lend such haunting quality to this album.

These songs entail an entire complement of varied folk-rock themes, which, as students of the idiom recognize, involve impressions of a highly personal and imagery-loaded nature. There is, however, less propaganda or, as the euphemists might put it, “protest or message” song material from the pens of Corbin & Hanner than one has been conditioned to expect from this field. Nevertheless, their songs reflect the feelings of talents who are sensitive to man’s relationships with man and certainly, woman.

Happily, the boys do not take everything seriously. There is a charming number here, “Early Morning Bath,” which bathtub tenors should take delight in.

Whether one is inclined toward folk or rock he is likely to have the impression that FOREVER and EVER know what they are writing and singing about. They’ve got a sound and outlook that seems destined to be an important part of a great pop music force, the wide-wide world of folk-rock. (IRV LICHTMAN, Editor In Chief, Cash Box Magazine)

Track Listing

1. Friday Woman
2. Saints And Sinners
3. I Love
4. Travelin’ Man
5. Little Sister
6. And I Love Them
7. The Beautiful Night
8. I’m A Loner
9. Peggy
10. Early Morning Bath
    

The British Casuals – Hour World (1969)

Artist: The British Casuals
Title: Hour World
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Mainstream

Unquestionably the most disappointing rock release on this highly collectable label. The (British) Casuals produced ultra-commercial male vocal pop with horns and orchestration.

The “British” was added to their name for releases on the Mainstream label in the U.S. to differentiate them from the American band, Ronnie and The Casuals. They formed in the UK in the early 60′s, and transfered to Italy in the mid 60′s, returning to Britain after their single “Jesamine” became a hit. (tymeshifter RYM)

Originally formed by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and Howard Newcombe (guitar), they added Don Fortune (drums) and Zenon Kawolski (bass), and became The Casuals in 1961. Upon turning professional in 1962 Fortune and Kawolski left, to be replaced by Mick Brey and Ian Good.

In 1965 they won the TV talent show Opportunity Knocks three times, leading to a recording contract with Fontana Records who issued their debut single “If You Walk Out”, which was unsuccessful. In 1966 Alan “Plug” Taylor (bass) joined, and the band moved to Italy, where they signed with CBS in Milan to record Italian language covers of British hit singles.

These included a #1 Italian single covering the Bee Gees’ “Massachusetts”. Good left in mid 1967, and was not replaced, but when Brey left later that year, Bob O’Brien joined on drums.

In 1968, whilst still in Italy, The Casuals switched to Decca Records, who released the single “Jesamine” which charted, so the band came back from Italy to promote the record, which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart late in 1968.

“Jesamine” was a cover version of The Bystanders’ “When Jesamine Goes” issued in February 1968, and was co-written by Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott (the Bystanders’ manager, not the famous jazz musician), under the pseudonym Frere Manston and Jack Gellar.The follow-up single, “Toy” (written by Chris Andrews) also made the Top 40, peaking at #30.

They were also successful in Germany, where “Jesamine” hit #9, and “Toy” went to #27, but their first and only album, Hour World, was issued too late to capitalise on these successful singles. Chris Evans stood in for Newcombe when he was ill, and when Taylor and O’Brien left in 1970, Evans became a permanent member, along with Lloyd Courtney. None of the following four singles managed to chart, and the group was dropped by Decca in 1971.

They signed to Parlophone in 1972 and released “Tara Tiger Girl”, but the single went nowhere, nor did a single “American Jam” for which the band was renamed ‘American Jam Band’, although, as both singles had the same B-side, the link was obvious. They left Parlophone for Dawn Records in 1974, but after their final single, “Good Times”, flopped, they disbanded in 1976. (Wikipedia)

Track Listing

1. Jesamine
2. Toyland
3. Never My Love
4. Fool’s Paradise
5. Now You Can Be
6. Daddy’s Song
7. Hello It’s M
8. Someday Man
9. Touched
10. Sunflower Eyes
11. Hey-Hey-Hey