This album, The Apple Pie Motherhood Band (1968), by The Apple Pie Motherhood Band, is one that came into my suggestions from Apple Music the other night. I’m not sure what album I was listening to that it was suggested to me for, but just the name alone was enough to get me interested. This is another group related to the Bosstown sound area of music that I’ve been getting into lately, so I’m pretty stoked to give this one a listen. The group began in 1967 and recorded two albums before parting ways in 1970. This particular album was their debut album. They seem like an interesting group, so I’m going to go ahead and jump on into the music.
“Born Under a Bad Sign” starts things out with a steady bass line and drum beat that slowly build up until the electric guitar and organs come in, making a sound like an some sort of star that shoots across the night sky, getting dangerously close to getting caught in the Earth’s orbit without doing so. This is one groovy tune. The vocals come on and the playing really gets into this super sweet psychedelic groove. I’m really digging that this song is over 7 minutes, because I’m getting super into this tasty jam right now. There’s some super tasty light distortion to the electric guitar, which really lets out a few bluesy wails alongside the vocals. Meanwhile the bass and drums keep things grooving along. The rhythm guitar and the organs keep things swirling with steady accentuations to the beat. Oh wow, this organ solo that just came on is absolutely awesome. I can’t stress enough how much I keep turning this song up. The short, almost tin-like staccato’d chords from the rhythm guitar give such a hugely reliable foundation to the song; I’m really digging it. Dang, this is one groovy intro song to this album. It’s undoubtedly psychedelic, bluesy, and definitely beats with a heart made of rock and roll. I absolutely dig it.
“I’d Like to Know” starts out in a really mesmerizing way with what sounds like an acoustic guitar played on top of a harpsichord. Oh wow, the playing has such a lighthearted feel, especially in comparison to the previous one. Oh wow, the female vocals have such an almost baroque folksy feel, which really add a whole different and great layer to this song. Holy smokes, the electric guitar at the end is absolutely awesome. Great track.
“Ice” has a very patient feel to it, and musically sounds like you’re being walked down a mountain to its peak – very contradictory, but super sweet. It sounds like you’re being led downhill, but you get there and you realize you’ve been brought to a completely different level. The falsetto vocals are super awesome too. Another great song.
“Yesterday’s New Song” has a very interesting sound, with the vocals seeming like they’re peering through a completely different musical dimension. The instrumentation is incredibly dynamic, providing multiple different movements between the choruses. The vocals have an almost gospel-like quality. Meanwhile, the drums and piano really continually lift the song up, while the guitars and bass work to seemingly become the stairs that the drums and piano carry you up. Super groovy tune.
“Barnaby’s Madness” has a very pleasant sound to it from the vocals and the organs. I really dig the fuzzed out guitar on this one, which almost has an acid rock quality to it that is sort of polished a bit by the vocals, piano, and organs. The bass guitar gives the song a great, steady pulse. There is an absolutely beautiful piano line in this one. Wow, the guitar in this one really wails at the end in a super tasty way. Another great tune.
Oh wow, “The Ultimate / Contact” starts off with one epic movement. Between the almost primal drums and the loose, improvisatory guitar and piano lines, mixed with some feedback, it’s like an absolutely sweet psychedelic roller coaster ride that goes uphill the whole time. Oh wow, the drum solo is absolutely awesome, and really has an almost weighty feel to them. Oh wow, the band seems to be taking turns hesitantly taking the lead in this extended psychedelic jam of a song. Oh wow, the organs and piano sort of feel like they’re almost played upside down at times. Oh wow, the tune seemingly breaks through to a different, almost relaxed realm when the vocals come through, though the band stays playing super tasty, tight licks. It’s hard to believe that the album is already past the mid-way point. Definitely a far out, groovy tune.
“The Way It Feels” has a super playful feeling to it, with the band seemingly playing a really groovy feel-good tune after that extended psychedelic jam. The vocals are super groovy and tasty in this one. The organs, guitars, and drums give the song a nice forward moving feeling in this one.
“Bread and Jam” is a super tasty classic psychedelic blues sounding track. Holy smokes, the piano in this one is absolutely delicious, really getting groovy and bluesy with this one. Oh wow, the guitars are really going in and sync up extraordinarily well with the drums in this one. This song is super tasty. Oh wow, the guitars at the end have such a nice grit to them. Really sweet little tune.
“Apple Pie” has a really groovy sound to it, and has like a psychedelic summer vibe to it. Wow, the combination of the vocals and the organs have a super psychedelic sound to them, and when you add in the gritty electric guitar, the psychedelia is only furthered. There’s definitely a really nice feel-good sort of vibe to this one. The layers of the vocals in the soundscape really melt into the jam really well. Oh wow, the lead vocals really have some great flavor to them in this one. I definitely dig this tune.
“Variations On a Fingernail” immediately has a super groovy psychedelic rock sound to it. It almost sounds like the band built a psychedelic castle around you throughout out this album, and this song leads you to take a look at the castle built around you for the first time. There’s definitely a groovy conclusory feel to this one, with the playing seeming like it’s sort of fading out while almost picking up with intensity. The lead guitar is awesome in this one, and absolutely feels like it rolls along on all cylinders. I’m definitely digging this ending. Great little tune to lead the album out.
Wow, I keep enjoying Bosstown sound even more as I continue to listen to it. If you enjoy psychedelic rock from the 60s, and especially from the Bosstown sound era, you might want to check this one out. There are a lot of super groovy tunes in this one, and this is an album I’m definitely looking into getting on vinyl. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I sincerely hope you enjoy it at least as much as much as I did.
-A