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THE CLEAR LIGHT STORY PART 2
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Side one of ‘Clear Light’ kicks of with the reworking of ‘Black Roses’ which is not quite as immediate as the Brain Train recording but a great opening track nonetheless. ‘Sand’, a surreal excursion to the beach, follows, and is an unusual venture into new realms of psychedelia. After the two up-tempo openers comes Michael Ney’s beautiful composition, ‘A Child’s Smile’, an extremely delicate and psychedelic offering with chiming guitar and celeste accompaniment. ‘Street Singer’, written by Greg Copeland and Steve Noonan is a disturbing piece with growling guitar and a vocal performance by De Young which borders on insanity, and the next song, ‘Ballad of Freddie and Larry’ continues the psychotic theme, albeit in a more upbeat, carnivalesque treatment. Side one finishes with the folky ‘With All In Mind’, which features an understated vocal from Bob Seal and some poppy keyboard work courtesy of Schuckett.
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Side two opens with the mesmerising rendition of Tom Paxton’s ‘Mr Blue’. A masterpiece of dark brooding paranoia ideally suited to De Young’s vocal delivery, which gets more hysterical as the song progresses, it is matched by the manic instrumentation that culminates in a crescendo of delirium. The intense atmosphere is relieved by ‘Think Again’ a return to folk rock which features some fantastic jazzy guitar from Seal. Harmony vocals and some unusual bass lines embellish the folk pop of “They Who Have Nothing’, which is followed by Seal’s lovely, jangly, folk rock “How Many Days Have Passed’. The set finishes with the awesome ‘Night Sounds Loud’. A soundtrack for an acid trip with strange surreal lyrical imagery and instrumental textures of sound that merge, soaring and gliding to the final fade, an overlooked masterpiece of psychedelia that was released in the U K as their final single.
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Clear Light looking hip and freaky in the garden of the Clear Light House on Franklin Avenue
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The Clear Light House on Franklin Avenue.
Photo courtesy of Fred Rayworth.
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Clear Light then hit the road to promote the album, playing both the West and East Coast, alongside acts such as The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Tim Buckley, Frumious Bandersnatch and Buddy Guy, building up a formidable reputation for their live performance. Work started on the second album but, although several tracks were recorded, the project was never completed. The stresses of working with Rothchild began to take their toll, beginning with the departure of Bob Seal, sacked from the group he had formed. Rothchild had already tried to replace him in mid 1967 with guitarist Doug Hastings, who had previously played with The Daily Flash and The Buffalo Springfield (he was later in the fore-mentioned Rhinocerous), but without success. Seals' eventual replacement was Danny ‘Kootch’ Kortchmar, who had played on the East Coast with The Fugs and The Flying Machine.Danny Kortchmar, Doug Lubahn, Ralph Schuckett and Michael Ney appear on Goffin & King’s ‘Porpoise Song’ from the sountrack to the Monkees film, Head, recorded on 28-30 February 1968 and without doubt the most psychedelic recording that the Monkees ever made. The band carried on touring, but without Seal the spark was gone and the end was in sight.
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Bud Mathis looks on as the Brain Train perform at a Sunset Strip club
L-R Dallas Taylor (drums), Michael Ney(drums), Doug Lubahn (bass), Bob Seal (guitar), Robbie Robison (guitar)
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By the beginning of 1969 it was all over and the remnants of Clear Light split up. Dallas Taylor went on to provide drumming duties for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and later still Manassas. Ralph Schuckett provided keyboards for the Peanut Butter Conspiracy on their third album before going on to form Jo Mama with Kortchmar.Schuckett was also involved with Todd Rundgren's Utopia, and worked on Carole Kings' best seling album 'Tapestry'. Michael Ney also played drums for the Peanut Butter Conspiracy on their album, For Children Of All Ages under the name Michael Stevens. Douglas Lubahn had provided bass for the Doors on the albums Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun and The Soft Parade,and was known for a while as "the fifth Door". He later co-founded Dreams, Pierce Arrow, and Riff Raff. In 1981 he became a member of the Billy Squier Band and also wrote with Pat Benatar and Patty Smyth. Cliff De Young went on to have a successful film and TV career as well as recording the single 'My Sweet Lady' and two albums for MCA in the mid 1970’s. Bob Seal played with Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign, Transatlantic Railroad and in bluegrass outfit called The Homebillies, who released a cd in the 1990's.
copyright Gray Newell 2003
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Back Row L - R Michael Ney, Dallas Taylor, Ralph Schuckett
Front Row L - R Bob Seal, Cliff De Young, Douglas Lubahn
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