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The Millennium / Ballroom Recordings
“These songs, these intricate arrangements, these emotional constructions and heartfelt renderings stand as tall today as they ever did. They are, perhaps, even more relevant now, because one can see, through the perspective of history, the true artistry this group of eight (including producer Keith Olsen) painted across the world of music. Our effort and lasting contributions are still valid when seen against the limitations of the time. Emotionally I feel honored by having had a life among these truly fine musicians. Artists, one and all. How I got to be one of them baffles me still. Serendipity, I guess. Good karma.”
– Sandy Salisbury, The Millennium
The Ballroom/Sagittarius/The Millennium. The mere utterance of these names brings a shiver of excitement to collectors of the now popular genre of ‘60s music known as “Soft Rock” (or “Soft Pop,” in many circles). Soft Rock has generated a huge fan base all around the world, particularly in Japan, and lovers of this music fervently search for records and other memorabilia by its practitioners. There’s little doubt that, if all the hardcore Soft Rock fans in the world were polled on which artists they believe to be the most essential and the most beloved, The Ballroom, Sagittarius, and The Millennium would come out on top. This collection is the most comprehensive, best sounding set of Ballroom and Millennium material ever assembled, containing the complete Ballroom album, previously unissued Ballroom tracks, (including instrumental backing tracks in true stereo!), the timeless Millennium album, Begin, as well as alternate and single mixes of Millennium tracks. There’s no doubt that the grandiloquence that is this collection can leave the listener with only one response … wow!
The life and times of Sagittarius have been well documented, both musically and verbally, in Sundazed’s reissue of their Present Tense LP (Sundazed SC 11053), so the liner notes you’re reading will complete the saga of Soft Pop’s Holy Trinity with the stories of The Ballroom and The Millennium. There’s no better place to start than with the glue that bonded these entities (and Sagittarius as well) Curt Boettcher, a man whose work in the studio was so profound that it actually stunned none other than Brian Wilson, who turned white with envy as he listened to Boettcher produce “That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be” for future Millennium member Lee Mallory. It wouldn’t be long before Boettcher would stun a lot of other people.
PRELUDE
The musical journey of Curt Boettcher started in 1962, when he was a student at the University of Minnesota. There he teamed up with sisters Dottie and Sheri Holmberg and a man named Ron Neilson to form a folk rock band called The Goldebriars. Soon after, they signed to Epic Records, and recorded two unique albums for the genre, a brew that Boettcher called, in a 1980 interview with Yoshi Nagato, “a progressive form of folk.” Unfortunately, as with most unconventional works, the albums didn’t sell. The band, who by now had recruited future Millennium drummer Ron Edgar, moved to California and recorded a third album in New York, but despite the fact that things were looking up for them, they broke up due to creative and personal differences, in large part brought on by Boettcher’s need to assert himself as the straw that stirred the drink. Shortly before the breakup of the Goldebriars in mid 1965, Boettcher recorded a demo with new musical partner Victoria Winston, and brought it to the offices of former Vee Jay executive Steve Clark, who admired it not only for its sound but also for its inventiveness.
Clark saw in Boettcher someone with enormous potential, so he formed a partnership with Boettcher and Winston which he called Our Productions, and quickly assigned Boettcher to produce long-time hit maker Tommy Roe, whose career Clark had been handling. Boettcher’s work with Roe yielded gold, figuratively and literally, in the form of the huge hits “Sweet Pea” (ABC 10762) and “Hooray For Hazel” (ABC 10852), as well as the now much revered LP, It’s Now Winter’s Day (ABC 594). In the meantime, Boettcher and Winston, along with Lee Mallory, recorded the single “Milk And Honey” b/w “Too Young To Marry” (Date 1508) for Date Records under the name Summer’s Children.
Even better, Boettcher was assigned to produce an up and coming band from Los Angeles called The Association. Remembers Mallory: “Curt had become friends with Ted Bluechel of The Association, who had gotten to know him through his work with Tommy Roe. The band loved the way Curt arranged vocals, so they invited him to produce ‘Cherish’ (Valiant 747) and ‘Along Comes Mary’ (Valiant 741, written by Tandyn Almer, future Ballroom collaborator) and afterward And Then…Along Comes The Association (Valiant VL-5002).” The Boettcher-produced Association material was released on Valiant Records, as were the songs he produced for Lee Mallory, including the aforementioned “That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be” (Valiant 751).
“Curt and Steve Clark made a deal with Valiant Records, The Association’s label,” recalls Mallory. “Curt liked my guitar work and songwriting, so we would go into the studio and record a bunch of songs with some first-call studio musicians who were also playing gigs with me at different venues around L.A. We also had Gary Paxton, in whose garage studio we cut most of our basic tracks, as engineer. We all lived in Bronson Canyon, in a ‘witchy’ old Spanish type mansion. We would go down to the studio almost every day to record something. We recorded our vocals at Columbia, Studio D. As I listen to it now, I flash on what we were doing, how and by whom we were influenced, and I hear a lot of pretty cool stuff. Unfortunately,” as Mallory recalls, “‘That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be’ got stuck in between ‘Along Comes Mary’ and ‘Cherish,’ also on Valiant. Same producer, same sound, go figure! I guess Valiant didn’t want to promote it that much or didn’t want to compete with themselves. I don’t know. It made #1 in Amsterdam and #2 in Seattle.”
THE BALLROOM
“One evening, back when I’d only known Curt Boettcher for a matter of weeks, I coughed up to his house in my smoky beat-up Volkswagen bug. It was dusky out, the sky darkening fast, that eerie time. I stopped cold when I spotted Curt and Michele O’Malley standing in the driveway, deer caught in my dim headlights. They were both grinning at me. Dang, I thought. What’d I do? I parked and got out and asked what they were doing, standing around looking goofy. “We just got back,” Curt said. “Yeah? From where?” I asked. “Well, we’ve been flying over LA,” Michele told me, matter-of-fact-like. “Naw, come on really, what’s going on?” They were adamant. They’d been flying! “I’m a witch,” Michele said. “I took Curt with me.” Curt giggled. He did that often. Life was often kind of funny to him. But those two scared the shit out of me that night. I can’t even believe I stuck around. But I did. The rest is history. My whole time with Curt was like that. Weird. Curt was weird. And funny. Funny thing is, if he were here today he’d tell you I was the weird one. And he was the normal one. And we’d both be right.”
– Sandy Salisbury, 2001
In late 1966 The Ballroom was formed in Los Angeles. The band consisted of Boettcher, Michele O’Malley, whom Boettcher had recently befriended, oboist Jim bell (also of the Colorado-based band The Poor, which featured future Eagle Randy Meisner, and whose York single “She’s Got The Time (She’s Got The Changes)” almost reached the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1967) and Sandy Salisbury, whose union with Boettcher would prove fruitful, if not fraught with trials. Salisbury recalls the formation of The Ballroom thusly: “I met Curt Boettcher through a mutual friend, a woman whose name I wish I could remember, because I owe her some pretty big payback. In any case, the two of them were connected by this very strange spiritual organization called Subud. I was taken along to the Subud ‘meetings,’ and there got to know Curt. Lee Mallory was also there. Anyway, I didn’t last at Subud. My spiritual discoveries happened at a snail’s pace, and I was not one to let loose the way one did at Subud. But I did become good friends with Lee, Curt, and Curt’s lovely wife, Claudia. Curt got me involved with Steve Clark at Our Productions. Steve was the penultimate hustler. He always had an angle. He was funny and I enjoyed him very much, even when he told me he’d pay my car payments and forgot to. I awoke one morning to an empty driveway. Repossessed. Steve said, in a way only Steve Clark could have, ‘Oops,’ Hah! I wrote songs for him and did background vocals for Curt, mostly demos. Curt found Michele O’Malley and Jim bell somewhere. He may have known them way before I came onto the scene. At that time, Curt created the Ballroom, liking, I suppose, the various talents Jim, Michele and I possessed. The four of us worked well together and made some really fine music. People said we were ‘sort of Mama and Papa-ish,’ which I took as a compliment. I don’t think Curt did, though. Which is a bit of a clue as to the differences in our temperaments – me the easy-going, he the perfectionist.”
It’s likely that Boettcher didn’t like The Ballroom being labeled as a Mamas and Papas-type band because that’s not the sound he was going for. He had been using hallucinogenic drugs, and in accord with that experience he was trying to “create music that was not only inspired by psychedelic drugs, but would recreate the psychedelic experience with all its freedom and possibility, in the mind of the listener,” explains Dawn Eden, noted Boettcher historian. To the ears of most Ballroom fans, the sound achieved was much like a hybrid of the two styles, as Ballroom songs like “Love’s Fatal Way,” “Would You Like To Go” and “You Turn Me Around” (written by the aforementioned Tandyn Almer) certainly take the folk music stylings Boettcher had honed with the Goldebriars to a higher, psychedelic plane. Sandy Salisbury explains how Boettcher got that distinctive psychedelic sound. “Curt had this machine. I can’t remember what it was called [Editor’s note: the Mellotron!]. It was a kind of eerie tape-looped instrumentation, digital sound way before its time. Also, he liked to pile sounds upon sounds. He was a master at it. Then he used this whirly-sounding thing called a Leslie. But the strangest, most interesting sounds came from recording something, then adding it to a track backwards. That was really fun. Curt had an endless supply of original thought.” Among the least psychedelically oriented songs by The Ballroom were those written by Salisbury, like the childlike “Magic Time” and the wide-eyed, hopeful “I’ll Grow Stronger.” “Magic Time” “is about dusk,” he explains, “an awesome time. I just wanted to say something about how I felt about it.” “I’ll Grow Stronger” was “written for me,” he says, somewhat as an escape from the emotional turmoil he was going through, living in L.A.
The Ballroom recorded enough songs to fill an album, with Boettcher and colleague Keith Olsen, who had recently left The Music Machine, co-producing. Two of those songs, the Peter Pan-like “Spinning, Spinning, Spinning” and “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” an absolute gem of a freakout, were slated for release as Warner Bros. 7027 in May of 1967. It’s likely there were never stock copies made of that single, but it was shipped to radio stations, and apparently “Spinning, Spinning, Spinning” was heard by several people, among them a band from New Zealand called The Simple Image, whose recording of it (Carnaby CNS 4013) soared to #1 on the local charts in mid-1968. Unfortunately, the Ballroom version did not experience a similar fate anywhere in the world, and any plans Warner Brothers might have had for releasing a Ballroom album were scrapped. Sadly, other than a very favorably reviewed live performance at the UCLA Mardi Gras in the Spring of 1967, The Ballroom didn’t make any headway into the mainstream, and soon after the concert the band broke up.
Along with the Ballroom album, this collection contains several previously unreleased tracks. Sandy Salisbury fondly recalls them. “‘Lead Me To Love’ was a song I really loved, still do,” he says. “It was written by Mike Deasy, a lead-guitar genius. It always amazed me that this lovely song came from Mike, a burly, bearded fellow who wailed on that guitar of his. And it’s such a mellow song. Michele did a wonderful job on it. She should have gone places. She was a huge talent [Note: after the Ballroom disbanded, O’Malley, under the name “Michele,” released an album called Saturn Rings, produced by Mike Deasy, on ABC Records (ABCS-684)]. ‘A Time For Everything’ was one of my early songs. It was the first of my compositions to be recorded by another artist (The New Establishment). I liked what they did. Hearing my own recording of it after so many years was very satisfying.”
One of the first people to hear “Baby, Please Don’t Go” was Gary Usher, at the time a staff producer at Columbia Records. Usher had been working in the studio down the hall from the one in which Boettcher was recording Ballroom tracks. The two gentlemen ran into each other, and Boettcher played Usher some of the stuff he was working on. Knocked out by what he heard, Usher invited Boettcher and Keith Olsen to help with some tracks for a project he called Sagittarius. He also wanted to hire the guys on as staff producers for Columbia, but much to his chagrin, Boettcher was still under contract with Steve Clark and Our Productions. It took time and a bit of haggling with Clark, who wasn’t about to let Boettcher go cheaply, but by early 1968 Usher was able to make the deal, which involved an expensive purchase of all of The Ballroom recordings – this is the main reason that Ballroom tracks like “Would You Like To Go” and “Musty Dusty” ended up, unaltered, on the debut Sagittarius album for Columbia, Present Tense. [Note: Before Clark was out of the picture, he produced an album for the popular Swedish band The Hep Stars, who featured a pre-Abba Benny Andersson. The album, entitled It’s Been A Long Long Time (CUPOL 342) was filled with songs that were under the auspices of Our Productions, including Hep Stars versions of the Ballroom tunes “Spinning, Spinning, Spinning,” “Another Time,” “Musty Dusty,” “Would You Like To Go,” and “5 A.M..”]
“…THE MILLENNIUM WAS CREATED THAT NIGHT…”
“This group is going to be the best thing the world has ever known…”
– Curt Boettcher
Although Boettcher wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on Present Tense, the original concept for Sagittarius had been Usher’s, and with Boettcher’s creative embers burning unquenchably, Usher convinced Columbia to let Boettcher have his own group. Among the people Boettcher initially chose to be members were bassist Jerry Scheff, guitarist Ben Benay, and drummer Toxie French, all of whom had previously worked with Boettcher on the sides he’d produced for Lee Mallory. It was Scheff who’d suggested the name The Millennium, which fit perfectly with the quickly changing, increasingly hip times. Soon after the name was chosen, the three supporting musicians decided the project was beyond their scope, and departed. Among those who Boettcher recruited to take their place was drummer Ron Edgar. “At the eve of The Music Machine I saw a chance to do some studio work,” he recalls. “I was really interested in this because of the money to survive on, first of all, and a chance to do some extended playing, which I had missed from my jazz days with other musicians and situations. Curt Boettcher, who I worked with in The Goldebriars, heard about the breakup of The Music Machine and asked me to do some overdubbing on a couple of tracks at Columbia. Since I was idle at the time, I agreed and showed up for the session. It was all union and W2’s and it was just right, after making a little money for a lot of effort with The Music Machine. Curt loved it, Keith Olsen produced it along with Curt, and I think The Millennium was created in part on that night….”
Among the other musicians Boettcher brought in were Doug Rhodes (also a former member of The Music Machine), Lee Mallory and Sandy Salisbury, with whom he’d worked many times, and a pair of songwriters he’d recently gotten to know: Joey Stec and Michael Fennelly. Salisbury fondly remembers the circumstances surrounding his invitation to be a member of The Millennium. “After the Ballroom disbanded, I got discouraged. I left music for a spell. But not writing. I got myself a sound-on-sound recorder and made my own demos. I recorded these late into the night in my rented North Hollywood house. I also got a job at a toy shop. I cut things out on a band saw. It was good therapy after what I’d been through. One day Curt showed up, right there at the toy shop, which was in some industrial area way out in the San Fernando Valley. He said, ‘Sandy, we’re starting a new group. This group is going to be the best thing the world has ever known, and we want you to be a part of it.’ I took him up on the offer after thinking about it for about two seconds. I was not meant to spend my days cutting teddy bears out of plywood on a band saw.”
One might think that with seven members in the band, it would be difficult to maintain a sense of harmony and balance, but the guys all brought the right, complimentary elements to make the project the ultimate Gestalt experience.
Lee Mallory: “Yes, there were a lot of members in The Millennium, but we all got along pretty well, and the harmony was great. We were recording demos for the songs to go on the Millennium album and those that would follow, once we got established. We were also writing prolifically. Curt and I, Joey and Michael … we would switch up a lot and trade partners for various songs. Doug and Ron came up with some really good instrumental ideas and later on I started writing with Joey, then Michael, then Gary Usher [on Sagittarius’ second LP, The Blue Marble]; then Gary and Sandy and I wrote a great song called ‘Magic Island.’ Yes, there was lots of harmony.”
Ron Edgar: “Harmony? Oh yes, there was harmony. How could there not be with three battle-hardened veterans from The Music Machine! The music presented to us was by comparison ‘soft serve.’ Sandy, Lee, and Joey were from various backgrounds and were very good writers, and wrote tunes for the Ballroom which were included on Begin. There was a very light rhythm section cooking for Curt to lay down basic tracks with. When Mike Fennelly came along it all came together and we had ourselves a sound studio group.”
Sandy Salisbury: “We worked well together because, I think, we all knew who we were. I knew I was strong as a singer and songwriter, but weak as a musician. Michael knew he was a star in all ways (and we knew he was right). Joey knew he was a great guitar player and team player. Ron and Doug were superstar musicians, fresh out of The Music Machine. Lee was Lee, a guy you just could not anger, a talent all his own. And Curt – well, he was the catalyst and the glue. Then there was Keith Olsen, who quietly made us all sound better than we were. It was truly a team. And that’s why it worked.”
Mike Fennelly: “We were fairly engrossed in a group/cult mentality. The ‘60s’ peace, love and understanding mantra ran strongly within the band. We were very enthusiastic about creativity that was indeed at a high level for the initial writing, demo and master recording. It really was fun for everyone involved to be in the middle of such electricity. Curt was a charismatic dynamo and Ron, Doug, and Keith were seasoned pros. Lee was somewhere between them and Joey, Sandy and me. I was the youngest and definitely the greenest. Later on, things were less harmonious as band members began to get a sense for just how their creativity and voices were being used for the good of the group leader, rather than the group.”
Upon reflection, it’s quite surprising that all this harmony existed, given the megalomaniacal tendencies of Curt Boettcher. “If I had to sum up Curt Boettcher in one word, that word would be ‘controlling,’” says Salisbury. “He had to be in the driver’s seat. Always. Gary Usher must have had to struggle with that. I was okay with it, because I knew I was in the hands of someone who knew where the sun came up. But he did not like being in the background. Ever.” Ron Edgar: “Curt? Curt was definitely the creator and inspiration of the group. He was a visionary, back in the day when you could sit around and talk about concepts, dreams, visions and perceptions. Sometimes there wasn’t a hell of a lot of reality involved. He was impulsive at times, which was a quality I loved about him. He needed love and respect in his work and he would also return it if it was earned. He had tremendous leadership qualities which were attractive to those around him. He could give direction easily, sometimes good, sometimes bad. So, you had to think for yourself and be on your toes at all times. It was hard to relax around him sometimes because of the complexity of his personality. But above all, I really miss him a lot. He could take you out there with his mind. I miss that quality in people nowadays with all the apathy and dead minds that walk the earth.” Joey Stec has a harsher view of the situation. “We all worked well together … the biggest problem was Curt … he was a control freak….”
BEGIN
“Nothing was taboo. If it had never been done before, so much the better.”
– Mike Fennelly
The Millennium began work on their debut album, Begin (Columbia CS 9663), in early 1968. The album was produced by Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen. The union of these two masterminds was, well…masterful.
Joey Stec: “It was incredible because Curt would have these out-there ideas, like 15 layers of harmonies with reverse echoes on them, right? And Keith would make the stuff work.”
Sandy Salisbury: “Curt was brilliant. His work always fascinated me. He was also quite charismatic, which I found equally fascinating. He was difficult at times, but anyone with his creative drive might have been that way. I got on with him easily, though, as I was not then and am not now one to make many waves. What we had in common was a love of melody and harmony. This is how we’d work: we’d gather around the mike in the studio (the clock running, you know? Like, money dropping into the void, money we’d have to pay back to Columbia later on.). Then, Keith would play the instrumental tracks with the lead vocal already complete. NOW Curt began to think about arranging harmonies. We’d stand there and he’d dictate our lines, always beautiful, always unique, and we’d memorize them on the spot. Then we’d start recording. This is why the making of Begin was so expensive. We prepared to record while recording. But we got great results, I think. I don’t think any business-minded artist would do it in this way today. It’s really crazy, if you think about it. Let’s try this, let’s try that – at a zillion bucks an hour.”
Lee Mallory: “Keith Olsen was/is a really good producer; he would take Curt’s ideas and make them happen in the studio. Begin was his first major project and he came through with flying colors. He played bass on ‘There Is Nothing More To Say’ as well. He had also played bass for Eric Burdon on ‘San Franciscan Nights.’ Anyway, he went on to record a lot of good music; Fleetwood Mac, et al., which really pleased me.”
Mike Fennelly: “Keith Olsen was extraordinary. We were in some otherworldly zone with the Millennium’s music to begin with. Curt had a way of conveying that world to Keith, and Keith had a way of achieving the sound technically. Linking two 8-track machines together to record 16-track, or wrapping masking tape around the machine’s capstan to vary speed, or flipping reels over to record reverse echo. Nothing was taboo. If it had never been done before, so much the better. Curt was the cult leader. He was the cheerleader and the driving force behind The Millennium. As a producer, along with Keith, and as an arranger, he was the sculptor of our sound. Creatively, as far as writing and singing, he was more likely to capitalize on the works of others. We had, for awhile, an environment very conducive to creating and music making. That environment, which Curt and all the members of the group helped to create, was a major factor in what The Millennium actually did.”
Though Boettcher and Olsen were at the helm, The Millennium was first and foremost a group effort. Joey Stec: “Without any doubt, Curt was a good producer. However, The Millennium was special in its talents all the way around. We had a bunch of great composers and musicians that far surpassed Curt’s abilities to perform. The group was the main man.”
In June of 1968, the first single by The Millennium was released, “It’s You” b/w “I Just Want To Be Your Friend” (Columbia 4-44546). “It’s You” was a Stec/Fennelly collaboration; from its gently phased opening to its lightly psychedelicized, chugging rhythm, it was a natural hit. Initially, it looked like it might make it big, but that was not to be as it stiffed, not even cracking the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. Joey Stec thinks it would have done much better, had the band been able to support it with a tour. “It first broke through in Indianapolis,” remembers Stec. “We were cracking up; here’s the most subversive song on the album, being played in this Midwestern town where they think it’s about a boy and a girl. From there, it picked up a lot of airplay, but that caused a dilemma because the group was nowhere near ready to go on the road.”
In July, $100,000 of Columbia’s money and almost as many hours of the band’s time later, Begin was released. It was a magnificent album; every song on Begin is filled with innovative, sweeping arrangements and chord changes, marvelous vocal efforts, and the album is such a perfect hybrid of Soft Rock and Psychedelia that it can easily find a home in the collection of the most ardent collectors of each genre. Some of Boettcher’s most enduring songwriting can be found here, like the childlike, breezy “I Just Want To Be Your Friend,” the aptly titled, winsome “The Island,” and the percolating, dizzy “The Know It All.” The Millennium was clearly a group effort, and the other members of the band had contributions that were just as valuable, and just as vital to the album’s overall oeuvre.
One would think that with all the money Columbia put into the making of Begin, they’d have given it a commensurate level of promotion, but such was not to be. Despite very favorable reviews, the album sank without a trace. Joey Stec feels that the label’s perception of the band having a “superior attitude,” coupled with their lack of understanding of the album’s concept or which audience they should target, caused their relative apathy. No matter, Begin has endured as a timeless slice of beauty, chronicling a time and place of enlightenment and freedom.
Over the years, several artists have covered songs from Begin. Among the cover versions are “To Claudia On Thursday,” by a Canadian artist named CB Victoria, and two versions of “There Is Nothing More To Say.” One, retitled “Canterbury Road,” was recorded (with rewritten lyrics) by Lou Christie (Buddha 76), and another was recorded by none other than the duo of Chris Knight and Maureen McCormick. That’s right, folks: Peter and Marcia of The Brady Bunch! Their version was included on their lone LP on Paramount Records (Paramount PAS6062) (as well as being a bonus track on the CD reissue of The Brady Bunch Phonographic Album), with some of the lyrics rewritten. I guess the powers that be at Brady Bunch Central couldn’t cotton to those peach-faced teenagers singing mystical lyrics like, “I’ll sing words that will perhaps sound strange ….”
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A LOOK AT SELECTED “BEGIN” TRACKS WITH QUOTES FROM THE COMPOSERS:
PRELUDE
The album opener: “Doug and I wrote that together,” says Ron Edgar. “I played the drums in a very small but tall echo chamber. It was a tall closet, with a million cables running out of the door. We only did a couple of takes. We were right on … Doug was magnificent on it. Such a talent!”
TO CLAUDIA ON THURSDAY
Joey Stec: “‘To Claudia’ was a nice thought on a nice day, a song to make Curt’s pregnant wife feel better … on a Thursday … for you and me and everyone ….”
5 A.M.
Sandy Salisbury: “‘5 A.M.’ was the only song on Begin that I wrote alone. This song came to the surface one night in an apartment I lived in. This was before the North Hollywood place. I wanted to write a melodic piece about the quiet, early morning time, the time after a night out, as opposed to the time just after waking. I was also influenced hugely by the spectacular compositional achievement of Antonio Carlos Jobim. So this song grew from my love of bossa nova (though ‘5 A.M.’ is not that) and my emotional attachment to this one specific early-morning ambiance.”
I’M WITH YOU
Lee Mallory: “‘I’m With You,’ I wrote on Easter Sunday, 1966 after going to a ‘love in’ in Elysian Park in L.A.”
SING TO ME
Lee Mallory: “‘Sing To Me’ I wrote right after I first hooked up with Curt. He had it recorded by the Clinger Sisters from Salt Lake City (four beautiful sisters between the ages of 12 and 18), then we arranged ‘Sing To Me’ for The Millennium. I had been playing it for about a year as a single artist.”
IT’S YOU
Joey Stec: “‘It’s You’ was a song about the establishment covering up everything from the Vietnam War to the Kennedy assassination. ‘You only let me see what you have planned for me / I guess they’ll never be anything more.’ How could they think in Indiana that this was about a boy telling his girlfriend that she was cheating?”
SOME SUNNY DAY
Lee Mallory: “This is the song that brought Joey Stec out to California from Chicago in 1967. Some mutual friends of ours, The Poor, played it for Joey when they were in Chicago, and he was so excited about people being able to write their own songs like ‘Some Sunny Day’ that he came west and met with Curt … and the rest is history.” Note: The version of “Some Sunny Day” featured on this compilation is unedited, with the second passage of the refrain put back in. Other reissued versions of this song only contain one passage.
IT WON’T ALWAYS BE THE SAME
Mike Fennelly: “‘It Won’t Always Be The Same’ was inspired by some faraway storm clouds I viewed from a hill in Bronson Park. Again, the theme of ‘damn the man for holding us captive in his plastic world’ reared its ugly head.”
KARMIC DREAM SEQUENCE #1
Lee Mallory: “ ‘Karmic Dream Sequence #1’ was an idea I came up with while driving through Big Sur down to L.A. from San Francisco, after going to visit my Grandma for the last time, before she passed. I had the first and second verses written when I showed it to Curt. He promptly wrote the bridge in ¾ time and it was finished. I included it in my set as a single artist along with ‘Sing To Me’ and ‘Some Sunny Day.’ Then we took it into the studio for the Begin album (Curt found the Koto player, tenth generation Kabuki Family).”
THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY
Lee Mallory: “I came up with the chords, Curt wrote the melody, and Michael Fennelly wrote the lyrics. You can hear Doug Dillard playing the electric banjo through a Leslie speaker system … Dillard also played on ‘Opus To A Friend’ [one of the previously unreleased Ballroom tracks on this collection] and ‘Some Sunny Day!’”
ANTHEM (BEGIN)
Sandy Salisbury: “Curt and Doug were the minds behind this one, with Lee and I throwing in our two cents. I love this little abstraction, our tribute to the great, exasperating CBS. It reminds me of when I sang tenor I high school.”
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“No one was more at the cutting edge of what was going on than Curt Boettcher. There is no comparison between Brian Wilson and Curt. I’ve worked with them both. In terms of raw talent and genius and the ability to do things and hear things and see things, Curt was light years ahead of Brian. No one’s gonna believe that, because Curt never had the notoriety, but I’m telling you.”
– Gary Usher (1988)
As the writer whose research of Curt Boettcher’s life and work has been authorized by Boettcher’s family, I have been asked to shed some light on the man whose overriding vision permeates the music of this collection.
During the late 1960s, at a time when American popular music was under more pressure than ever to be at once sonically innovative, socially relevant, and emotionally sincere, Curt Boettcher did more than meet the challenge. He seized the moment, summoning the support of one of Los Angeles’ hippest record industry figures (Gary Usher); gaining the backing of one of the world’s most powerful recording companies; and handpicking some of the most creative musicians to be found from Hawaii to New Jersey. The odd thing, from a 1960s standpoint, was that he did it all in that order.
Today, it’s practically the rule in the music biz for a singer/songwriter to conceptualize a band project and then find the means to do it. In The Millennium’s time, however, in order for a band to be considered artistically valid, it had to appear to be a democracy. So, in a way, The Millennium was doomed from the start, because Boettcher wanted the appearance of democracy without giving up his artistic supremacy.
Yet, even if Boettcher’s vision of a ‘supergroup’ was flawed, he deserves a great deal of credit for choosing such an incredibly diverse and talented group of people to carry it out. He spent months in the studio beside Ron Edgar, Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory, Doug Rhodes, Sandy Salisbury, and Joey Stec. At any point, he could have bailed and gone back to recording faceless studio acts like The Oracle, Something Young, or any number of the one-off artists he produced for Our Productions. Why did this 24-year old wunderkind deal with all the resistance he met from the band members and Columbia Records? Why did he see The Millennium though?
The answer, I believe, is that Curt Boettcher truly wanted to create music that would have lasting value, and he knew that the only way he could do it was via an album-length statement. To have its greatest effect, that statement had to be not only musical, but spiritual as well, and it had to reach each listener on a personal level. Gary Usher explained it when I interviewed him in 1988: “Curt and I had always envisioned a music that was rich in the vibratory element. A certain ingredient in music that, when someone heard it, it would actually affect their etheric bodies; healing them, making them whole, and uplifting them.” Anyone who has ever gotten goose bumps listening to “It’s You” knows what he mans.
In a 1980 interview with Yoshi Nagato, Curt Boettcher said that he was “amazed” when Saturday Review named Begin one of the top three albums of the 1960s. How would he feel now, to see the album rank in books like the Virgin Top 1000 Albums and The Mojo Collection, as well as countless “Great Lost Albums” articles?
He would be happy, but, somehow, I don’t think he would be surprised. As he marveled to Nagato, “The album was a commercial flop, but it keeps coming back and coming back. People keep talking about it. Even now.”
– Dawn Eden
Hoboken, N.J.
________________________________________________________________________
TO BE CONTINUED…
“We were on the edge of soaring into new territory as a country, as a society, and most people were scared as hell.”
– Sandy Salisbury
Despite the bad vibes that rained down on the band from Columbia execs, the band went to work on recording for a proposed second album (“Well the back cover of Begin does say ‘To Be Continued…’” jokes Fennelly). Two of these, “Blight” and “Just About The Same” were scheduled for release as a new single, but the songs were rejected by Columbia A&R man Jack Gold, who according to Boettcher (in a 1974 Zig Zag interview with Ray McCarthy), called them “a piece of shit.” Nothing could be further from the truth, as their oddly compelling rhythms showed off a new dimension in songwriting. Apparently The Association didn’t think “Just About The Same” was a piece of shit, as they recorded the song and released it as a single (Warner Bros. 7372; there is also a recording of it on the Association Live LP, Warner Bros. 2WB 1868, complete with phony crowd noises!). At any rate, soon after recording these songs, The Millennium disbanded. Nobody knows for sure how it happened. Lee Mallory recalls that he, Joey Stec, and Sandy Salisbury were fired from the band, and Joey Stec says that he, Mallory, and Fennelly decided to quit, and Fennelly says that Boettcher was fired! Sandy Salisbury has a more philosophical viewpoint. “I would say it was the time in history. We were on the edge of soaring into new territory as a country, as a society, and most people were scared as hell. Even of the music of the time, and probably of art in general.” However it went down, one thing was sure: The Millennium had ended.
Sandy Salisbury: “Here’s a quote from a newspaper article that I saved. It appeared shortly after The Millennium faded into music history. Unfortunately, I cannot credit the source. ‘In the summer of 1968 Columbia released an album that is still far ahead of its time. In Columbia’s search for a million-dollar group to sweep the country, they recorded a group that is far superior to any ever recorded. But alas, the public’s attention was drawn elsewhere and a truly perfect album has passed on. Perhaps when KRLA refused to play a single from the album because they felt it was not “responsible” enough for young ears, they put a damper on The Millennium. But, then, it is easy to see the moral decay in the song they objected to: “Don’t give a thought to anything in the world but you, and me, and everyone.”’ Good Lord, have we come a long way. Today’s rap artists would give 1968 KRLA an immediate and lethal heart attack. Discouragement and fearful censors were at the root of our demise.”
The individual members of The Millennium were down, but far from out. Curt Boettcher kept especially busy, and in the oncoming months was perhaps more prolific than ever, writing scads of songs. In early 1969, he and Keith Olsen rejoined forces with Gary Usher and formed a company called Together Records, with funding by legendary producer Mike Curb. The label released a Curt Boettcher single “Share With Me” b/w “Sometimes” (Together 117) late in the year, along with an entire album of mostly Usher-penned tunes called The Blue Marble (Together STT-1002), under the band name Sagittarius. Although you can hear Boettcher’s angelic vocals all over the album, it was essentially Usher’s baby. Boettcher also recorded several songs for a proposed solo album on Together, but the label quickly disbanded. In 1973, Boettcher released a solo album on Elektra Records called There’s An Innocent Face (EKS 75037). Although the production is a lot more stripped down and songwriter-oriented than Boettcher fans might be accustomed to, gems like “I Love You More Each Day,” “Love You Yes I Do,” and “Malachi Star” recaptured the old magic, and the canned applause at the end of “Bobby California” revealed a previously dormant sense of humor.
In the mid ‘70s, Boettcher changed the spelling of his last name to “Becher” and took over the reins of a group called California Music, originally conceptualized by former Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and producer Terry Melcher, with whom Johnston had teamed in both Bruce and Terry and The Rip Chords. Becher brought in drummer Brent Nelson, bassist Joe Chemay, and keyboardist Mike Merros, and laid down tracks for a proposed album called Passion Fruit. Though the album was not released, several singles were issued, including discofied covers of the showtune “Music, Music, Music” (on Warner Brothers) and the Beach Boys song, “I Can Hear Music” (on RSO). In 1978, Becher was brought in by Bruce Johnston, who had recently rejoined The Beach Boys, to engineer and co-produce an extended, disco version of an old Beach Boys tune called “Here Comes The Night,” which they’d decided to resurrect for inclusion on the band’s upcoming album, L.A. (Light Album).
Joey Stec joined The Blues Magoos soon after The Millennium’s demise. He then joined forces with Blues Magoos member Ralph Scala, and together they recorded the 1971 album Klatu Berrada Niktu on United Artists (UAS-6799) under the nom de plume The Dependables. Stec describes the album as “authentic, Stax-inspired R&B.” In 1976, he released a solid, self-titled solo album (Playboy 412) tinged with country-rock stylings.
In early 1969, Sandy Salisbury recorded an album for Together Records that sadly remained unreleased at the time. Some of these songs could have turned up on Begin, but didn’t. Sandy explains thusly: “None of my solo material made the album, probably because it was too cute. Blasphemous as this is to admit, I really liked bubblegum music. I liked melodic, sweet ballads. The Millennium, however, was never about my musical sensibilities. It was about literate composition. But there may have been another reason. I learned just recently actually, that Curt had not allowed any of my 100-plus songs to be shown to anyone because he wanted to save them for future material for our own use.” These days Salisbury is a writer of children’s books. “Well, I am indeed ensconced in a new and most rewarding career,” he says proudly. “I have published four books, with two more due out in the near future. My readers are between the ages of eight and ninety. You can see all my books and read everything you never wanted to know about me on my Website. Go to www.Graham-Salisbury.com and check it out.”
After the demise of The Millennium, Lee Mallory moved on to the first national road company of the musical, Hair, where he was first in the chorus and then became the lead guitarist in the band. A long-time dream of his was recently realized when That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be, a collection of recordings he made before and during the time of The Millennium, was released.
Ron Edgar: “After The Millennium disbanded, I set out to make a name for myself in the studio. I played on demos and master work for David Gates and Bread, and did jingles and commercials whenever I could, played live dates with a lot of R&B groups in the bad parts of town. 1970 rolled around and I fell in love with a girl I met at one of the Columbia dates. We were married that year and are still together to this day. We moved to the San Fernando Valley and lived there ‘til ‘77. My dad took ill and I wanted to be with the family before he passed. Hell … My connections were running out anyway. So we decided to move back to Minneapolis where I was raised. I now have one boy in college and another almost on his way. I play jazz and rock on the weekends with various bands and have my own painting contractor business to supplement my music efforts.”
Perhaps the Millennium member who achieved the most immediate success upon the band’s demise was Michael Fennelly, who quickly formed a band with the clever name of Crabby Appleton. The guys were soon signed to Elektra Records, and their first single, the absolutely wonderful “Go Back” (EKS 45687), reached a peak of #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of 1970. A self-titled album followed (EKS 74067), which also hit the charts, and a second album called Rotten To The Core (EKS 741006) was released the following year. After the breakup of Crabby Appleton, Fennelly released two solo albums for Epic Records.
The revival of The Millennium is, in large measure, the result of efforts put forth by Joey Stec, who along with Mallory helps keep the Millennium name alive by performing Millennium songs all around the world. Thy have been warmly welcomed everywhere they’ve played, and have been hailed as heroes at their performances in Japan. It’s obvious Stec and Mallory love what they’re doing. Sandy Salisbury can be counted as one of their admirers as well. “For me to think I had it in me to do what Joey and Lee are doing is folly,” he admits. “They’ve remained in the biz and I have not. I admire them for what they do. Especially Joey, the consummate wheeler-dealer. Hustle and bustle is in his blood. The man’s a hoot and forever will be. Nothing scares him.”
The duo has also written a song called “Chill Of The Nite.” Mallory: “I had started writing it in 1985 for a show that my friend, Stephen Hollis, and some fellow North Beach thespians were putting on at Ft. Mason, called ‘Showmaker.’ Steve had heard me play the first verse, and he said if I finished it, it would become the theme song. So during the first rehearsal I wrote the second and thirds verses and we left it as it was for the show. It sat like that for 15 years. Then Joey came to visit, and I played it for him. Joey and I both thought that it needed a bridge. So, I wrote out the lyrics on a legal pad and left space for a bridge … I left it sitting on his coffee table (a not-so-subtle hint). Joey goes to bed early and gets up early, and when he woke up he saw the lyrics and grabbed a guitar and wrote the bridge. Finally, a good song – with more to come, soon….”
These days, Millennium songs are being played and recorded by contemporary bands. In Japan, a band called Clingon recorded a version of “It’s You,” which made the Japanese charts. In Los Angeles, a band called The Now People proudly includes “5 A.M.” in its live repertoire, and at last summer’s International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles, a very cool Michigan band named Outrageous Cherry did a version of “It’s You”…with Joey Stec singing lead!
“WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIDDEN CORNERS OF THE UNIVERSE…”
In the course of a lifetime there comes a special moment that, if seized, can change a life forever. That moment for me was the Millennium Begin. I met Curt Boettcher through the Poor, a lesser-known LA band of the ‘60s. Paired with Michael Fennelly under Curt’s direction, I soon became an acknowledged songwriter and a studio musician, playing guitar on productions with Gary Usher, Curt Boettcher, Keith Olsen, and Jimmy Miller. However, it all began for me through the magical little guy, Curt Boettcher: his imagination was unparalleled, his creativity an honest inspiration. I shall always be grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me by him.”
– Joey Stec, 2001
Thirty years later The Millennium is as fresh and relevant as ever, and it’s likely that they’ll continue to be thought of in the same light for many tears. At least, that’s what the bad members wish for:
Lee Mallory: “One hundred years from now I hope I’ll be looking down at somebody, somewhere who’s saying, ‘Wow, these guys were really advanced for their time.’ And I hope that they get the same warm, fuzzy feeling down deep inside that I am still getting after all these years. We really had something goin’ on. Too bad it got so F-ed up. I’m just glad we are still talking to one another once in awhile, and I am hoping for the logistics to be able to get these guys back together … except for Curt (too bad he is gone).” Mallory adds that Boettcher “would have loved to have produced ‘N Sync or some of the harmony bands that are out now.”
Mike Fennelly: “I’m pleased and amazed that people enjoy The Millennium 33 years later. For much of pop music, that’s an eternity.”
Joey Stec: “I would like to be remembered as a band that made great music, wrote great songs … and never got paid a cent from CBS until this day for any of the work we did.”
Sadly, Curt Boettcher passed away in 1987. Those who knew him cherish his memory as a unique, inspirational human being, who had a tremendous impact on those around him. Perhaps this feeling can best be expressed by this quote from Sandy Salisbury. “When I heard of his death I was greatly saddened. He was way too young. What more would he have given us? It always hurts when one so full of heart leaves us. But haven’t we all been enlightened, in a way? We have heard from hidden corners of the universe through Curt’s quirky ways. We have been expanded by his gift. From the day I rolled into LA in my 1966 burgundy Ford Mustang with the radio blasting out the most invigorating tune I’d ever heard – Along Comes Mary – I have been blessed. I lived a dream. I followed my heart. I made music, music that still lives. What an honor. I am so grateful. Who wouldn’t be?”
– David Bash
International Pop Overthrow
________________________________________________________________________
Some of the quotes and information contained in these liner notes were taken from notes written for other compilations by Dawn Eden. Everyone involved, either directly or indirectly, with The Ballroom, Sagittarius, and The Millennium, as well as their fans, owes her a great deal of gratitude.
DAVID BASH WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A BIG “THANK YOU” TO: Joey Stec, Lee Mallory, Sandy Salisbury, Ron Edgar, Doug Rhodes, and Michael Fennelly for answering my questions so thoughtfully and eloquently.
THE MILLENNIUM/BALLROOM WOULD LIKE TO THANK: The spirit of Curt Boettcher (may he rest in peace); Gary Usher, for the excellent administrative direction and coordination; the folks on Woodshire Drive for making us feel like gods instead of struggling musicians; Dawn Eden, an amazing, hardworking Millennium lifesaver, for putting us back in touch with one another; Joe Foster in merry olde, who has been a wonderful driver in unleashing us onto the world once again; Sundazed Music, Bob Irwin, Efram Turchick; Sony; Doug Wygal; and everyone who, over the years, held Begin in some special musical place and perhaps turned a friend on to it. After all, that’s really what we were after.
Lee Mallory also thanks: Joey Stec, for making it happen, and reminding me where ‘One’ is; Andree Free Lagerstedt, for her inspiration and her long friendship; and all of the players and singers.
Michael Fennelly also thanks: Doug and Ron for their patience and for teaching me what it meant to “cook” through mass infusions of Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix. Thanks, too, to all my song-writing partners in the group for proving such good stuff again and again.
Sandy Salisbury also thanks: Good old never-say-die-really-fun-guy Joey Stec, who is tireless on our behalf.
Joey Stec also thanks: The countless fans that have kept the Millennium in a mystical, magical place in music history.
__________________________________________________
Disc One:
THE BALLROOM
1. SPINNING, SPINNING, SPINNING
(C. Boettcher-R. Friedman) 2:39 mono
recorded March 15, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97415
The Ballroom
Warner Bros. 45-7027
2. LOVE’S FATAL WAY
(C. Boettcher-R. Naylor) 2:50 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97411
The Ballroom
3. WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO
(C. Boettcher-G. Alexander) 2:36 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97348
The Ballroom
4. MAGIC TIME
(S. Salisbury) 2:47 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97408
The Ballroom
5. YOU TURN ME AROUND
(T. Almer) 2:39 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97410
The Ballroom
6. FOREVER
(C. Boettcher-L. Mallory) 2:20 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97405
The Ballroom
7. IT’S A SAD WORLD
(Dinovi-Mauer) 3:48 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97414
The Ballroom
8. I’LL GROW STRONGER
(S. Salisbury) 2:59 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97412
The Ballroom
9. MUSTY DUSTY
(C. Boettcher-T. Almer) 3:13 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97401
The Ballroom
10. CRAZY DREAMS
(Whalen) 2:54 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97402
The Ballroom
11. LEAD ME TO LOVE
(M. Deasy) 2:45 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97413
The Ballroom
previously unissued
12. A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
(S. Salisbury) 2:34 mono
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97420
The Ballroom
previously unissued
13. BABY, PLEASE DON’T GO
(J. Williams) 3:06 mono
recorded November, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97417
The Ballroom
Warner Bros. 45-7027
14. WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO (instrumental)
(C. Boettcher-G. Alexander) 2:39 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97348
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
15. FOREVER (instrumental)
(C. Boettcher-L. Mallory) 2:32 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97405
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
16. I’LL GROW STRONGER (instrumental)
(S. Salisbury) 3:11 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97412
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
17. YOU TURN ME AROUND (instrumental)
(T. Almer) 2:42 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97410
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
18. MAGIC TIME (instrumental)
(S. Salisbury) 2:48 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97408
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
19. IT’S A SAD WORLD (instrumental)
(Dinovi-Mauer) 3:49 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97414
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
20. SPINNING, SPINNING, SPINNING (instrumental)
(C. Boettcher-R. Friedman) 2:42 stereo
recorded November 11, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97415
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
__________________________________________________
Disc Two:
ASSORTED MILK & HONEY
1. I’M NOT LIVING HERE
(C. Boettcher) 3:20 mono
recorded March 20, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97406
The Ballroom
2. OPUS TO A FRIEND
(L. Mallory) 2:38 mono
recorded March 14, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97421
The Ballroom
previously unissued
3. BELIEVE YOU
(C. Boettcher) 2:58 mono
recorded March 20, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97404
The Ballroom
4. THE ISLAND (original version)
(C. Boettcher) 3:17 mono
recorded March 20, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97407
The Ballroom
5. 5 A.M. (original version)
(S. Salisbury) 2:39 mono
recorded September, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97416
The Ballroom
previously unissued
6. KARMIC DREAM SEQUENCE #1 (original version)
(C. Boettcher-L. Mallory) 3:45 mono
recorded March 14, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97409
The Ballroom
previously unissued
7. SUN ARISE
(R. Harris) 3:33 mono
recorded March 14, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97418
The Ballroom
previously unissued
8. MILK AND HONEY
(C. Boettcher) 2:23 mono
recorded December, 1965
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: CO 88857
Summer’s Children (Curt Boettcher & Victoria Winston)
Date 45 2-1508
9. TOO YOUNG TO MARRY
(T. Roe) 2:06 mono
recorded December, 1965
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: CO 88858
Summer’s Children (Curt Boettcher & Victoria Winston)
Date 45 2-1508
10. LOVE’S FATAL WAY (instrumental)
(C. Boettcher-R. Naylor) 2:53 stereo
recorded September 16, 1966
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97411
The Ballroom – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
11. ANOTHER TIME (demo recording)
(C. Boettcher) 3:27 stereo
recorded July 17, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 94929
Curt Boettcher
12. SEA OF TEARS (demo recording)
(C. Boettcher-B. Goldstein) 2:21 stereo
recorded July 17, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 94930
Curt Boettcher & Dottie Holmberg
previously unissued
13. SUNSHINE TODAY (demo recording)
(C. Boettcher) 2:51 stereo
recorded July 19, 1967
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 94931
The Ballroom
previously unissued
14. SUNSHINE TODAY (alternate instrumental version)
(C. Boettcher) 2:34 stereo
recorded October 25, 1967
produced by Gary Usher
matrix: HCO 94971
Sagittarius – instrumental backing track
previously unissued
15. KEEPER OF THE GAMES (demo recording)
(C. Boettcher) 1:49 stereo
recorded March 19, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97318
Curt Boettcher
16. DANCING DANDELION (demo recording)
(C. Boettcher) 2:13 stereo
recorded March 13, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 95482
Curt Boettcher
previously unissued
17. IT WON’T ALWAYS BE THE SAME (instrumental)
(M. Fennelly-J. Stec) 3:20 stereo
recorded May 4, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97045
The Millennium – instrumental rehearsal – take 1
previously unissued
18. THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY (instrumental)
(C. Boettcher-M. Fennelly-L. Mallory) 2:16 stereo
recorded March 11, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 95479
The Millennium – instrumental rehearsal – take 1
previously unissued
19. TO CLAUDIA ON THURSDAY (instrumental)
(J. Stec-M. Fennelly) 2:47 stereo
recorded May 25, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 95480
The Millennium – instrumental rehearsal – take 6
previously unissued
20. LONELY GIRL
(S. Salisbury) 2:34 stereo
recorded August 7, 1968
produced by Gary Usher
matrix: HCO 97564
Sagittarius
__________________________________________________
Disc Three:
THE MILLENNIUM
1. PRELUDE
(D. Rhodes-R. Edgar) 1:18 stereo
recorded May 25, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95480
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
2. TO CLAUDIA ON THURSDAY
(J. Stec-M. Fennelly) 3:25 stereo
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95481
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
3. I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND
(C. Boettcher) 2:37 stereo
recorded August 18, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 94932
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
4. 5 A.M.
(S. Salisbury) 2:39 stereo
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 97416
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
5. I’M WITH YOU
(L. Mallory) 2:35 stereo
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 97279
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
6. THE ISLAND
(C. Boettcher) 3:21 stereo
recorded March 11, 15, 22, 26, & 31, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 95484
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
7. SING TO ME
(L. Mallory) 2:17 stereo
recorded April 26 & 27, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97043
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
8. IT’S YOU
(M. Fennelly-J. Stec) 3:21 stereo
recorded March 13, 14 & 15, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 97046
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
9. SOME SUNNY DAY
(L. Mallory) 3:23 stereo
recorded April 16, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97044
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
10. IT WON’T ALWAYS BE THE SAME
(M. Fennelly-J. Stec) 2:59 stereo
recorded May 4, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97045
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
11. THE KNOW IT ALL
(C. Boettcher) 2:41 stereo
recorded August 19, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 94954
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
12. KARMIC DREAM SEQUENCE #1
(C. Boettcher-L. Mallory) 5:53 stereo
recorded May 8, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97264
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
13. THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY
(C. Boettcher-M. Fennelly-L. Mallory) 2:27 stereo
recorded March 11, 15, 22, 26 & 31, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95479
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
14. ANTHEM (BEGIN)
(C. Boettcher-S. Salisbury-L. Mallory-D. Rhodes) 2:42 stereo
recorded March 11, 15, 22, 26 & 31, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 95479
Columbia album “Begin” CS 9663
15. BLIGHT
(M. Fennelly) 2:54 mono
recorded September 25, 27 & October 4, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97676
originally unissued single master
16. JUST ABOUT THE SAME
(M. Fennelly-D. Rhodes-J. Stec) 2:21 mono
recorded September 25, 27 & October 4, 1968
produced by Curt Boettcher
matrix: HCO 97675
originally unissued single master
17. IT’S YOU (single version)
(M. Fennelly-J. Stec) 3:11 mono
recorded March 13-15, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 97046
Columbia single 4-44546
18. I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND (single version)
(C. Boettcher) 2:33 mono
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
matrix: HCO 94932
Columbia single 4-44546
19. 5 A.M. (single version)
(S. Salisbury) 2:41 mono
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 97416
Columbia single 4-44607
20. PRELUDE (single version)
(D. Rhodes-R. Edgar) 1:17 mono
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95480
Columbia single 4-44607
21. TO CLAUDIA ON THURSDAY (single version)
(J. Stec-M. Fennelly) 3:04 mono
recorded May 25, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95481
Columbia single 4-44674
22. THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY (single version)
(C. Boettcher-M. Fennelly-L. Mallory) 2:25 mono
recorded March 11, 15, 22, 26 & 31, 1968
prod. by Curt Boettcher & Keith Olsen
for Mee-Moo Prod. Ltd.
arr. and cond. by The Millennium
matrix: HCO 95479
Columbia single 4-44674
Recorded 1965-1968.
Original recordings produced by Curt Boettcher, Steve Clark, Keith Olsen, and Gary Usher.
Mastered by Bob Irwin at Sundazed Studios, Coxsackie, NY
Begin originally engineered by Jerry Hochman.
Project managers: Tim Livingston and Efram Turchick.
Production coordinator: Stephanie Kennedy.
Design by Jeff Smith, Sundazed Music.
Photos and graphics courtesy of Joey Stec, Lee Mallory, Erik Lindgren, the Sony Music Photo Library, and the Sundazed Archive.
Special thanks to Joey Stec, Sandy Salisbury, Lee Mallory, Ron Edgar, Michael Fennelly, Doug Rhodes, Gary Usher, Jr., Dawn Usher Braley, David Bash, Dawn Eden, Erik Lindgren, John Kioussis/Rockit Scientist Records, Dave Brown, Jud Cost, Nat Brewster, Stacy Boyle, Marc Kirkeby, Maggie Perrotta, Adam Block, Wendy Kaletcher, Jeff Jones, Steve Berkowitz, Harold Fein, Doug Wygal, Susan Breitel, Jeff James, Greg Comeau, Terri Marshall and Bob Brainen.
Request your copy of the Sundazed catalog, information on our mail order service and newsletter updates: Sundazed Music, P.O. Box 85, Coxsackie, NY 12051 USA www.sundazed.com
A3 52137
Sony Music Special Products
© 2001 Sundazed Music, Inc.
This compilation ??2001 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Manufactured by Sony Music Special Products / 550 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022-3211 / “Sony” Reg. U.S. Patent & TM Office Marca Regitrada/WARNING: All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.