Mar 25, 2009

THE GORDIAN KNOT - TONES (VERVE 1968)





Originally from Mississippi, the Gordian Knot emerged in Los Angeles in 1967. They recorded this fascinating hybrid of Association-esque soft pop/soft psych/country rock with LA's finest studio musicians and the Hi-Lo's own Clark Burroughs in the producers chair. The result is the finest harmony pop psych offering in the entire Verve catalog.
Fronted by Jim Weatherly, who just a few years later would pen Gladys Knight's finest moment, "Midnight Train To Georgia," the Gordian Knot entertained countless in-crowd LA parties frequented by Hollywood's elite, and performed as part of a USO tour throughout Vietnam with friend and fan Nancy Sinatra.A must for all fans of Softpop, Pop Psych and just plain good music everywhere!
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Gordion Knot was a short-lived band from southern California, by way of Mississippi. They released only one album,"Tones" a terrific soft rock/harmony pop effort produced by Clark Burroughs of the Hi-Los. The group formed at the University of Mississippi and was led by ex-Mississippi all-American quarterback/guitarist/lead vocalist Jim Weatherly, a native of Pontotoc, MI. The group caught their biggest break after they appeared at a party thrown by Nancy Sinatra, who apparently liked them so much that she asked them to accompany her on a USO trip to Vietnam. According to their liner notes, they were "one of the few groups since the Beatles to possess genuine charm...not a phony showbiz glucose charm, but the real thing." The bulk of the songs for their album were written by Weatherly, and have a edgier, husky country-rock vibe compared with those written by Leland Russell, whose beautiful tunes are comparatively similar to the Association (Burroughs, it should be pointed out, was also a vocal arranger on the Association’s “Insight Out” and “Waterbeds In Trinadad” albums). “One Way Street” is the band's lone obligatory jug band entry. The band also appeared as themselves in a 1968 MGM teensploitation flick called ”Young Runaways”, performing an original entitled “Ophelia’s Dream”....[net]
Here

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

really nice day with it !

thx
DD

Anonymous said...

Thankx, another fantastic pop album. Great blog friend, sure.

frumious bandersnatch said...

Great blog and this Gordian Knot Lp is one of 60s pop's hidden traesures. Thanks again !!!

Anonymous said...

Hi from Cy
This one I had on vinyl but like most folks sold it on. I was genuinely taken aback when I reheard it from your blog. This album is a very classy and sassy affair.
Thank you.
Cy from Pck.

Ange Lobue, MD, MPH, BSPharm said...

The sound track behind this web site is not anything recorded by The Gordian Knot.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I HAVE THE ALBUM BUT I CAN NOT TRANSFER TO mp3.

gianni said...

I have the original album "The Gordian Knot" !!!!
Gianni Vancheri Italy!!!!!