The Children Of St. Monica (by Don Grady with The WindupwatchBand)
A Good Man To Have Around The House
Impressions With Syvonne (by Don Grady)
Leaving It Up To You (by Don Grady)
Can't Get Enough Of Your Love (single version)
Follow The Sunshine (alternate mono mix)
How Can I Be Down (demo version)
Gary Zekley Interview
1998 Sundazed reissue of rare 1967 album for the Canterbury label by Gary Zekley's pop band. A wispy bridge joining the trippy studio wizardry of Sagittarius and the mind-bending delights of The Beach Boys 'Smile' era, it... more » features all 11 original tracks & nine bonus tracks: 'noollaB wolleY', 'The Children Of Santa Monica', 'A Good Man To Have Around The House', 'Impressions With Syvonne', 'Leaving It Up To You', 'Can't Get Enough Of Your Love' (Single Version), 'Follow The Sunshine' (Alternate Mono Mix), 'How Can I Be Down' (Demo Version) & a Gary Zekley interview. 20 tracks total on this Sundazed reissue.« less
1998 Sundazed reissue of rare 1967 album for the Canterbury label by Gary Zekley's pop band. A wispy bridge joining the trippy studio wizardry of Sagittarius and the mind-bending delights of The Beach Boys 'Smile' era, it features all 11 original tracks & nine bonus tracks: 'noollaB wolleY', 'The Children Of Santa Monica', 'A Good Man To Have Around The House', 'Impressions With Syvonne', 'Leaving It Up To You', 'Can't Get Enough Of Your Love' (Single Version), 'Follow The Sunshine' (Alternate Mono Mix), 'How Can I Be Down' (Demo Version) & a Gary Zekley interview. 20 tracks total on this Sundazed reissue.
CD Reviews
Trippy light-hearted sunshine pop -
Blind man Wayne | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA United States | 02/02/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Those of you who enjoy The Association or Harpers Bizarre and dig the west-coast sound of the late 60s, will enjoy The Yellow Balloon. The song Yellow Balloon was a mild hit in 1967 and I remember hearing it on KFRC in San Francisco. I recently re-discovered the song when it appeared on a various artists compilation entitled Sunshine Days (which I highly recommend), released by Varese Sarabande. I liked the song so much that I took a chance and bought the The Yellow Balloon CD. It is beautiful and upbeat with complex harmonies, light-hearted lyrics and wonderful musicianship. One particular song on the album entitled Follow The Sunshine teases your brain and beckons you to follow the melodic and rhythmic shifts occurring throughout it. Follow The Sunshine sounded odd and awkward during the first couple listens, but since has become my favorite track. The album is especially entertaining when listened to with stereo headphones. I am giving this CD five stars because I enjoy it immensely and to commend Sundazed Music for packaging it so nicely with wonderful liner notes and bonus tracks. Speaking of bonus tracks, it features nine of them including the B side of the Yellow Balloon single, which is the song played backwards!"
I've got a reason to like it
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 06/29/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Gary Zekley recorded a demo for a song called "Yellow Balloon" that he was sure would be a smash hit. The demo found it's way to Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean) who decided to record it as Jan & Dean's next single. Zekley showed up at Dean's recording session for the song and he was dismayed by what he heard. In his mind, they were performing the song the wrong way and there was no way it would be a hit. So, Zekley recorded his own version of "Yellow Balloon" the "right" way. Zekley's version was released under the group name "The Yellow Balloon" and became a #25 hit. Jan & Dean's version flopped. So, The Yellow Balloon had a hit song, but there was no actual group. A group was quickly assembled to tour in support of the song. It should be noted that none of the members of the Yellow Balloon band actually performed on "Yellow Balloon" the song. However, all the subsequent songs released under the Yellow Balloon group name did feature the band members (one of whom was Don Grady of My Three Sons fame). There was actually a Yellow Balloon album released, which is what we have here. It is fun, California style "sunshine pop" which is quite enjoyable if you like this sort of thing. There are several bonus tracks. "noollaB wolleY" is the original b-side of "Yellow Balloon", which is "Yellow Balloon" played backwards. Then we have the a-sides and b-sides of two Don Grady solo singles. The single version of "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" is included, and it's 45 seconds shorter than the album version. There is an alternate mono mix of "Follow the Sunshine". The demo version of "How Can I Be Down" features Gary Zekley singing alone (double tracked at times) and accompanied only by acoustic guitar. The CD winds up with a seven minute interview with Zekley about the making of "Yellow Balloon". It's fairly interesting, but I don't think too many people will want to listen to the interview more than once. Recommended to fans of the 1960s California scene."
Yellow Balloon
Johnny Heering | 05/03/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yellow Balloon,Yellow Balloon this brilliant compilation from Sundazed records features this american harmony pop group of the mid sixties at their best.A cross between the Association and the Beach Boys.The Yellow Balloon Who for some strange reason never made any real impact on the british or american charts.This cd named after their small us hit Yellow Balloon which myself I think is Brilliant.Also features their other 45s they waxed including b sides,plus alternative tracks and pre Yellow Balloon stuff.This cd has a very informative inlay which tells the history of this underated pop group.It also has some good photographs as well.This cd bought out by Sundazed records in memory of Gary Zekely, the chief songwriter who never sang with them but wrote most or all of their songs has truly left behind some pop gems on this compilation."
A nice slice of hidden 60s pop
kc | portland, or | 09/19/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As a huge fan of mid to late 60s california pop, I heard this album was something of a missing link between the sunshine pop of '65 era Beach Boys and the psychedelic explosion of the Summer of Love. And essentially, thats exactly what this album is. A poor man's Pet Sounds per-se. Most of these songs are derived from the structure and feel of the early beach boys more experimental singles, (Little Girl I Once Knew, Calfornia Girls, maybe even Wouldn't It Be Nice, mostly the style of light breezy verses that explode into a huge, shimmering chorus with more Ba-Ba-Ba's than you can shake a stick at), drizzled with faux-Wilsonian harmonies, most lifted directly from the more upbeat Pet Sounds songs. Unlike the amazon review suggests, there really is no hint whatsoever at psychedelia. The only reasonable claim to psych this band has is the way the lead singers sing such child-like lyrics with a twisted, almost perverse wide eyed innocence ('you turned me on and oh WOW!' - How Can I Be Down?) that leads one to think he may have been incidentally slipped a tab of LSD. The songs themselves are competently written, especially the Don Grady tracks (to my surprise). 'Baby its You' is a perfectly exucasable rip off of the aforementioned 'Little Girl I Once Knew', with an (almost) equally euphoric, catchy chorus. 'Stained Glass Window' benefits from nice strings and some lush backing vocals that casacade in to a shouty chorus of Ba-Ba's propelled by the most 60s of handclaps. 'Good Feelin Time' is a Grady penned tune, a nice little lilting pop tune, with an utterly unique rotating organ sound, that carries the song nicely. The lead off single and the enire basis for this album, 'Yellow Balloon, is just as lighthearted and silly a romp as the rest of the album.
Obviously, there are some subpar tracks. 'Follow the Sunshine' is guilty of some of the plain dumbest sounding backing harmonies I've ever heard, (Yodel-ee-eye?). 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love' sounds hastily written and performed with a very mediocre melody and lazy vocals. Bottom line, this album works like a lo-fi, bubblegum Pet Sounds. Take that anyway you'd like. Although on first listen you might be taken aback by the cheeriness, simple lyrics and sparse production, but more spins will reveal the record to be a carefully constructed slice of sunshine pop with maybe, just maybe, the faintest wisp of studio experimentation and 60s psychedelia.
By the way, I'm sorry for all the Beach Boys comparisons, but Christ! Just listen to the album and they're inevitable..."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1