ZOMBIES ODESSEY AND ORACLE FIRST PRESSING VINYL LP EXC

$

32

Recording history

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after The Zombies signed to the CBS label. The group began work on the album in June 1967. Nine of the twelve songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release.[citation needed] In August, when Abbey Road was unavailable, The Zombies temporarily shifted base to Olympic Studios where they recorded "Beechwood Park", "Maybe After He's Gone", and "I Want Her She Wants Me". They returned to Abbey Road Studios in September. The sessions ended in November and the final track to be recorded was "Changes".[1]

Because the album was recorded to a tight budget and deadline, The Zombies worked quickly in the studio, having rehearsed rigorously beforehand. This meant that there would be no out-takes or unused songs recorded during the sessions. Cello and Mellotron parts were added to "A Rose for Emily" but discarded at the final mixing stage.

Colin Blunstone and Paul Atkinson felt disillusioned and tempers flared during the recording of "Time of the Season". Blunstone was not at all keen on the song. When writer Argent insisted he sing it a certain way, Blunstone's patience snapped and he effectively told Argent to sing it himself.[2][unreliable source?] Blunstone finally sang the vocal as required.

The album was recorded using a Studer four track machine — the same type of tape machine used on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band[3] — and was mixed down in stereo using an experimental transistor console at EMI Studios in 1967.[citation needed] Argent and White mixed the album down into mono, but when they handed the master to CBS, they were informed that a stereo mix was required. The recording budget having been spent, Argent and White used their own money to pay for the stereo mix. One major problem arose when it came time to mix "This Will Be Our Year" into stereo. The Zombies' original producer Ken Jones had dubbed live horn parts directly onto a mono mix. With the horns not having been recorded on the multi-track beforehand, a faked stereo mix had to be made of the mono master. The stereo mix was completed on 1 January 1968.[citation needed]

Morale within the band was at a low point at the end of the recording. Two singles, "Care of Cell 44" and "Friends of Mine", had been unsuccessful, and the band had a declining demand for live appearances, so after a final gig in mid-December 1967, the band split up.[4]

Release

Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK on 19 April 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a different album cover that severely cropped the original artwork.

American CBS boss Clive Davis initially decided not to release the album. However, at the urging of staff producer Al Kooper, the US CBS/Columbia Records label was eventually persuaded to release the album on their small Date Records subsidiary label. Kooper had picked up a copy of the album during a trip to London and, when he returned to America and played the album, loved it and believed it contained three hit singles. CBS chose to release "Butcher's Tale" as the first single in the States, feeling the song's anti-war theme would resonate with record-buyers due to the Vietnam War.[2] After its release, "Time of the Season" slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in 1969, by which time Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent.

Album sleeve

The album sleeve contains a short text written by keyboard player Argent quoting William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover, Terry Quirk (who was the flatmate of bass player Chris White). The band tried to cover this up at the time of release by claiming the misspelling was intentiona

 NOTE -
I have been informed that this lp is actually a SECOND pressing - not the first . Came out 1yr after first release ???
I am not sure but Ebay will not let me revise the listing for some reason but I can out it in the notes here.
Email any questions
thanks