The Easybeats - Vigil
AUS Parlophone Mono LP, PMCO 7551
First released October 1968
01 - Good Times
02 - See Saw
03 - Fancy Seeing You Here
04 - Sha La, La, La, Leah
05 - What In The World
06 - Bring A Little Lovin'
07 - Land Of Make Believe
08 - We All Live Happily
09 - Falling Off The Edge Of The World
10 - The Music Goes 'Round My Head
11 - Come In You'll Get Pneumonia
12 - Hello How Are You
Bonus track
13 - Lay Me Down And Die [Instrumental] - Parlophone single A-8571; Nov 1968
==About the album==
After one year, one abandoned album and three different recording studios, The Easybeats finally released their follow up to 1967’s Good Friday. The album’s title was not only an acknowledgement of the long wait their fans had endured for the new LP, but it was also a tribute to the band’s own perseverance. After legal troubles, money troubles, touring troubles, popularity troubles and even interpersonal troubles within the band, it’s any wonder that the “vigil” held for The Easybeats was sustained throughout the 12 months. The album was first released by United Artists in the UK in June 1968, reflecting a collection of different sessions and singles that had appeared (or not) during the band’s sporadic recording timeline. That said, although the album feels more like a compilation than a whole, it doesn't take away from the fact that some of Vanda and Young’s best songwriting is showcased on this disc.
In the UK, the album appeared with 14 tracks, however, when Parlophone released the album in Australia four months later, the three cover songs were droppedand the Central Sounds demo ‘Bring a Little Lovin’’ was added. The order was also reshuffled, with both tracks of the recent Australian single ‘Good Times/Land Of Make Believe’ opening each side. ‘Sha La La’ now featured the extended title of ‘Sha La, La, La, Leah’. ‘Hello How Are You’ was now the album’s closing track and most other songs had been moved to a different order to the original UK release. The Australian version of the album was released in mono only.
The Aussie album opens with the hard rock anthem ‘Good Times’ (from the abandoned second album). The famous folklore of this song is that Beatle Paul McCartney was so taken by it upon hearing it on his car radio that he pulled over, called the station and demanded the song to be played again (although this legend has also been retold by Stevie with the song being ‘St. Louis’). ‘See Saw’ and ‘Fancy Seeing You Here’ hark back to the songs that Young and Wright used to write in Australia “for the people to dance to”. This time, instead of ‘65/’66 beat music, The Easy’s embrace R&B music. The ska influenced ‘Sha La La La’ (or ‘Sha La, La, La, Leah’ in Australia) was a refugee from the Bill Shepherd sessions in late 1967.
‘Land Of Make Believe’ was the single released to promote Vigil. Another casuality of the 1967 scrapped album, it’s one of the great, underrated, psychedelic classics of the 1960's, criminally robbed of a rightful release during the previous year’s summer of love. Stevie once stated in an interview that this was his all-time favourite Easybeat song. 'Land' is followed by the cynical hippie satire of ‘We All Live Happily’, which concluded with each band member reciting the title in their native tongue.
The 1967 singles ‘Falling Off The Edge Of The World’, ‘The Music Goes 'Round My Head’ and ‘Come In You'll Get Pneumonia’ follow. And given that it was the most recent single and the band’s biggest recent hit, it’s only logical for ‘Hello How Are You’ to make an appearance, where, on the Aussie release, it concludes the album.
Reviews of the album were mixed:
"They have a good habit of selecting good numbers. You'll find many of them on this album. Sometimes their vocalizing gets a bit strained but their interesting orchestrations are strong on excitement." – Disc and Music Echo, July 1968.
"While all the songs are originals, apart from the high standard of the singles, the Easybeats have not progressed much from the material on their 'Easy Fever E.P.'. A good album because despite this apparent standstill, all the tracks are well worth the effort." - Go-Set, October 1968.
“Verging on the borders between progressive rock and a pounding sound intended to please teens, The Easybeats capture some of the better elements of both worlds.” – Billboard Magazine, November 1968.
In the States the album was released in November 1968 under the title Falling Off The Edge Of The World. The American version was similar to the UK release, with the difference being the axeing of ‘Sha La La’ and ‘We All Live Happily’, to accommodate US record company requirements to keep an LP under 12 songs to avoid paying extra royalties. The album was released in stereo only.
(Above notes by 'paulisdead', edited by Q)
==About this transfer==
I lucked out with this one - the first copy of this LP I acquired was on the better side of VG+. Just the slightest of wear, which is a good thing, because this is an extremely rare LP (evidence suggests it was in print for only eight months, ever), with copies usually trading hands for upwards of AU$300, and this one was no exception!
Having said that, DON'T EXPECT A SONIC MARVEL! I'm sharing this one more for its rarity than its sound. The LP has been mastered with a reasonable amount of limiting, somewhat reducing its dynamic range. In addition, some tracks sound nice, but some tracks sound quite average, particularly 'Falling Off The Edge Of The World', which sounds like it was dubbed from disc, and 'Hello How Are You', which sounds like it was recorded under a blanket! On the plus side though, 'Land Of Make Believe' is perhaps the best that I've ever heard this mix sound; really open. Likewise 'The Music Goes 'Round My Head'. The aforementioned limiting at least ensures that the album rocks along. All in all, it's great for what it is, and the revised Aussie track selection seems to give the album a 'tighter' feel over the UK and US releases. Burn it to CD and play it LOUD!
The bonus track is taken from the A-side of the Aussie-only single released a month after the Vigil LP. It's appearance here marks the first time it was been available digitally in true mono (all versions on CD are fake stereo).
Every effort has been made to preserve the integrity of the original recordings. You should be aware, however, that these transfers contain imperfections that were inherent in the recording equipment and techniques of the time. For example, you'll hear occasional clicks and ticks suggestive of vinyl noise. They're not; they're also on my reference copy, suggesting that they're on the mono master tape.
The vinyl was so clean and quiet that declicking was done completely by hand. NO NR or EQ has been applied to these transfers.
NB: I've since compared the Aussie LP to the UK mono LP. The UK LP sounds somewhat better - more dynamic and open - and does not have the limiting that the Aussie LP has. Not considerably better, but noticeably better nonetheless. Having said that, poor sounding tracks on the Aussie release like 'What In The World' and 'Falling Off The Edge Of The World' do not sound much better on the UK LP, suggesting substandard sources rather than pressing quality. Unfortunately though, I've yet to hear a UK pressing that doesn't suffer from excessive vinyl hash or "swooshing", so the Aussie LP is the best I can do... at this stage. ;)
==Vinyl transfer and 24bit mastering by Q==
Source Matrices
01-06: XAPAX 107
07-12: XAPAX 108
13: XAPAX 112 3B
Hardware
- Project Xpression III Turntable
- Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge
- Project SpeedBox II Quartz-Generated Electronic Speed Regulator
- Denon PMA-700AE Integrated Amplifier
Software
- Audition 3.0.1 (audio capture and editing)
- iZotope RX 3 Advanced (audio editing and resampling/dithering to Red Book audio specifications)
Artwork included