Gary Walker And The Rain - Album Number 1. This rip from the 2009 Eclipse CD.
As ever enjoy the music, and please help seed.
Biography by Richie Unterberger
Gary Walker (real name Gary Leeds) was by far the least prominent of the Walker Brothers; nominally the drummer, he apparently played on few if any of the group's records.
When the Walkers split in 1967, he formed his own band, Gary Walker & the Rain, which played a far more guitar-oriented brand of pop/rock than his previous outfit.
Also including future Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland, the group managed to release an album in Japan in 1968 before splitting in the late '60s. Leeds surfaced again as part
of the mid-'70s Walker Brothers reunion.
By Mulwharchar
I was never sure what Gary Leeds did in The Walker Brothers, and assumed he was a kind of Andrew Ridgeley with drums, but on the strength of this solo LP, he must have been
quietly seething in the shadow of Scott and John for years. 'Album No 1' is definitely the sound of someone with something to prove, and for that Leeds chose the furthest thing
he could in 1967 from the Walkers' symphonic pop: cranked-up, full-on freakbeat. He formed The Rain from a nucleus of Liverpool musicians, most notably future Badfinger guitarist
Joey Molland, and they lived together in the best Monkees style whilst preparing their assault on the world. Unfortunately the world had moved on by the time the LP was ready,
and despite being a minor classic of the genre, it sank without trace in the UK and that was the end of the band. Nevertheless their cover of the Classics IV's 'Spooky' was
proverbially 'big in Japan', and this led to Gary Leeds recording a single with Japanese garage band The Carnabeats, also included here as a postscript.
Little of The Rain's stuff has previously appeared on compilations so fans of UK freakbeat and psychedelia will find plenty to enjoy on this LP.
By D. J. H. Thorn
Formed by the drummer from The Walker Brothers, this band made music which was a world away from the balladry of hits like 'Make It Easy On Yourself'.
As the WB were popular in Japan, The Rain's only album was released there, but not in the UK. Walker (Gary Leeds) brought in Joey Molland on guitar, which helped lend
a Beatlesque feel to some of the tracks (Molland would join Beatles' proteges Badfinger in time for their first hit). The fine opening track, 'Magazine Woman', shows that
The Jam weren't the first band to lift the bass riff from 'Taxman'. Moreover, some tracks, such as 'The Sun Shines' are straight pop featuring piano or harpsichord that also
suggest a 'Revolver' influence.
Elsewhere, however, the bottom end of the music is hard, often brutal rock, embellished with distortion, phasing and feedback. This is at its most extreme and effective on
'If You Don't Come Back', apparently a Drifters song, though you wouldn't guess from The Rain's version. This approach is more reminiscent of The Who at their most belligerent
and The Creation. 'Album Number One' should appeal to anyone interested in so-called 'psych-pop' of the late 1960s.
Track List
Gary Walker And The Rain
01 Magazine Woman
02 The Sun Shines
03 Doctor Doctor
04 I Can`t Stand To Lose You
05 Market Tavern
06 Spooky
07 Take A Look
08 The View
09 If You Don`t Come Back
10 Thoughts Of An Old Man
11 Francis
12 I Promise To Love You
13 Whatever Happened To Happy
14 Come In You`ll Get Pneumonia
Garry Walker And The Carnabeats
15 Cutie Morning Moon
16 Gary`s Theme