THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
Chamaeleon Church = Chevy Chase. Clark Griswold Was the Drummer. No, Really, He Was!
Chamaeleon Church — “Blueberry Pie”
The Church was a short-lived Boston pop-psych group that formed in ’67, released an album in ’68, and disbanded after a brief tour. Two of its members then joined Ultimate Spinach. Oh, and the Church’s drummer was Chevy Chase.
Yes, the “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not”/SNL/Clark Griswold Chevy Chase.
Jason Ankeny says that the band “later renounced the [album], issued on MGM in 1968, claiming Alan Lorber’s soft psych production ethos compromised their original vision.”
Well, be that as it may, but I find the album track “Blueberry Pie” to be impossibly gorgeous and ethereal pop-psych. Oh, and it includes what is widely regarded in rarefied circles (read: me) as the best throwaway line in pop-psych history: “I’ve been to the zoo and Max’s Kansas City* too. The atmosphere is nice there at night. The animals are not as uptight.”
*The storied NYC nightclub Max’s Kansas City opened in ’65. It was a favorite hangout of Andy Warhol and his gang. The Velvet Underground, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop often played.
See my website at bracefortheobscure60srock.com.
