The Greatest Songs of the 1960’s that No One Has Ever Heard
San Francisco’s Beautiful People, Flush Your Toilets, “The Police” Are Coming!
Dantalian’s Chariot — “High Flying Bird”
Well, at least Andy Somers (to become the Police’s Andy Summers), co-wrote (with Zoot Money) Dantalion’s Chariot’s “ode to the beautiful people of San Francisco”, a “high point[]” of DC’s unreleased catalogue. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)
The song, a “calculated attempt to woo the American market . . . remains intriguing not only for its beatific lyrical imagery but for an unusual jazz-tinged instrumental sound, emphasized by . . . Somers’ dexterous guitar runs.” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Dantalian’s Chariot: Chariot Rising)
“Four thousand people with flowers in their hair Walking around, just feeling the air . . . . San Francisco is losing its hate And all the love flows out through the Golden Gate”
Pete Sargeant writes:
High Flying Bird is not the US folk-rock gem but rather a set of observations on the hip culture with an excellent and clear vocal from Money, a sandpapered tinge to his voice. [It is m]y favourite cut on this intriguing [DC comp] as they sound totally themselves and Somers indulges his Airplane side with a jazzy guitar break that floats over the song. The rhythm section proves themselves masters of mood on this one.
Some take a dimmer view: “[it] sounds almost like a music industry parody of the San Fran hippie scene, like the Flowerpot Men’s infamously insincere Let’s Go To San Francisco” (Len), “[it] felt just a touch cliché lyrically within its freewheeling west-coast jazzy setting” (David Kidman), “[it] bore more in common with the sun-soaked harmonies drifting off of America’s West Coast than anything throbbing away deep in the bowels of Middle Earth”. (Nick James)
Of DC, Len tells us:
Like other established acts . . . these experienced Beat-era musicians drastically changed tack to embrace the new counterculture, yet no others did it so publicly, nor with such apparent commitment, nor did they fail so spectacularly in spite of critical acclaim and huge hype. Keyboardist/vocalist George Zoot Money had helmed his Big Roll Band since 1961, playing fiery R’n’B to enthusiastic Soho Mod club dancers whilst selling precious few records. Seeing the psychedelic scene suddenly burgeon around them, Money, guitarist Andy Somers and drummer Colin Allen threw themselves bodily on to the bandwagon, announcing abruptly in July 1967 that the Big Roll Band no longer existed and that henceforth they would be Dantalian’s Chariot “ Dantalian being a Duke of Hell, referred to in The Key of Solomon.* To emphasise the point they kitted themselves out completely in white “ kaftans, guitars, amps, even a white Hammond “ and put together a light show so sophisticated that the Pink Floyd hired it on occasions. From their first self-penned recording sessions EMI released a single, Madman Running Through The Fields. Despite critical approval it stiffed chartwise, and a subsequent attempt to release an album, appropriately titled Transition, on CBS subsidiary Direction also stalled when the label insisted that its psychedelic elements be diluted with more familiar Money fare and the release credited to the Big Roll Band. This too sank without trace, and a miffed Money finally junked the Chariot in April 1968.
As David Wells explains:
Zoot and Andy [Summers] were becoming increasingly immersed in the psychedelic experience, regularly attending . . . various subterranean love-ins and happenings . . . . Increasingly weary of being promoted by EMI as the white James Brown, Zoot announced in late July 1967 that the Big Roll Band were not more. “We had been working very hard for a long time and felt we were getting stale”, Zoot told reporters.
liner notes to Dantalian’s Chariot: Chariot Rising
Zoot recalls, “We just wanted to do something new. It was a chance to be more creative, to move on to writing our own material and try out new things.” (Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era)
Richie Unterberger adds:
Such was the impact of psychedelic music in 1967, however, that by the middle of the year, Money had decided to totally revamp his sound. R&B/jazz/soul had become passe; now it was important to write your own material, and reflect the mind-expanding experience. With [Andy] Summers still in tow, [the band] became Dantalian’s Chariot. The music, written primarily by Money and Summers, changed as radically as the name, with airy melodies, spacy lyrics, and guitar/organ-driven arrangements. The band hit the London underground circuit inhabited by such acts as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine, and made their debut recording as Dantalian’s Chariot . . . in the summer of 1967. The single, innovative as it was, didn’t make any commercial waves. Although they were a respected live act, their new direction wasn’t supported by EMI, which dropped the band. A psychedelic-minded LP was worked on, but not released. Some of the material appeared on an early 1968 record, which the Direction label assembled from various tunes cut over the past year. . . . Dantalian’s Chariot came to an end in the spring of 1968, with Summers joining the Soft Machine (and subsequently Eric Burdon’s Animals); Money would also join Eric Burdon’s Animals around the same time.
But what a trip it was. David Wells notes that DC became “the darlings of the London underground set” and “one of the most fondly remembered British Psychedelic groups.” (liner notes to Dantalian’s Chariot: Chariot Rising)
Vernon Joynson adds that:
[They] performed frequently at London’s Middle Earth and UFO clubs. . . . Their live appearances were amazing. They took to the stage in white robes and had what was generally regarded as the best light show in town. The only problem was this ensured they made heavy financial losses with every appearance.
The Tapestry of Delights Revisited
* Wikipedia tells us: “The Key of Solomon . . . also known as The Greater Key of Solomon, is a pseudepigraphical [falsely attributed] grimoire [textbook on magic] attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic.”
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