Odessey and Oracle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Odessey and Oracle
Odessey and Oracle cover
Studio album by The Zombies
Released April 19, 1968 (UK)
June 1968 (US)
Recorded "Changes" recorded November 1967, Abbey Road. All other tracks recorded June-August 1967, Abbey Road and Olympic Studios.
Genre Psychedelic pop, Baroque pop
Length 35:18
Label CBS
Producer The Zombies, Al Kooper (American reissue)
Professional reviews
The Zombies chronology
Begin Here
(1965) (UK)
----
The Zombies
(1965) (US)		 Odessey and Oracle
(1968)		 New World (1991)

Odessey and Oracle is a psychedelic rock album by the Zombies released in 1968. The famous misspelling of "odyssey" in the title was the result of a mistake by the designer of the LP cover,[citation needed] 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 intentional.

Contents

[edit] Album information

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only true Zombies album. While their first album included several cover versions, Odessey consisted entirely of original compositions by the group's two main songwriters, Rod Argent and Chris White.

The group began work on the album in June 1967. Some songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release. By the time the recording was finished, in late 1967, the Zombies were effectively disbanded, due to lack of financial success. Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK in 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 illustration.

The gap in time between the UK and US record release dates owes to the Zombies having not prepared a stereo mix initially, a condition the American label insisted on. At the urging of Al Kooper and Columbia/Epic/Date records, Argent and White spent their accrued royalties to book studio time and remix the album for stereo specifically for that US release. However, the one song "This Will Be Our Year" was not mixed into stereo in 1969 owing to a "missing" horn overdub not on the original multitrack tape.

The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44" has been covered by a number of artists including Elliott Smith and Of Montreal .

Velvet Crush's singles compilation, A Single Odessey, is misspelled in dedication to the Zombies' album.

[edit] Reception

In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Odessey in 80th place on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[1]. In addition it has appeared on a number of greatest albums lists.

  • Stylus Magazine selected it as the 196th on their 101-200 Favorite Albums List[2]
  • The Guardian placed it 77th on their Top 100 Albums That Don’t Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time[3]
  • Mojo named it the 97th greatest album ever made[4]
  • It placed 32nd on NME's[5] list of the greatest British albums ever

Odessey consistently ranks in the top 40 on the constantly changing Rate Your Music greatest ever albums list [1].

[edit] Album sleeve

The album sleeve contains a short text written by keyboard player Rod Argent quoting William Shakespeare's The Tempest.[6]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Care of Cell 44" (Rod Argent) – 3:56
  2. "A Rose for Emily" (Argent) – 2:19
  3. "Maybe After He's Gone" (Chris White) – 2:33
  4. "Beechwood Park" (White) – 2:43
  5. "Brief Candles" (White) – 3:30
  6. "Hung up on a Dream" (Argent) – 3:01
  7. "Changes" (White) – 3:19
  8. "I Want Her, She Wants Me" (Argent) – 2:51
  9. "This Will Be Our Year" (White) – 2:08
  10. "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" (White) – 2:47
  11. "Friends of Mine" (White) – 2:17
  12. "Time of the Season" (Argent) – 3:33

[edit] CD bonus tracks

There are various CD editions of the album available, almost all of which contain a varying number of bonus tracks.

[edit] Rock Machine (MACD 6) (1986)

This, the first issue on CD (made in France) had alternate cover art known as The Old Man in the Temple. No bonus tracks.

[edit] Bluemoon Records (1988)

This (now out of print) CD release of Odessey contains the following bonus tracks in addition to the twelve original album songs:

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "Imagine the Swan"

[edit] Big Beat (SonyBMG) (2004)

This CD release contains both original mixes of Odessey - the first 12 tracks consist of all original album tracks in mono, followed by the same tracks again, in stereo. In addition to this, this edition offers the following bonus tracks:

  1. "A Rose for Emily (Alternate Version 2)"
  2. "Time of the Season (Alternate Version)"
  3. "Prison Song (Care of Cell 44 backing track)"

[edit] SMD/Reper (SonyBMG) (2005)

This is the most expansive CD version of Odessey, featuring sixteen bonus tracks.

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "She Loves the Way They Love Her"
  3. "Imagine the Swan"
  4. "Smokey Day"
  5. "If It Don't Work Out"
  6. "I Know She Will"
  7. "Don't Cry for Me"
  8. "Walking in the Sun"
  9. "Conversation off Floral Street"
  10. "I Want You Back Again"
  11. "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself"
  12. "Goin' Out of my Head"
  13. "She Does Everything for Me"
  14. "Nothing's Changed"
  15. "I Could Spend the Day"
  16. "Girl Help Me"

[edit] Repertoire (REP5089) (2008)

This 40th anniversary release consists of two discs: CD1, the 12 tracks of the original 1968 mono album; and CD2, the same 12 tracks in the 1968 stereo mix. CD1 also contains the following six bonus tracks:

  1. "I'll Call You Mine"
  2. "Imagine the Swan"
  3. "Conversation off Floral Street"
  4. "If It Don't Work Out"
  5. "I Know She Will"
  6. "Don't Cry for Me"

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 80) Odessey and Oracle : Rolling Stone
  2. ^ http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=898&PHPSESSID=b1493e08c6a90e5fe90dde0616f2ae55
  3. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/guardian100.htm#Alternative top 100 albums ever
  4. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo.html
  5. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm#Greatest British Albums/ref> list and 51st on Q's<ref>http://www.muzieklijstjes.nl/Q50bestbritishalbumsever.htm</li> <li id="cite_note-5">'''[[#cite_ref-5|^]]''' ''Odessey and Oracle'' liner notes</li></ol></ref>

    [edit] See also

    v • d • e
    The Zombies
    Colin Blunstone · Rod Argent · Chris White · Paul Atkinson · Hugh Grundy
    Albums
    The Zombies / Begin Here  · Odessey and Oracle · New World · As Far As I Can See...
    Singles
    "She's Not There" · "Leave Me Be" · "Tell Her No" · "She's Coming Home" · "Whenever You're Ready" · "Remember You" · "Is This the Dream" · "Indication" · "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself" · "Goin' Out of My Head" · "Friends of Mine" · "Care of Cell 44" · "Time of the Season"