The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union/The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens [Import]

1. My Love Is

2. Beautiful Delilah

3. Sportin' Life

4. Four Hundred and Five

5. Mystic Morning

6. Sadie Said No

7. Speed Kills

8. Blue Avenue

9. South End Incident (I'm Afraid)

10. Green Destroys the Gold

11. Prophet

12. Clown Died in Marvin Gardens

13. Clown's Overture

14. Angus of Aberdeen

15. Blue Suede Shoes

16. A Not Very August Afternoon

17. Now I Taste the Tears

18. May I Light Your Cigarette

19. Baby Please Don't Go

The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union/The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens,The Beacon Street Union,See for Miles,Pop,Psychedelic,Rock,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating:

Beacon St. Union only Fair compared to the THIRD ALBUM

Strong Echoes of the Who, the Amboy Dukes, Procol Harum

pretentious but interesting

EYES OF THE BEACON STREET UNION/CLOWN DIED IN MARVIN

still alive in marvin gardens

The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union/The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens
The Beacon Street Union
Manufacturer: See for Miles
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000BICP
Release Date: 1998-09-30

Tracks:

My Love Is
Beautiful Delilah
Sportin' Life
Four Hundred and Five
Mystic Morning
Sadie Said No
Speed Kills
Blue Avenue
South End Incident (I'm Afraid)
Green Destroys the Gold
Prophet
Clown Died in Marvin Gardens
Clown's Overture
Angus of Aberdeen
Blue Suede Shoes
A Not Very August Afternoon
Now I Taste the Tears
May I Light Your Cigarette
Baby Please Don't Go

Customer Reviews:

Beacon St. Union only Fair compared to the THIRD ALBUM.......2005-10-28

Unfortunately, most people who know Beacon Street Union don't know that the band made a third album, under the name EAGLE, called "Come Under Nancy's Tent." It was released in 1970 on Janus Records. This is a superb, hard-rockin' album of great guitar, impassioned vocals, and classic songs ("Snake in the Grass," "Separated," and others). Akarma has released a vinyl LP reissue, but better yet is the out-of-print 3-CD box set that includes the BSU/Eagle recordings, called "State Of The Union." You should get this one.

Strong Echoes of the Who, the Amboy Dukes, Procol Harum.......2002-03-28

Track-by track review, since there are no sound samples:

[1st album, by far the better of the two]

Following track 1, which is spoken introduction, ["My Love Is"][5 stars] is an astounding imitation of the Who. The sound is big and crisp on my computer's CD player; but is awash in too much reverb in my boom box. So beware--it seems this CD has not been mastered well enough to work equally well on all machines. [Both sound tests were done using Sony headphones.]

"Beautiful Delilah" is the same song that opens the Kinks' first album. Here it's very punk sounding. Did the lead singer make his voice sound like a manic munchkin by having the engineer apply a pitch-shifting algorithm, or did they rent a helium tank (probably the former)? It it's his natural voice, though, I'm headin' for the hills! [3½ stars]

"The Sportin' Life" is a passable imitation of a tune in slow Chicago blues style. The instrumentalists handle the groove very well, and the singer doesn't try too hard. [3½ stars]

"405" is what--early techno-rock with a strong psychedelic twinge? Not too interesting, plus the unrelenting plastic jackhammer loop gets a little tedious. [2½ stars]

"Mystic Mourning" begins with a long introduction, including a good tom-tom loop which continues throughout the song. This song is rather moody, and keeps interest up for almost 6 minutes. Though a little strident for my taste, I have to give it [4½ stars].

"Sadie Said No": more stridor (just kidding), but not as interesting. Nice harmony, though: again they remind me of the Who, acidified. [3 stars]

"Speed Kills" is purportedly an anti-drug song: these guys sound so British! The CD itself is a picture disk with an old lithograph of Paul Revere on his famous ride [during the American Revolution, fighting against the British of course . . . Who?], and so psychedelic! [3½ stars]

"Blue Avenue": terrific sinuous melodic/harmonic interplay here in the vocals and the organ solo; strong traces of the Who at the closing phrase. [4½+ stars]

"South End Incident": the tone of the lead guitar sounds like the Amboy Dukes on "Journey to the Center of Your Mind". This one goes on almost too long, though it's not bad, either. The guy sings better than he recites. Awesome harmony vocals at the end save this one.
[3½ stars]

"Green Destroys the Gold": more terrific melody and harmony vocals. This song really holds together in every way musically, though the lyrics are rather bald. [4½ stars]

"The Prophet": interesting how the lead vocal moves from side to side in the stereo field, as do the cymbals in the middle section. This is their big spiritual send-off for the first album. Somewhat heavy (and heavy-handed) psychedelia; but neither pretentious nor ineffective--the song channels genuine power. [4½+ stars]

[2nd album]:

"The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens": presages Queen? [1 star]

"The Clown's Overture": all orchestral, mostly too slow and ponderous to be a true overture. [2½ stars]

"Angus of Aberdeen": the big orchestral introduction segues into more rock operetta. The lead guitarist is playing like Procol Harum's Robin Trower (gee, another British band . . . is this the Boston Tea Party?); the lead singer is singing like Procol Harum's Gary Brooker. The compositional style and orchestral arrangement sound so much like Procol Harum it's almost shameful; but it's done exquisitely well. [4½ stars]

"Blue Suede Shoes": passable imitation of Elvis's singing style; but the band's playing is unwieldy, like most 60's/70's bands when doing Elvis. [2 stars]

"A Not Very August Afternoon": using a style similar to the brilliant "White Bird" by the San Francisco band [It's a Beautiful Day], this song has no pop. The vocal melody is monotonous, ditto for the organ and guitar; the story goes nowhere interesting. [2 stars for rhythm/feel]

"Now I Taste the Tears": self-flagellation rock at its worst. [1 star at the best]

"King of the Jungle": hard to describe this ...imitation of party rock. [minus 3 stars]

"May I Light Your Cigarette": starts with a long, slow electric guitar introduction using an effect that makes it seem like the strings are bowed rather than plucked. It's probably an 'envelope generator' set to shave off the attack transient of the sound so that it ramps up slowly. This, in concert with the eerie melody, results in a mysterious, sinister atmosphere. The vocal is a slowly spoken monologue delivered to an unknown companion on the subject of lighting a cigarette; seemingly unrelated subjects are breached, psychological double entendres come into play. It sounds as if the speaker is imitating being under the influence of some mind-altering modality [chemical or otherwise]. Further on, the monologue takes some sadistic/misanthropic turns. Very effective. [5 stars]

"Baby Please Don't Go": a more up-tempo version of the tune made famous by the Amboy Dukes, though not quite as boring. If you like this type of thing, there are some interesting moments. [2½ stars]

pretentious but interesting.......2000-10-30

in my opinion the best of the bosstown sound albums was earth opera's debut which for some reason elektra refuses to put out on cd it seems. the 1st beacon street union album and the first 2 ultimate spinach records are not far behind. its pretentious but intriguing. john lincoln wright is still active in the boston area fronting country bands. the 1st album is as an earlier reviewer said pretty straight ahead rock with touches of blues and r &b here and there. there are some psychedelic flashes and tones however. those expecting some kind of major musical freakout will probably be disappointed, but paul tartachny was a quite talented guitarist, and you'll find some impressive runs on the 1st album. just about every track on the eyes of the beacon street union is solid. the 2nd album is more hit or miss, but the title track and angus of aberdeen are first rate. the former is a somewhat jazzy piece with oblique dylanesque lyrics and the latter features some of tartachny's best guitar work. another excellent song is now i taste the tears which is kind of reminiscent of the rolling stones to some degree, its an r &b type of tune with some fine vocalizing by wright. this is worth picking up if you are a fan of the era or interested in the bosstown sound.

EYES OF THE BEACON STREET UNION/CLOWN DIED IN MARVIN.......2000-07-13

Part of the so called boss town sound which did not really exist,which was all lurid marketing by mgm at the time, to rival the sanfranscico sound.The beacon street union was caught up in all the hype which even though they sold quite well at the time music critics say did not help this group or others like them, who were being signed to the label at the time.The collection here is their first to lps which they recorded back in the late 60s,features some psych stuff ie Blue avenue but apart from this the collection is a mixed bag and some ot the songs are just rubbish.The cd comes with pictures of their first 2 lp covers plus a picture of them.I will only recomend this collection to fans of this phantom sound.

still alive in marvin gardens.......2000-06-28

i have read the reviews and for the most part beacon street union was a straight ahead sound unlike any other band.the bands of this time at least the better ones had a sound all their own unlike the bands of the 80s which sounded pretty much all the same or the 90s which gave us nothing more than here today gone tomorrow hits Beacon street union had great covers of some great rock songs plus the title made the top 100 on the charts along with the lp that made it to number 25 also it was part of a sound track for a major movie at the time if you want nsync ratt then this is not the band for you but if you can think for yourself give it a try and you to will enjoy the beacon street union

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