Anyone heard this?
The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette was a Big Statement psych album from 1969, in the vein of Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds, Forever Changes, Of Cabbages and Kings by Chad and Jeremy, or A Tramp Shining by Richard Harris (and Jim Webb). It had an elaborate, orchestrated production, equally elaborate vocal arrangements, expanded song structures, multifaceted music (by 1969 standards), and "socially conscious" lyrics typical of the period. The cover was a satirical fake "newspaper" complete with comics by underground cartoonists - like an earlier version of Thick as a Brick. In terms of quality, it's up there with many of those albums, although not on the absolute top level. But in its day, it was a failure, and is barely remembered today except by collectors and psych obsessives. And it may have failed for a reason that had nothing to do with its musical quality:
It was by the Four Seasons.
Yes. Those Four Seasons. The doo-wop group who were old-fashioned even in the Sixties, who featured Frankie Valli's yowling falsetto, and who cranked out AM hit after AM hit. And The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette barely sounds like them. It's more like some kind of alternate version of the Beach Boys doing songs from some kind of alternate version of Hair. Or something. The songs were written by Bob Gaudio (who wrote most of the Four Seasons songs, played piano, and sang harmony) and the folkie Jake Holmes (who, I would guess, wrote the lyrics). It's a fascinating oddity.
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