Les Fleur de Lys - Reflections
Brian Poust sees the reflections of a sadly forgotten band
Tracing the story of Les Fleur de Lys is substantially more convoluted than I feel could be fully explained in a simple album review. Luckily, the liner notes in the 1996 collection, "Reflections", are pretty thorough and save us all the grief of making heads of tails of about 9 different line ups and connections to the total of seven groups represented on this album or CD, written by Miss Lucy Nation.
Whatever amount of confusion surrounding Les Fleur de Lys is luckily undermined by an outstanding collection of music left behind by these musicians. Whenever someone asks what "freakbeat" is, you can count on the explaining party pointing out any number of Fleur de Lys songs, like "Hold On" (with South African singer Sharon Tandy), "So Come On", their cover of The Who's "Circles" (produced by Jimmy Page), and the heavily compiled "Gong With the Luminous Nose" featuring a guitar riff unscrupulously ripped off by Paul Weller on his first album -- which I also like.
However, in addition to the slashing guitars and proto-psychedelic sounds most people associate with Les Fleur de Lys, this collection will also introduce you to some really cool and melodic psych-pop sounds like "Prodigal Son", "One Girl City", and two of my favorites on the album, "Brick By Brick" and "Liar". There is also the Curtis Mayfield penned "I've Been Trying" which I rate well above the Zoot Money and the Big Roll band version on their Live at Klooks Kleek album.
But wait! If that weren't enough for you, how about some darker sounds very reminiscent of Holland's Shocking Blue, of "Venus" fame? That's right, we're also treated to the brooding songs "Daughter of the Sun" with Sharon Tandy again, and "Tick Tock", which was actually originally attributed to a group called Shyster.
Speaking of those other band names, the other well known group connected to Les Fleur de Lys were Rupert's People who actually had an American released single on Bell Records. That single is "Reflections of Charles Brown" which has an undeniable propensity towards Procol Harum. The flip side is an earlier recording of the superb "Hold On" predating Sharon Tandy and adding some stunningly violent Hammond organ playing by Pete Solley, who went on to play with Arthur Brown, he of "Fire" fame!
The research that went into this collection is what really makes this an impressive collection of songs, as they have included tracks by the majority of erstwhile unknown artists who the main core of Les Fleur de Lys were involved in/with. It's not often that I wonder "why wasn't this song or that song included?" The compilers did an excellent job telling the story of Les Fleur de Lys.
Fans of British Psychedelia, late Sixties rock in general, and to some degree even fans of early Seventies pop are sure to froth at the mouth upon first listen to this CD. The vinyl is long out of print, but the CD still turns up with a fair amount of regularity due to the 1998 issue on Blueprint. If not at your favorite local record shop, you can probably order the CD from a number of respectable mail order houses specializing in Sixties music.
Finally, here is the track listing:
1. Circles
2. Mud In Your Eye
3. Gong With the Luminous Nose
4. Sugar Love (as John Bromley)
5. Hold On (as Sharon Tandy)
6. Prodigal Son
7. One Girl City
8. Daughter of the Sun (as Sharon Tandy)
9. Tick Tock (as Shyster)
10. I Can See the Light
11. Liar
12. I Forgive You (as Chocolate Frog)
13. So Come On
14. Hammerhead
15. Stop Crossing the Bridge
16. I Like What I'm Trying To Do (as Waygood Ellis)
17. Hold On (as Rupert's People)
18. Butchers & Bakers (as Chocolate Frog)
19. Wait For Me
20. Reflections of Charles Brown (as Rupert's People)
21. Brick By Brick
22. I've Been Trying
23. Moondreams
24. So Many Things (as John Bromley)
[Published 26 February 2001]
| Comments: | |
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| oh dear | maj 9 2001 9:26PM |
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| Yes, but have a look at the cover... | |
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| Bengt | mar 1 2001 6:37PM |
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| great stuff Brian, and great band of course, in my book better than the Attack, which they are sometimes compared to. I don't think I've made a single mix tape without a song by Les Fleur De Lys since I bought their compilation... | |
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| Brian Poust | feb 27 2001 4:12PM |
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| well, "Circles" was on Immediate, so that one's pretty obvious; and while it doesn't sound like he plays on the "Moondreams" single, it wouldn't surprise me to find out he did. Here's one for the debate section....then again, I still think Page played on John Mayall's "I'm Your Witchdoctor", so what do I know? | |
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| joel | feb 27 2001 11:56AM |
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| Nice one Brian, an excellent band who don't get enough credit. I think that Mojo magazine did a '65 special last year, and the free CD that came with it had their version of "Circles" on it. Also, did Page actually play in the band at one point? I'm not sure, but I think some of their stuff is on a Jimmy Page comp of his early sixties work with other bands. The name of it escapes me but it was only released last year and should still be avalible from Virgin record stores. | |
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