The Mirage - The World Goes On Around You – The Mirage Anthology
Disc one kicks off with the eighteen tracks that comprised the nine singles they released between 1965 and 1968. While there are a lot of really great originals amongst the singles, unfortunately they were often delegated to the flipside. This was usually due to the record company owners and execs being out of touch or in some cases greedy, as some of the songs were written by them as opposed to the band. The first original they released was “Just A Face”, a tune driven by chiming guitars and a hint of psychedelia, and the flipside to their second single “Go Away”, a bouncy, upbeat track that was actually a previously unreleased song written by The Hollies. The next single was their take on The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which did a good job of capturing the feel of the original but was a lot more stripped down and sounds more like a demo. This was once again accompanied by an original with “You Can’t Be Serious”, a Beatles-esque track meshed with a mod vibe. The next two singles finally contained nothing but originals with the high points being the laid-back ballad “Can You Hear Me” (written by band bassist Dee Murray who would later become a member of Elton John’s classic band lineup) and the stellar “The Wedding Of Ramona Blair”, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. The next single was the epitome of the band being mishandled by their label. “Mystery Lady” was a very cheesy bubblegum pop tune that just wasn’t very good and was written by the owner of the label, who had never written a hit song. On the other hand, the b-side “Chicago Cottage” was a blissful pop gem that had all the makings of a hit and is one of the best songs they ever released. With singles under the name The Mirage continuously falling short in sales they decided to release the next one under the name Yellow Pages. “Here Comes Jane” was written by former Plastic Penny frontman Brian Keith and was a catchy bubblegum singalong with a hint of rock, while “Ding Dong Bell”, musically a catchy tune, but lyrically extremely cheesy, was again co-written by label owner Larry Page. Their next single, and last under the name The Mirage, was “Carolyn”, which was again penned by the label owner and is a horrible track with a really bad oompa oompa beat that is basically the demo because the band thought it was so bad, they walked out of the session. As had happened over and over, the original on the flip, “The World Goes On Around You”, was one of the band’s best tracks that, thanks in part to the organ throughout, has a bit of an early prog sound. Following the single’s release, the band “broke up” then reformed with a new bassist, a new label and a new name, Portobello Explosion (the breakup and name change was apparently a ruse to get out of their previous record deal). “We Can Fly”, the only release under the new name, is a hypnotic, dreamy psychedelic pop tune that is another definite highlight, while the b-side is a great cover of Bubble Puppy’s “Hot Smoke and Sassafrass”, a psychedelic hard rocker that shows some hints of early acid rock. Closing out disc one is six tracks from BBC sessions. Along with versions of three of the songs they released on singles are a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night”, “Ebaneezer Beaver”, which ended up becoming “Jeremiah Dreams” on the Jawbone album, and “Strange Feeling”. For the most part the sound quality on these is a little muddy and there isn’t anything in the liner notes giving any details on them, but they are definitely a nice addition.
As further proof of just how much potential The Mirage had, disc two contains twenty-three studio out-takes, the majority of which are originals that were never officially released. The main drawback is that most are demo recordings, so they aren’t quite studio quality recordings. While some are definitely better than others, pretty much everything here is better than the songs they were forced to release as singles, and there are plenty of highlights. Quite a few of the tracks show the influence of The Beatles from “Gone To Your Head” and “I Love Her”, both of which harken back to their earlier days, to Mrs Busby, which is more reminiscent of their later psychedelic side. “I See The Rain” and “My Door No. 4” (aka “Lonely Highway”) are both gorgeous sixties pop tunes, with the former having a bit of a west coast feel and the latter enhanced with strings and woodwinds, sounding a bit like early Bee Gees. A quirkier side to the band comes out in “Hello Enid”, a pop track with a touch of psychedelia and some harmonium, and the jaunty “How’s Your Pa”, which kicks off with some honky tonk piano and is an extremely catchy and a really fun listen. “What Do I Care” is an uptempo pop track that has a bit of a rock side to it, while “Cathy Must Fly” (aka “Katherine”) is a simple little stripped down acoustic cut with a hint of psychedelia. They venture into a little sunshine pop on “You And Me Baby, a track that is actually the band backing an unknown singer and highlighted with some outstanding harmonies. The aforementioned “Ebaneezer Beaver”, a really good psychedelic track with some similarities to The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”, shows up here twice in both electric and acoustic versions. While there are also a handful of tracks here that somewhat miss the mark, overall these unreleased tracks are well worth the listen.
Unhappy with their new name and with a slight change in membership, the band returned as Jawbone, releasing the eponymous album found here on disc three. Not only did they take their new name from a song by The Band, they also were a very strong influence on the musical direction the band took here. This is apparent right out the gate with opening tracks “Honeysuckle Redwood Cabin”, which sounds like The Byrds playing with The Band, and “Homestead” with its strong vocal harmonies and organ fills. “How’s Your Pa?” is the first of three tracks from The Mirage days that’s been rerecorded here, and is a quirky, yet extremely catchy track that has a vaudeville / circus vibe reminiscent of both The Beatles “Your Mother Should Know” and “Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite.” Really setting itself apart from the other tracks, “Brave White Knight” is a gorgeous medieval folk rock ballad highlighted by harpsichord, acoustic guitar and Simon and Garfunkel like harmonies. After “Bulldog Goes West”, a more straight ahead rootsy rock track is their take on The Beatles’ “Across The Universe." According to the liner notes, the band had an acetate of Lennon’s demo and The Beatles didn’t seem interested in recording it, so Jawbone did, only to have The Beatles end up releasing their own version. While not as effects laden, this one still maintains the spirit of the song and is really quite an impressive track. “Million Times Before” is up next and is a little reminiscent of both Dylan and The Byrds, followed by “Money Is," a catchy tune with some slightly funky keys, that at times brings to mind “Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind” from the Lovin' Spoonful. With “Mister Custer” the influence of The Band is definitely in the forefront again, while the largely acoustic “Song For Sonny” is very Dylan-esque with some nice pedal steel. Closing out the album are two more rerecorded tracks from The Mirage with the psychedelic pop gem “Chicago Cottage” and The Beatles-ish psychedelic “Jeremiah Dreams” (a revamped version of “Ebaneezer Beaver”). Both tracks benefit from better production here, giving them a warmer, fuller sound than before. Following the album’s release, the band gave it one more go with the final track here, the single “Way Down Down”, another rootsier song in the vein of The Band, although a little more on the pop side. Rounding out the box set is a booklet with a detailed essay and plenty of pics. Once again Cherry Red and Grapefruit Records have done a stellar job giving us a chance to discover another sadly overlooked band.
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