Glad - A New Tomorrow - The Glad & New Breed Recordings

The Sacramento band Glad initially got their start as a trio under the name Tim, Tom and Ron while the three members, Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Phillps and Ron Floegel, were still in school.  With the addition of George Hullin, they became The Contenders, and then in 1965 they changed it once again to The New Breed.  They released four singles under that name between 1965 and 1967.  Then for a brief moment in 1967 they shortened it to The Breed, before moving to LA, signing to the new label Equinox, changing it one last time to Glad, and releasing what would become their only album Feelin’ Glad.  Now, with the release of the outstanding A New Tomorrow - The Glad and New Breed Recordings, that album is available on CD for the first time, along with eight mono single mixes and the eight tracks that were released by The New Breed.

While the CD closes with the singles from The New Breed, I’m going to start there since that’s where it all began.  Their debut single was “Green Eye’d Woman”, an extremely catchy pop tune with a bit of an R&B swagger that ended up number one locally.  The flipside was “I’m In Love”, a very Beatles sounding Lennon and McCartney song that The Beatles never recorded but was a UK Top 20 hit for The Fourmost.  Both tracks on their sophomore single were a bit slower.  “I’ve Been Wrong Before” was a really nice sounding ballad written by Randy Newman that was a hit for Cilla Black, while “You’d Better Leave Me Be” was also laid-back, but one of their weaker songs.  The band shifted gears on single number three “Want Ad Reader”.  Influenced by The Beatles “Paperback Writer”, and featuring trombone and trumpet from Tim and George, it’s a punchy, fuzz guitar driven, garage rocker that to me was the high point of their singles.  “One More For The Good Guys” was the b-side and is a loose, psychedelic instrumental that was edited from a thirty-minute jam.  Their final single is another solid release, but it found them shifting back towards a more restrained sound.  Written by Ron Elliott and originally recorded by his band Beau Brummels, “Fine With Me” has a very hypnotic, kind of lilting groove, while “The Sound Of The Music” was more of an upbeat country rocker.  These singles were all actually quite successful locally, but they didn’t do much outside that area.  

In addition to the name change, by the time they recorded Feelin’ Glad they had also evolved with the changes in the music scene and embraced more psychedelia along with elements of the California Sound.  The album kicks off with “A New Tomorrow”, a light and sunshiny track with strong vocal harmonies and that breezy California psychedelic folk sound. “Say What You Mean” has a really strong Mama’s and Papa’s feel (especially in the vocals) with a touch of the Beach Boys and more strong harmonies along with a nice string arrangement.  The dreamy, stripped-down psychedelic “Bedtime Story” has some elements of The Beatles, while “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” has a little more of a rock edge and is loaded with hooks.  Their cover of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s “Shape Of Things To Come” is a strong psychedelic rocker, but ironically Tim’s lead vocals are the only band representation as the actual musicians include guitarists James Burton and Ron Elliott (Beau Brummels), bassist Ray Pohlman, Pete Jolly on keys, drummer Frank Capp and Paul Beaver on Moog.  Tim is also the only band member on “Love Needs The World”, a beautiful ballad with a lush string arrangement from Bob Thompson.  Following “Sweet Melinda”, a midtempo rocker with that breezy California sound and a bit of a funk groove, they delve a bit more into country rock with the easygoing “Let’s Play Make Believe” and “No Ma, It Can’t Be”, the latter of which has even more emphasis on that loping country beat.  Complemented by another great string arrangement and horns, “Two Worlds” is a strong psychedelic tinged ballad.  The extremely infectious “Johnny’s Silver Ride” is a poppy rocker that is very reminiscent of The Monkees, and the album closes with “Silly Girl, a country rock acoustic ballad with some really nice organ fills that ends with a short reprise of “A New Tomorrow”.  Rounding out this collection are mono mixes of eight Glad singles and while they more often than not don’t differ that much, there are exception’s like “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” that has more of a rock edge and “Let’s Play Make Believe” that is instrumentally a little more country sounding.  

Unfortunately, when the album was finished the label sat on it for a few months causing the band to lose traction and while they played some shows in LA they weren't making as much money playing there as they were playing back home.  They also were disillusioned by the orchestration that had been added to some of the tracks, feeling it didn't represent how they sounded.  Ron became frustrated with all this and went to Nashville, before deciding to go back home to Sacramento.  Also at this time, Timothy was introduced to Richie Furay, who was forming Poco, and along with Randy Meisner auditioned for the band.  Meisner got the gig, but a few months later he left the band and Timothy joined (he later on replaced Meisner again in The Eagles).  The remaining three members along with new bassist/vocalist Andrew Samuels formed Redwing and released five albums under that name.  

(Now Sounds)