Rain - Tomorrow Never Comes : The NYC Sessions 1967-1968

In late 1967/early 1968 the three-piece Rain, comprised of guitarist John Cannon, bassist Tom Caccetta and drummer Bugs Pemberton (former members of the US based band the Lost Souls and the English band The Undertakers), recorded a full album with producer Chris Huston (also a former member of The Undertakers).  The path from those earlier bands to Rain is littered with names like Brian Epstein, Jackie Lomax and The Beatles and involved numerous bands and band lineups.  This history is covered it great detail in the accompanying CD booklet.  Unfortunately, the album didn’t find a home and never made it past being an acetate.  Shortly after the album was recorded, they briefly changed their name to The Gypsy Wizards Band and recorded more studio sessions that unfortunately met the same fate.  They ended up going their separate ways in 1969.  Now, thanks to Grapefruit Records, the full album, along with six tracks recorded as The Gypsy Wizards Band have been released on this fantastic new CD Tomorrow Never Comes – The  NYC Sessions 1967-1968.  

The album opens with “Sapphire Skies”, a psychedelic track that is poppy, but still has a rock edge that’s especially evident in the guitar work, which at times sounds like it has a bit of a Hendrix influence.  “One Is All, And All Is One” is a more laid-back cut that adds some country to the psychedelia along with some great West Coast harmonies, while “No Deposit, No Return” is a more propulsive track that reminds me of the San Francisco psychedelic rockers of that era.  The melancholy “Sundrops” is pure Sixties sunshine pop bliss that sounds like it was a huge, missed opportunity for a hit single.  With a sound rooted in Merseybeat, “So Unhappy” adds a psychedelic edge and some great rocking Byrds-like guitars.  The Beatles influence is evident on the more straight-ahead “Didn’t Lie”, followed by “You Can’t Hide Your Love”, which is more of a mod rocker, but with a bit of that West Coast sound, especially in the harmonies.  The psychedelia is in full force on the next two songs, the swirling “Something Is Happening” and the slower, dreamy “Midnight Blue”, both of which are strongly reminiscent of The Beatles.  Closing the Rain album out is “You, You, You”, an edgier psychedelic rocker that really showcases Cannon’s guitar work.  The six bonus tracks here not only found them changing their name, but also largely shifting their sound.  They moved almost completely away from the psychedelia that made the Rain tracks so special, instead adding elements like horns and orchestration. Having said that there are several that really stand out including “The Brightest Light”, which still has a hint of the psychedelia, the flute heavy folk of “A Daily Thought”, the more straight-ahead rocker “She” and the experimental “In Deadication”.  This album is a fantastic discovery and thankfully it is now out in the world for everyone to hear.  

Grapefruit