LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Discovered by recording artist, producer and arranger H B Barnumand signed to his Mothers Records label in 1968, T he Nouvells, anLA-based outfit, managed to release That Did It! (Mothers RecordsMRS-73) and a couple of singles before calling it a day a year later.Barnum, whose arrangement credits included work for Count Basie,Frank Sinatra, Ette James, The Supremes, The Temptations andAretha Franklin, had clearly taken on more than he could chew withThe Nouvells whose album, That Did It! was a nice blend of popmelodies and heavier rock - not Barnum's thing at all, although hedid manage to convince the band to do a cover of Otis Redding'sSitting On The Dock Of The Bay. There's also some tasty fuzz guitaron tracks such as Love (a Lee Michaels cover) but the band seemedunable to decide on exactly what their musical identity was, as theywere a passable pop group as well as a serious rock band andevidence of their ability to be both is found here in ample supply.Mothers Records and The Nouvells parted company in 1969, andalthough not much is known about the label, singles and albumscontinued to be released through the mid-'70s, even achieving aminor success with Spanky Wilson's Love Land, mainly thanks toBarnum's solid arrangements.This is a surprisingly good, though slightly confused album, but onethat is still worthy of investigation. It is also becoming something ofa collector's item, partly due to its distinctly '60s-ish cover artTrack Listing1. Almost There2. Love3. Age Of Innocence4. Glass House5. Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay6. Sunshine Of Your Love7. Tomorrow's Yesterday8. Only You9. Can't Ya See It10. Time To Show Her