This compilation is the first thorough domestic U.S. release to gather tracks from both out of print
Lemon Pipers albums. Although known primarily for their international, ersatz, hippy, bubblegum pop anthem "Green Tambourine," the quintet's formidable musical chops and material are displayed at the center of
Green Tambourine: The Best of the Lemon Pipers. During their brief existence,
the Lemon Pipers had two additional charting hits -- "Rice Is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)" -- for music mogul Neil Bogart's Kama Sutra label. Bogart was already hosting a number of successful bubblegum bands such as
Ohio Express and
1910 Fruitgum Company. His hugely thriving production team featured Jerry Kasenetz and the Jeff Katz-scouted Ivan and the Sabers -- a local Oxford, Ohio band.
The Pipers were self-contained instrumentally, but Bogart and company supplied the tunes. The team of producer/composer Paul Leka and lyricist Shelley Pinz provided
the Lemon Pipers with a great deal of their material. When left to their own devices, the band ironically had very little in common with the sounds on the chart-topping "Green Tambourine." On the whole, the group falls somewhere between the over the top pseudo-psychedelia of the
Strawberry Alarm Clock and the garage pop of
the Blues Magoos. There are a few gems on
Green Tambourine: The Best of the Lemon Pipers. The trippy "Catch Me Falling" takes on dimensions of
Quicksilver Messenger Service,
Buffalo Springfield, and the innovative fretwork of a
Jorma Kaukonen-propelled
Jefferson Airplane. "Dead End Street/Half Life" -- the 11-minute epic that rounds out this compilation -- recalls the indulgence of "In a Gadda Da Vida." However, variations in instrumentation as well as tempo are actually more akin to the
Grateful Dead's "Cryptical Envelopment" suite. The sound on
Green Tambourine: The Best of the Lemon Pipers is brilliant, leaving previous compilations and the European CD pressings sounding thin in comparison. ~ Lindsay Planer