BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: WILDFLOWERS BY THE HOLY MACKEREL (REPRISE, 1968) - EPISODE #80

DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

I discovered this track on a WB compilation set named “My Mind Gets High”, and boy… upon hearing this cut did I ever started experiencing flashbacks. In 1968, The Holy Mackerel was explicitly created as a vehicle for young, up and coming singer-songwriter Paul Williams, whose heavily processed vocal, along with the sitar, places this psychedelic artifact squarely into its late 60s time zone, and although I didn’t start my hallucinogenic experiments until a bit later (around 1970), Wildflowers sonic acid bath trips me out nostalgically.

Paul Williams became a household name in the 1970s when his elfin voice and tiny stature captured America’s imagination on tv, radio, and film. It didn’t hurt that he had a prodigious songwriting talent, too: (We’ve Only Just Begun; Old Fashioned Love Song, etc). His brother, Mentor - also a songwriting Colossus (Drift Away) was recruited for his sibling’s manufactured band, as well - it was a hastily, and often reassembled group of rotating membership, which only lasted about a year or so.

Interestingly, Paul didn’t write this tune; it was penned by bassist Bob Harvey, who later worked for Elvis - and, indeed, it eschews the sentimental tendencies of its lead singer’s writing. This is more of a mood piece, which perfectly captures that moment when the acid starts to come on. Sublime.