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Film: The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle (revisited: 40th Anniversary Concert)

Sunday Mar 7 2:00PM Add to Calendar
Tampa Pitcher Show [map]

On-line sales have ended, but there will be plenty of tickets available at the door...See you there!!

WMNF DJs spin Zombies music at 1pm; a brief documentary at 1:30pm on the making of the original recording, and the concert film at 2pm

This is the concert film, not yet shown or distributed in this country, of the 40th anniversary of The Zombies performing their classic Odessey and Oracle (yes misspelled) recording for the first time. Originally released in 1968. The performance will never happen again… Rod Argent of the Zombies has given us permission to show it.

Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only "true" Zombies album. While their first album included several cover versions, Odessey consisted entirely of original compositions by the group's two main songwriters, Rod Argent and Chris White.

The group began work on the album in June 1967. Nine of the twelve songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release.

In August, when Abbey Road was unavailable, the Zombies temporarily shifted base to Olympic Studios where they recorded Beechwood Park, Maybe After He's Gone and I Want Her She Wants Me. They returned to Abbey Road Studios in September. The sessions ended in November and the final two tracks to be recorded were Time Of The Season and Changes.

By then, morale within the band was at a low point. Two singles, Care Of Cell 44 and Friends Of Mine, had been released to total indifference. Colin Blunstone and Paul Atkinson felt disillusioned and tempers flared during the recording of Time Of The Season. Blunstone wasn't at all keen on the song written by Argent, who insisted Colin sing it a certain way. Colin's patience snapped and he effectively told Argent to sing it himself. To everyone's relief, Blunstone finally sang the vocal as required. Little did they realize the song would become an enduring rock classic.

Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK on April 19, 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a different album cover that severely cropped the original artwork.

American CBS boss Clive Davis initially decided not to release the album. However, at the urging of staff producer Al Kooper, the U.S. CBS/Columbia Records label was eventually persuaded to release the album on their small Date Records subsidiary label. Kooper had picked up a copy of the album during a trip to London, and when he returned to America and played the album, he loved it and believed it contained three hit singles. CBS chose to release Butcher's Tale as the first single in the States, feeling the song's anti-war theme would resonate with record-buyers due to the Vietnam conflict. After its release, Time Of The Season slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in 1969, by which time Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent.

The first song on the album, "Care of Cell 44" has been covered by a number of artists including Elliott Smith and Of Montreal .

Velvet Crush's singles compilation, A Single Odessey, is misspelled in dedication to the Zombies' album.

Because the band split before the album was released, they never got to perform any of the songs onstage. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent reunited in 2001 and over the next few years resurrected The Zombies as a recording and touring unit with ex Argent bassist Jim Rodford, his son Steve Rodford on drums and Keith Airey on guitar. They performed various songs from the album, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release, in March 2008, Chris White and Hugh Grundy returned to perform three shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London during which they performed Odessey and Oracle in its entirety with assistance from Darian Sahanaja and various friends. Paul Atkinson had died in 2004 so Keith Airey took his place.

The original 5 piece line up had reformed briefly in 1997 for the launch party of the Zombie Heaven boxset. Held in London's Jazz Cafe, they performed She's Not There and Time Of The Season. There was one final reunion in 2004 at a benefit gig for Paul Atkinson and though Paul was very ill, he insisted on performing with them. The 2008 shows though were the first time Argent, Blunstone, White and Grundy performed to the British public as a unit since the split back in December 1967.

The Zombies were insistent on being as authentic as possible, hence the extra singers, Darian filling in keyboard and Mellotron parts via use of a Memotron and Rod Argent himself played an original Mellotron on a couple of numbers. Argent also tracked down a Victorian Pump Organ dating from 1896 so they could recreate White's Butcher's Tale, the original organ having long since been given away or sold by Chris.

The concerts were sell outs and critically acclaimed. One of the shows was recorded and filmed and are now available on CD and DVD as Odessey and Oracle (Revisited).

The reunion was so successful, they decided to reprise the show on a short 4 date British tour in April 2009 playing in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and ending on April 25th at the Hammersmith Apollo in London which Argent stated would be the very last time the album would be performed on stage.

[edit] Reception In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Odessey in 80th place on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[3]. In addition it has appeared on a number of greatest albums lists.

Stylus magazine selected it as the 196th on their 101-200 Favorite Albums List. The Guardian placed it 77th on their Top 100 Albums That Don’t Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time Mojo magazine named it the 97th greatest album ever made. It placed 32nd on NME's list and 51st on Q magazine's list of the greatest British albums ever.