Oliver - Good Morning Starshine

Back in 1969, William Oliver Swofford’s hit single recording of Good Morning Starshine seemed inescapable on UK radio.  The record was issued on CBS 4435 and climbed to no. 6 in August 1969.  The follow up single, Jean was issued the following year (with Good Morning Starshine on the B-side) on The Crewe label CRW001.  It did not trouble the UK charts.  As far as I can ascertain, the accompanying LP was not issued in the UK.  Nor were either of his subsequent albums - Again (1970) and Prisms (1971).  Wikipedia records that the album Good Morning Starshine made no. 19 on the American Billboard 200. 

There is a certain urgency to Oliver’s recording (and Hutch Davie’s arrangement) of what is otherwise a somewhat twee song from the Broadway musical, Hair.  The clockwork tick/tock of the percussion intro, strummed open chord, layered backing vocals, and the heavenly la-da-da-das all take the song to another place. The ridiculous gliddy-gloop-gloopy chorus is easily forgotten. At the risk of being a vinyl bore, the bass-heavy mix (and slight tempo increase over the 45rpm version) lends the album cut of Good Morning Starshine extra gravitas. And although the version on this album is essentially the same recording, it sounds so very different from the countless versions that have appeared on compilation albums and soundtracks.  

One might have expected the hit single to be track 1, side 1. Not so – producer Bob Crewe chose to open the album with Who Will Buy? from Lionel Bart’s Musical Oliver*. The arrangement is similar to that of GMS. Meanwhile, the hit single is buried at side 2, track 2.  A bold move indeed. 

Elsewhere on the album, there is a grandiose six minute rendering of Ruby Tuesday plus a most acceptable reading of Lennon/McCartney’s In My Life. Particular stand-outs are a haunting version of Rod McKuen’s Jean (the second single off the album) and a second Bart/Oliver song, Who Will Buy? Most of all, and surprisingly for an album issued in support of a hit single, there’s absolutely no filler.  The songs on this album could be presented in any running order and the record would still sound every bit as infectious. 

I discovered a well-loved (well hated?) copy of this album at a car boot sale in the mid-1990s.  A recent search on eBay delivered this mint copy. A pirated CD rip of the album (with a phony made-up cover) is on sale on Amazon.com for $30.  It doesn’t get very good customer reviews.  A best-of album featuring GMS and Jean appeared on a thoroughly dubious looking (now deleted) CD on The Taragon label.  

Here’s my rip of this wonderful album taken from a mint vinyl copy.  Until an official CD appears, which I don’t think will be at all soon – dig. 

Nibby nobby nooby indeed. 

Track listing

1.  Who Will Buy

2.  The Arrangement

3.  Can't You See

4.  Letmekissyouwithadream

5.  Ruby Tuesday

6.  Jean

7.  Good Morning Starshine

8.  In My Life

9.  Where Is Love

10. Both Sides Now (Clouds)

Crewe CR 1333 (1969)

*Pun intended.

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