Soundalikes: The Fraternal Order Of The All

Andrew Gold

The what? Never heard of them? Well, this feature is actually about Andrew Gold. Remember him? The guy who gave us "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being A Friend"? Well, as it turns out, Andrew Gold was more of a busy boy than just a lonely boy. Andrew played an active part in the L.A. studio crew that was responsible for the "California sound" that hung around like an unlocatable musty odor throughout most of the 1970's. He wrote & recorded with the Eagles, America & Linda Ronstadt, along with Brian Wilson, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel and John, Paul and Ringo as well.

Between all the songwriting for himself and recording demo tracks for others, he got a little creative on the side, producing some excellent recreations of groups who had influenced him and just about everyone else. His Beatles recreations are stellar acts of devotional mimicry. After his solo career took the inevitable downturn, Gold released several cd's worth of Beatles covers. Gotta do what you love, right?

But today's subject is an interesting little side trip. In 1998, Gold enlisted former 10cc member & Hollies songwriter Graham Gouldman, former Bread-maker Mike Botts, along with members of California Sixties cover band The Bellbottoms, to do an album that was not only a tribute to the era of Sixties psychedelia, but to the specific bands that were part of that era.

"I got the idea from listening to XTC performing as The Dukes of Stratosphear. I thought it would be fun to disguise yourself as a Sixties group," said Gold in an interview. "Since my influences are showing most of the time anyway, I thought I'd indulge myself to the nth degree and imagine I'd actually been in those bands."

The result was "Greetings From Planet Love" by The Fraternal Order Of The All, and it's an amazing package of music. There's so much great stuff on here. All songs are new, original tunes designed to emulate the bands of the psychedelic era as accurately as possible. Sitars, cheesy keyboards & backward vocals abound. Imagine if Bob Dylan had actually recorded a vocal with The Beatles on a John Lennon song entitled "Mr. Plastick Business Man". It's here and it sounds just like you'd imagine it would. There are Beach Boys, Monkees & Doors homages as well.

The Byrds

The one track that messes me up beyond repair is the astonishing Byrds soundalike "Somewhere in Space And Time". It manages to bring to mind at least 4 Byrds classics all in one mashed-up song, yet still sounds for all purposes like a high quality outtake from the original 1965-1967 Byrds recording sessions. They even got the harmonies right. Between the verses, the drop-D tuned rhythm guitar & the ride cymbal bounces sound exactly like David Crosby and Michael Clarke. Did I mention the backwards 12 string guitar solo? It's just plain freaky how cool this is! Turn it up & be psychedelicized!

Marni Nixon

The Fraternal Order Of The All cd is a little hard to find, although Amazon has it available sporadically for about $20. There is also an Mp3 download available for less. Andrew Gold's other music is much easier to find. 

On June 3, 2011, Andrew Gold died in his sleep, apparently from heart failure, at age 59 in Los Angeles after having been treated for renal cancer. As a footnote, Andrew had a family predilection for being in the entertainment business. His mother was singer Marni Nixon, who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. His father was Ernest Gold, the Austrian born, Academy Award winning composer of the score for the 1960 movie Exodus, along with many other films. Just thought you'd find that interesting.