Precious few artists can genuinely follow their own artistic tendencies and find massive success in the world of music. More often than not, compromises must be made with forces within the music industry, such as labels or producers.
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The Lemon Pipers made one of those compromises and ended up with a 1968 No. 1 hit in “Green Tambourine.” Unfortunately, the tradeoff also hastened the end of their time together.
The Pipers Tune Up
College students from Oxford, Ohio, when they formed in 1966, The Lemon Pipers developed a following playing at local colleges in the area. They found a local promoter who brought them to the attention of Buddah Records, which signed them to a record deal.
Before signing with Buddah, The Lemon Pipers favored more of a hard-driving blues-rock sound. But their new label showed more interest in groups that could hit the pop charts. As a result, a push-and-pull dynamic immediately materialized between the group and their handlers.
After their first single “Turn Around And Take A Look”, which was written by the band’s lead guitarist Bill Bartlett, failed to make a dent, the label decided they’d go with something written by Paul Leka, who also served as the band’s producer, and Shelley Pinz. The pair, who operated out of the Brill Building, the famous songwriting factory in New York City, came up with “Green Tambourine”.
Easy Being “Green”
Pink, who wrote the lyrics, took inspiration for a street busker outside the Brill Building who was banging on a tambourine. Leka, who wrote the music, wanted to take advantage of the psychedelic sounds that were starting to filter their way into pop radio. That’s why guitarist Bartlett played electric sitar on the track.
The Lemon Pipers played the basic track, and then Leka took it and added all kinds of flourishes. Those included a percussion instrument known as the vibraslap, dramatic strings, and exaggerated echo on the vocals of lead singer Ivan Browne. It worked like a charm, as “Green Tambourine”, released in 1967, vaulted to the top of the charts at the beginning of the following year.
Unfortunately, Buddah Records kept pushing The Lemon Pipers in more of a pop direction than they were comfortable going. Eventually, they even refused to play “Green Tambourine” in concert as a kind of revolt. As a result, the band broke up barely a year after they had a No. 1 single.
Behind the Lyrics of “Green Tambourine”
“Drop your silver in my tambourine,” Ivan Browne beckons at the beginning of “Green Tambourine”. “Help a poor man build a pretty dream.” That sets the tone for the remainder of the lyrics, which detail how the musician narrator won’t commit to practicing his art without the incentive of a little dough.
The lyrical mention of “jingle jangle” seems to reference The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man”, written by Bob Dylan, which also used the phrase. In the final verse, the line “Money feeds my music machine,” comes off as somewhat ironic considering how commercial concerns eventually soured The Lemon Pipers on the whole enterprise.
Nonetheless, on this one occasion, the band and the behind-the-scenes folks made magic by channeling their motivations and talents in the same direction. Both of those entities bear part of the blame for the Lemon Pipers’ one-hit-wonder status. But what a hit it was.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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