You’ve heard of bands who weren’t recognized in their own time. Well, in the case of The Zombies, you could say that was the case for both their time and their place. Which led to the band breaking up right before they gained a slew of popularity.
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It’s a strange tale of a masterpiece album that largely went unnoticed in the band’s native England. But it found footing in America, if only a little too late.
An Album Band in a Singles World
The Zombies stood out a bit from their British Invasion competition when they first burst onto the scene in 1964. While they could do the whole R&B/blues thing like so many of the bands from that time, they shone thanks to their unique elements. Those elements included Rod Argent’s jazzy keyboards and the soulful lilt of lead vocalist Colin Blunstone.
Early singles “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No” smashed. But the band struggled to get subsequent records on the British charts. They wanted to be an album band before the LP had gained its preeminence in the rock world. Their record label resisted giving them any money to record a full-length.
In 1967, they decided to roll the dice and create an album that represented their musical tastes at the time. Because they couldn’t afford to pay session musicians, the band made heavy use of the instrument-mimicking Mellotron in the sessions. That was part of the reason the music felt like a unique cross between baroque pop and psychedelic rock.
A Lost Album
Unfortunately, the band watched in dismay as a pair of singles released from the album sank without any success in Great Britain. Because of the lack of success, they found that their appearance fees were shrinking. The Zombies decided to break up at the end of 1967 before the album ever saw its release.
By April 1968, the five members of The Zombies were off to different musical endeavors, except Colin Blunstone. He briefly left the industry completely. That same month, Odessey and Oracle, the album that they had finished, limped out into stores in Great Britain.
That might have been the end of the story, were it not for Al Kooper. The man who managed to find himself at the epicenter of many incredible musical moments was moonlighting at the time as an executive for CBS Records. On a trip to Great Britain, he stumbled upon Odessey and Oracle and was blown away by what he heard.
Kooper’s Find
Kooper immediately contacted Clive Davis and insisted that the label buy the rights to the album. He found out that CBS already owned the rights and had turned down the chance to release the album once already. Kooper convinced them to relent, and the album came out in America in July 1968.
On top of that, “Time Of The Season” was released as a single in the States. Little by little, the song worked its magic on US audiences. It ended up reaching No. 3 on the pop charts in 1969.
CBS frantically tried to reunite The Zombies, but those efforts were mostly futile. Rod Argent did form another group called Argent that became a force in the early 70s. The Zombies would reunite many years down the road. And Odessey And Oracle eventually gained its deserved reputation as one of the 60s finest albums.
Photo by Stanley Bielecki/ASP/Getty Images
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