Sometimes I just don't understand these retro garage fans. For 20 years people have been going on about how California's the Dovers are one of the great lost 60s bands; how their career and origins are a complete mystery; how unfair their lack of success was. Then when someone - specifically, Massimo at Italy's Misty Lane label - delivers what everyone's been asking for, which is a retrospective sampler of all known Dovers recordings wrapped inside detailed Mike Markesich liner notes chronicling the band's history, the response is a thunderous boom of. silence? Hello?! The brief review in Ugly Things magazine reflects the enthusiasm of someone hearing a Swinging Blue Jeans budget reissue, and beyond that most folks seem unaware that "We're not just anybody" exists, even though it's been out for 18 months now.
So let it be known, once and for all: everything you've heard about the Dovers is true, they were a great fucking band that deserved a Beverly Hills Mansion next to Jim McGuinn's, and this Misty Lane sampler is one of the most essential releases of the third millennium. I'm sure the 10" format made some potential buyers nervous but with only 8 tracks to work with that's what you're going to get, and I'm all for 10-inchers anyway. Brief recap from the liners: the Dovers came out of Santa Barbara CA, the two main guys were vocalist supreme Tim Granada and lead guitar maestro Bruce Clawson, they released their first 45 in September 1965 and their last in May 1966. That's four 45s in 9 months, and each one a goddamn masterpiece of 60s teen music.
Here's what it's all about: She's Gone - one of the original building blocks of the Dovers legend via its appearance on Pebbles vol 2 back in 1979; 24 years after that, and 37 years after its release, it sounds as fresh as a vintage Phil Spector tune blaring from the radio of a convertible headed towards a '65 Malibu beach party. Genre-wise I'd call this a transition tune from Invasion beat into CA folkrock; the chords and lyrics are Merseyish while the jingle jangle guitars spell L A. The guitar solo is wonderfully inept, almost reluctant, while Tim Granada's awesome zitfaced teen vocals carries the laments of a 1000 scoreless high school dances. What Am I Going To Do - I think a key to understanding the Dovers' greatness is that they weren't just a moptop band, but in fact had a third leg placed in a pre-Invasion girl group sound, especially if you recognize the atavistic debt owed to Frankie Lymon & his ilk. None of the eight Dovers tracks show that heritage as clearly as this flipside, which opens with a deceptive Byrds riff before putting you right in the middle of a vintage Ronettes drive-in fest. And dig those lyrics: "If you were 17, I'd still feel the same way". What the hell does that mean? That she's 12? Or 40?
Still, it was Hollywood Hills folkrock that would exert the strongest pull on Granada, Clawson, et al. The 2nd 45 featured I Could Be Happy which to me seems clearly inspired by the teenier side of the first two Byrds LPs; "You won't have to cry" in particular. Granada has modulated his vocal style into a slightly guttural McGuinnerism, and there's no doubt where the 3-part harmonies come from. A fine tune, but not as good as the flipside's People Ask Me Why, a work of pure perfection where the verses seem to lean more towards the moody pop of '64-65 Beatles than the Byrds; minor chords ringing with teen moodiness straight out of the awesome "Things we said today"/I'll be back" school, and lyrics lamenting the fate of being a sensitive longhair in a world of crewcuts and Hawaii shirts. Most people know these two tracks from the Reprise 45, but there was in fact a little known Miramar label release of it prior to that.
It's hard to understand today, but it wasn't until 1986 that the incredible The Third Eye 45 became known to the world, via the otherwise rather questionable Highs In The Mid-Sixties series. I still remember the first time I heard it -- it was the Dovers, so it was bound to be pretty good, right? Well, after the tune was over noone said a word. It just seemed beyond comprehension that there was a previously unknown Dovers tune that was even better, a 100% psychedelic raga/folkrock crossover monster, and early (April-1966) to boot. The track has made a few more appearances since, but it belongs on a piedestal in the Getty Museum alongside other great works of art of the 20th Century. According to the liner notes, the 45 died a swift death under the feet of "Eight miles high" which appeared around the same time, and the similarity between the two tracks is interesting. So, maybe the Byrds invented psychedelia, but then again maybe the Dovers did. Over on the flipside Your Love can't help but suffering in comparison, even though it's trademark Dovers from edge groove to dead wax, a fine Searchers-style beat/folkrocker that many other 1960s groups could have claimed their best number.
The Dovers' swansong release did not pursue the acid path of the preceding 45, but rather marks the closing of a 9-month cycle as we're here back in the woe-filled teen yearning of the debut. She's Not Just Anybody seems to be the fave Dovers tune among some respectable pundits, and it does represent the perfection of the group's unique marriage of pre-Invasion teen sounds, the Beatles, and the Byrds. There is a clear maturity and selfconfidence on display which makes the band's dissolvement an outright crime. Only a truly unique band could deliver an instrumental break where there is no solo per se, but simply a demonstration of the greatness of the underlying riff and chord structure, before diving back into ethereal vocal harmonies that define 1960s music at its greatest. The flipside's About Me was the only tune I hadn't heard before, and of course it's no disappointment; slightly weaker in the songwriting department than their most glorious outings but still with a fine Beatleish guitar break, an unusual bell-like riff, and tough moptop outcast lyrics reminiscent of "People ask me why".
I can't think of any other local 1960s group with such a consistently stunning output as the Dovers. The Unrelated Segments cut 5 killers and nothing else, and neighborhood rivals Thee Sixpence had an extraordinary run at All-American; We The People in Orlando and Kenny & the Kasuals in Dallas released a very impressive number of great garage/psych discs, yet none of them carved out a distinct musical niche and expanded it the way the Dovers did with their brilliant amalgam of the best elements of vintage teen music.
In conclusion, a few words about the Misty Lane release. The sound is as good as you can ask from a vinyl-sourced release; nothing for hi-fi geeks but certainly acceptable for any garage hound. The packaging is pretty cool with scans of rare 45 labels galore but suffers somewhat from the complete lack of photos of the band (not Misty's fault -- there ARE no pics of 'em), and I believe the retro front sleeve design will look a bit dull in a record stall. The liner notes are excellent. A CD release on Big Beat/Ace is promised on the sleeve but has yet to see the light of day. No matter, because this 10" can be tracked down and there isn't a soul in the world who doesn't need it. Apart from that, all I can say is that if Tim Granada or someone who knows him should read this, get in touch! Mr Granada is a genius.
© Lama Sivart Doz 2002-2003
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