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Unless you’re a student of Beatles<\/strong> arcana and ephemera, you’re probably not familiar with an act called McGough & McGear<\/strong>. If you grew up in the England of the late 1960s, you might have known about them. The pair were two-thirds of a musical comedy troupe called The Scaffold<\/strong>. And despite any success he might ever gain on his own, Michael McGear<\/strong> was and will always be known as the brother of one Sir Paul McCartney<\/strong>.<\/p>\n McGough & McGear recorded one album, a self-titled affair originally released in 1968. The album was slated for release on the Beatles’ new label Apple, but that didn’t happen; McGough & McGear<\/em> came out on EMI\/Parlophone (the Beatles’ original UK label). As Richie Unterberger<\/strong>‘s liner notes (included as part of the 2012 reissue of McGough & McGear<\/em>) explain, the duo didn’t play instruments on this album of music and poetry; Roger McGough<\/strong> composed the lyrics, and McGear wrote the music.<\/p>\n The actual playing of said music, however, was left to some very heavy friends. Uncredited on the original album release (due to typical contractual prohibitions) were Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix<\/strong>(!), Graham Nash<\/strong>, Dave Mason<\/strong>, The Pretty Things<\/strong>‘ former drummer Viv Prince<\/strong>, and others. Production duties were handled on a song-by-song basis by Paul and by ex-Yardbird<\/strong> Paul Samwell-Smith<\/strong>. The original LP’s back cover includes the wry credit \u201cMusicians by kind permission of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The music on McGough & McGear<\/em> is very much of its time. \u201cSo Much\u201d sounds like a swinging London freakbeat track of 1968, not far removed in sound and feel from releases by Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera<\/strong>, Wimple Winch<\/strong> and the sort of acts collected on modern-day compilations like The Great British Psychedelic Trip<\/em>. But the bulk of the album is comprised of poetry bits with occasional musical accompaniment, making the album a sort of kindred spirit with another hardly-sold-at-all release, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp<\/em>, recorded by a proto-King Crimson<\/strong> trio at almost exactly the same time (Spring 1968).<\/p>\n Much of \u201cBasement Flat\u201d is a capella singing with bits of tambourine, sleigh bells and pan flute. There’s a vaguely hippy-dippy vibe to many of the tracks, with the sound of crashing ocean waves fading in and out of the mix. But a sense of humor pervades the proceedings, as witnessed on a lengthy track called \u201cFrom: Frink, A Day in the Life Of.\u201d Part of the lyric includes this phrase: \u201cMarried couples made love…often with each other.\u201d Pretty racy for ’68.<\/p>\n Since it was ’68, some usual musical suspects make a welcome appearance: Mellotron flutes \u2013 most likely courtesy of McCartney \u2013 crop up on \u201cFrink,\u201d and backward tapes are a highlight of \u201cCome Close and Sleep Now.\u201d Freed (by anonymity) from whatever expectations their respective fans might have, the players turned in performances that leaned more toward folk and a sort of jazz than the rock with which they were usually associated. And with its \u201clikeable Northern accent,\u201d the spoken-word \u201cMr. Tickle\u201d sounds more like George Harrison<\/strong> than anyone else. (The liner notes relate a brief and charming story about the origin of the track’s subtle piano backing.)<\/p>\n \u201cDo You Remember\u201d is from the same end of the pop spectrum that brought the world \u201cMaxwell’s Silver Hammer,\u201d and one’s enjoyment of it can be predicted by how one feels about the Abbey Road<\/em> track. But the lilting acoustic number \u201cPlease Don’t Run Too Fast\u201d is more reminiscent of the sort thing brother Paul wrote in Rishikesh. Then as now, track sequencing is everything, and McGough & McGear<\/em> is deftly bookended by its most rocking tracks, \u201cSo Much\u201d and the album-closer, \u201cEx Art Student.\u201d Though suffering from dodgy production decisions (on headphones, it’s so lopsided it might give one a headache), it’s a spry if slight number that benefits from the instrumental performances within it. Of special note is the obligatory psychedelic freakout midsection featuring Dave Mason on sitar and Hendrix on guitar, sounding not at all like himself.<\/p>\n More than a curio but less than a long-lost gem, McGough & McGear<\/em> does remind us once again just how fertile the musical world was in the late 1960s. All sorts of left-field endeavors got recorded \u2013 it certainly helped if one’s brother was a Beatle \u2013 and it’s quite enjoyable (in a pleasantly lightweight sort of way) to listen to this long-forgotten record from that era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unless you’re a student of Beatles arcana and ephemera, you’re probably not familiar with an act called McGough & McGear. 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