My friend Larry Haley is running a music sharing project he calls “a virtual record haven” – The Bop Shop.
Every day Larry or another contributor posts a link to a favorite song, along with a short appreciation.
Here’s one I contributed:
Taking Larry’s cue re: musical married couples — Judy Henske needs no introduction; husband Jerry Yester (they were married in 1963) is probably best-known for replacing Zal Yanovsky in the Lovin’ Spoonful after the infamous drug (pot) bust.
Their 1969 album Farewell Aldebaran includes some of Judy’s finest vocal performances… but the lead singer on the title track is Jerry (boy, he can really hit those high notes). I think this is one of the earliest throughly “electronic” pop songs — others had used the Moog synth for ornamentation, but here it’s the backbone of the song, and even the vocals are processed throughout (to an extreme in the closing chorus, with its heavy robot-like ring modulation).
Wikipedia says: “The album was based on Henske’s lyrics, many of which were verses written when she had a high fever.” Seems like that might be the case for this song, a strange trip through the cosmos….
play Judy Henske & Jerry Yester’s “Farewell Aldebaran” (1969) on YouTube