Mr. & Mrs. Garvey - Mr. & Mrs. Garvey (Epic BN 26403) (US 1968) (Vinyl 24-96)

Review

by Richie Unterberger

One of many obscure underground rock albums issued by Columbia or its subsidiary Epic in the late '60s, Pat & Victoria Garvey's Mr. & Mrs. Garvey seems to have sold remarkably few copies considering that it came out on a major label. Not only that, it was produced by one of the most successful producers of the time, Bob Johnston (most known for working with Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash), and featured top Nashville session dudes like Kenneth Buttrey, Norbert Putnam, Wayne Moss, Charlie McCoy, and a young Charlie Daniels (with keyboards by a young Craig Doerge, who would become one of the top L.A. session men in the 1970s). Like some other obscure albums of the late '60s (like Penny Nichols' Penny's Arcade), though it had a folk-rock base, it mixed that with early singer/songwriter influences and dashes of Baroque pop, psychedelia, and country-rock. The married couple wrote all of the songs and sang them with strident, bittersweet harmonies reminiscent of those of Ian & Sylvia (though not as good). In fact, the record itself sounded like something that could have happened if Ian & Sylvia had gone more determinedly pop-commercial, in a trendy countercultural sort of way. There were slightly whimsical story-songs with some flighty fantasy-tinged lyrics ("Today is the first day of the rest of my life" goes the very first line of the album), occasionally infused with references to circa late-19th century Americana. There were piccolo, horns, violin, French horn, and oboe on top of the straightforward folk-rockish bed. But there weren't captivating songs, melodically or lyrically, relegating this to the period piece rack. allmusicguide

US original of another lost epic LP and easily one of the rarest and the most obscure "EPIC" releases… A sort of pop/folk/rock affair with a baroque delicacy, light psych vibes in spot, nice alternate female/male vocals with outlandish lyrics, real beautiful arrangements and melodies,hovering between orchestral psychedelia, lounge and unclassifyable far-outness…this duo is backed by many of the "Blonde On Blonde" Dylan session musicians,
including Bob Johnston at the helm, Charlie Daniels, Charlie McCoy, Kenneth Buttrey, Wayne Moss…