Three for the price of one here. I got to my parents' house in Canterbury. Staying here for a few days. Waiting on the chest of drawers were a couple of Xmas gifts from my brother's family. One of them Julian Cope's massive music criticism tome Copendium. It's a treasure trove, guiding you to all kinds of music that you didn't really imagined existed. Here's one of the first things it directed me to. The Mynah Birds.
'Who knows what greatness might have been achieved at Motown. Had this unstable and integrated proto-supergroup not exploded in a fit of draft-board and work-permit problems? Still, despite being relegated to no more than one of rock'n'roll's mythical near misses, the temporary union of vocalist Rick 'Super Freak' James with Neil 'Shakey' Young and future Buffalo Springfield bassist/ guru Bruce Palmer inevitably stuffs the head of any Utopian music obsessive with wall-to-wall 'what ifs'. Especially when the funky contents of 'I've Got You In My Soul' are trotted out as evidence. Shit, this is good: the vocal delivery, Young's harmonica and, especially Van Morrison's magnificent song. * Recorded in February '66, at Motown's Detroit studio on West Grand Boulevard, 'I've Got You In My Soul' was intended for inclusion on The Mynah Birds debut LP - the first fruits of a seven-year contract allegedly - that is until the untimely arrest of singer James by US Navy police on a charge of desertion. Bassist Bruce Palmer does at least provide one unforgettable image of this lost supergroup at the height of their onstage powers: 'Neil would stop playing lead, do a harp solo, throw the harmonica way up into the air and Ricky would catch it and continue the solo.'
Julian Cope 2012
*Some discussion over who wrote the song. Wikipedia states that it bears a close resemblance to Van Morrison's band Them's Little Girl. Just a bit!
Here are both sides of The Mynah Birds debut single for Motown which was sadly not released in vinyl form until 2012.
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