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"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" | ||||
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Single by The Electric Prunes | ||||
from the album The Electric Prunes [1] | ||||
B-side | "Luvin'" | |||
Released | November 1966 | |||
Recorded | 1966, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:55 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Composer(s) | Annette Tucker | |||
Lyricist(s) | Nancie Mantz | |||
Producer(s) | Dave Hassinger | |||
The Electric Prunes singles chronology | ||||
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"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" is a song written by Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz which was recorded in late 1966 by the American garage rock band the Electric Prunes. Released as the band's second single in November of that year, it reached number 49 in the UK and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending February 11, 1967. [5] It was also the lead track of the band' 1967s debut album, and became more widely known as the opening track on the 1972 Nuggets compilation of 1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock.
The song's title is a pun on the phrase "too much [alcohol] to drink": its lyrics describe how the singer has woken from dreaming about an ex-lover.
The Electric Prunes originally formed as the Sanctions at Taft High School in Los Angeles. They were introduced to record producer Dave Hassinger, and after a series of rehearsals at Leon Russell's house released the single "Ain't It Hard". Despite this single's commercial failure, Reprise Records agreed that the band could record a second.
Convinced that the band could not write their own songs, Hassinger sought material from the songwriting team of Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, including "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)". According to some sources, [6] the song was originally conceived as an orchestral piano ballad; however, according to Tucker, "I came up with the title one day and called Nancie. She loved it and we wrote it the next day in one half hour...The words were there and my melody came easily. I was influenced by the Rolling Stones at the time and that is how I heard that song being recorded...Nancie and I envisioned this as a rock song." A demo version recorded for Hassinger by singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller [7] [8] (in some sources wrongly identified as Jerry Vale), may have been the source of the story of the song's origin as a ballad.
At the time, the Electric Prunes consisted of singer James Lowe, guitarists Ken Williams and James "Weasel" Spagnola, bassist Mark Tulin, and drummer Preston Ritter. The backwards guitar which opens the song originated from rehearsals at Russell's house, where Williams used a 1958 Gibson Les Paul with a Bigsby vibrato unit. According to Lowe: "We were recording on a four-track, and just flipping the tape over and re-recording when we got to the end. Dave cued up a tape and didn't hit 'record,' and the playback in the studio was way up: ear-shattering vibrating jet guitar. Ken had been shaking his Bigsby wiggle stick with some fuzztone and tremolo at the end of the tape. Forward it was cool. Backward it was amazing. I ran into the control room and said, 'What was that?' They didn't have the monitors on so they hadn't heard it. I made Dave cut it off and save it for later." [9]
The song was released as a single in November 1966. At first it was caught up in the Christmas rush, but in early 1967 it made steady progress up the Billboard charts, peaking at #11. It also reached #49 on the UK singles chart. Its success enabled the band to tour, and they later released a self-titled album and the successful follow-up single "Get Me to the World on Time".
Chart (1966-1967) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) [10] | 49 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 11 |
The song has also been recorded by other artists including:
Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as often unsophisticated and occasionally aggressive lyrics and delivery. Its name derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional.
The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." Their most successful material was by songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, though the group also penned their own songs. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of embryonic electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. In addition, guitarist Ken Williams' and singer James Lowe's concept of "free-form garage music" provided the band with a richer sonic palette and exploratory lyrical structure than many of their contemporaries.
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Walter David Hassinger was an American Grammy award-winning recording engineer and record producer.
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The Electric Prunes, sometimes referred to as I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), is the 1967 debut album by the American garage rock band, the Electric Prunes, released on Reprise Records. The first track, "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", was a hit and became the band's signature tune. The album also contains another notable psychedelic rock composition, "Get Me to the World on Time". The album was listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Mark Shalom Tulin was an American bass guitarist who played with the psychedelic rock band The Electric Prunes.
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Artifact is an album by The Electric Prunes, self-released in 2001. It was their first studio album since 1969.
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