"Incense and Peppermints" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Strawberry Alarm Clock | ||||
from the album Incense and Peppermints | ||||
B-side | "The Birdman of Alkatrash" | |||
Released | May 19, 1967 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:47 | |||
Label | UNI | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) | Frank Slay | |||
Strawberry Alarm Clock singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"Incense And Peppermints" on YouTube |
"Incense and Peppermints" is a 1967 song by the American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. The song is officially credited as having been written by John S. Carter and Tim Gilbert, although it was based on an instrumental idea by band members Mark Weitz and Ed King. [5] It was released as a single in May 1967 by Uni Records and reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in November of that year. [6] [7] Although the single was released in the United Kingdom, it failed to break into the UK Singles Chart. [8] The song was featured in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery [9] and the television series Daisy Jones and the Six.[ citation needed ]
Prior to the release of "Incense and Peppermints," the band had already issued four singles ("Long Day's Care" / "Can't Explain", "My Flash on You" / "Fortune Teller", "In the Building" / "Hey Joe", and "Heart Full of Rain" / "First Plane Home") on All-American Records as Thee Sixpence. [6] [10] During the recording sessions for "Incense and Peppermints," the band members were not considered a right fit for the lead vocal track, which John S. Carter had written using a rhyming dictionary, so the lead vocals were sung by Greg Munford, a friend of the band who was present at the recording session. [11] The regular vocalists in the band provided background and harmony vocals on the record. [12] [13] Band members Mark Weitz and Ed King were both denied songwriting credits by producer Frank Slay despite the fact that they contributed to the song. [5] The songwriting credits instead went to Carter and his songwriting partner Tim Gilbert, despite the latter not participating in the song's writing. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
"Incense and Peppermints" initially appeared on the B-side of Thee Sixpence's fifth single, "The Birdman of Alkatrash," released on All-American in April 1967. [14] However, local radio stations began playing "Incense and Peppermints" instead of the A-side, and the song began to gain in popularity in and around Los Angeles. Sensing the possibility of a national hit, Uni Records picked up the record for national distribution, and the single was re-released in May with the sides reversed. By the time of this second pressing, the band had changed its name to "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" to avoid confusion with another local band. [6]
"Incense and Peppermints" spent 16 weeks on the Billboard chart, reaching the #1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967. [7] The single earned a gold disc from the RIAA on December 7 for sales of one million copies. [15]
Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era is a compilation album of American psychedelic and garage rock singles that were released during the mid-to-late 1960s. It was created by Lenny Kaye, who was a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies record shop in New York. He would later become the lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. Kaye produced Nuggets under the supervision of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman. Kaye conceived the project as a series of roughly eight LP installments focusing on different US regions, but Elektra convinced him that one double album would be more commercially viable. It was released on LP by Elektra in 1972 with liner notes by Kaye that contained one of the first uses of the term "punk rock". It was reissued with a new cover design by Sire Records in 1976. In the 1980s, Rhino Records issued Nuggets in a series of fifteen installments, and in 1998 as a 4-cd box set.
The Seeds are an American psychedelic garage rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest-charting single "Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage, keyboardist Daryl Hooper and drummer Rick Andridge. In 1968, the band changed their name to Sky Saxon and the Seeds, with Savage and Andridge departing the band. They went on to release a handful of additional singles.
Strawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 with origins in Glendale, California, a city about ten miles north of downtown Los Angeles. They are best known for their 1967 hit single "Incense and Peppermints". Categorized as acid rock, psychedelic pop and sunshine pop, they charted five songs, including two Top 40 hits.
Edward Calhoun King was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1987 to 1996.
Incense and Peppermints is the debut album by psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. Released in October 1967, it reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album charts during a 24-week run and included the band's No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Incense and Peppermints".
The Adult Net were a British indie pop band formed by British-based American singer and guitarist Brix Smith in 1984, while she was a member of The Fall.
A Band Called David was a group of musicians who provided the instrumental support from 1974 until 1988 for the 2nd Chapter of Acts, a contemporary Christian music group.
Billy & Lillie were an American pop vocal duo, composed of Billy Ford and Lillie Bryant.
Mark Stephen Weitz is an American musician. A keyboard player for the 1960s psychedelic rock group Strawberry Alarm Clock, Weitz was the principal composing member of the band.
The Rainy Daze was a psychedelic pop group formed in Denver, Colorado in 1965. They were composed of singer/guitarist Tim Gilbert with his brother Kip on drums, lead guitarist Mac Ferris, bassist Sam Fuller, and keyboardist Bob Heckendorf.
Journey to the Center of the Mind is the second studio album released by The Amboy Dukes. Released in April 1968 on Mainstream Records, the album is best remembered for its hit single title track, which charted at No.16 on the Billboard singles chart.
Wake Up...It's Tomorrow is the second album by the American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, released by Uni Records in 1968. It came as the group was challenged with continuing the success of their debut single, the psychedelic classic and number one hit, "Incense and Peppermints" and the LP that followed. Their second effort would expand upon the arrangements of its predecessor's unique blend of vocal harmonies, psychedelia, and pop music. In addition, the band's atypical lineup, which featured two bassists, would be altered to address studio and performing issues.
The World in a Sea Shell is the third album by the American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, released in November 1968 on Uni Records. The album was not a chart success, and was the final LP to include the classic Strawberry Alarm Clock lineup.
Ernie and the Emperors were a rock band from Santa Barbara, California. They were an example of 1960s rock and pop, influenced by the British Invasion with songs that employed rich harmonies, instrumental hooks, and upbeat lyrics. Their biggest hit was their single "Meet Me At The Corner", a hit for them as Ernie and the Emperors. In later years, they also released materials as The Giant Crab, as Big Brother Ernie Joseph, Faith and as the Brian Faith Band.
John S. Carter Jr., better known as simply Carter, was an American music producer, writer, arranger, instrumentalist, and A&R man.
Frank Conley Slay Jr. was an American songwriter, A&R director, record producer, and record label owner. He wrote with Bob Crewe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the partnership's most successful songs including "Silhouettes", a hit for several artists including The Rays and Herman's Hermits, "Daddy Cool", and "Tallahassee Lassie". As a producer, his biggest hit was "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.
"The People in Me" is a song by the American garage rock band the Music Machine, written by Sean Bonniwell, and first released as a track on their debut studio album (Turn On) The Music Machine in December 1966 on Original Sound Records.
Good Morning Starshine is the fourth album by American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, released in 1969 on Uni Records. It featured a considerably altered lineup and a departure from the sound on the group's past psychedelic pop works, toward blues rock. The album itself failed to chart, but a single, "Good Morning Starshine", peaked in the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100.
"Smell of Incense" is a song by the American psychedelic rock band the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, written by Ron Morgan and Bob Markley, and was released as a single on Reprise Records in 1968.
The Daybreakers were an American garage rock and psychedelic band from Muscatine, Iowa, who were active in the 1960s. They became one of the most popular bands in their region which included the Quad Cities. Jack Barlow, a popular DJ and country music recording artist had them record songs for a planned single at Columbia Recording Studios arranged a contract with Atlantic Records, who released the group's single on their Dial label featuring "Psychedelic Siren" which included siren sound effects generated by a primitive electronic device. Though the song became a big regional hit in Iowa, Atlantic lost interest in the band and they made no further recordings. In the intervening years, their work has come to the attention of garage rock enthusiasts and has been included of several compilations.
...it's plenty possible to hear "Incense And Peppermints" as a...version of the acid rock that was blossoming in San Francisco during that moment. And maybe "Incense And Peppermints" is that.