Dan Nielsén, who had conducted the interview with John Ford of the Index published here back in February, asked me to dig into the story of the Scorpio Tube, the group behind the incredible B-side “Yellow Listen”.
The lead guitar track dominates the sound with a piercing distortion and echo that breaks up with stroboscopic effect. You can hardly hear the piano in the background, though it provides much of the droning sound at the intro and becomes apparent towards the end as the lead guitar is mixed down.
The A-side, “White Birches” is more polished than “Yellow Listen”, with a progressive sound that would have done fine on radio at the time. The instrumental break is excellent too.
Conn. MacDonald (Connor MacDonald?) wrote both songs. Conn had been in a San Diego group the 50th Anniversary Zoo who recorded the original song “Love Man” (MacDonald – Cadena) for Vita in 1967.
Conn’s father, H. Eugene MacDonald produced the record for Vita Records, not the same Vita owned by Laurence Mead that released a good number of records in the 1950’s with a Pasadena address. This Vita Records had released an album in 1965 with a San Diego address, Dick Braun A Clarinet On The Trail Of A Wounded Bassoon, and two 1967 singles, all produced by H. Eugene MacDonald:
Vita V-005/V-006 – the Grapes Of Wrath “For Every Year” / “Cause it Was Her” both written by Ralph Sias, address of 301 S. Western Ave, San Pedro, CA
Vita V-007/V-008 – 50th Anniversary Zoo “Love Man” (MacDonald – Cadena) / “Out of Sight” address 4121 Oak St., Burbank, CA
Vita V-003/V-004 seems to be a 45 by Freddie Kane “Love Is A Stranger”/ “Sidewalk Walkin’ Blues” but I need confirmation of this – anyone have a scan?
According to a profile in the San Pedro News-Pilot in March of 1966, H. Eugene MacDonald had been manager of a 300-room hotel in San Diego before taking over as manager of the Hacienda Hotel in San Pedro (at the same address as the one on the Grapes of Wrath label) and noted that he has two teen-age children.
An October, 1967 notice from the El Paso Times lists Fred Cadena as lead guitarist for 50th Anniversary Zoo and adds a further tie to the Scorpio Tube by suggesting “The Yellow Listens” [sic] was the flip of the 50th Anniversary Zoo’s “Love Man” instead of a cover of “Out of Sight”.
Thank you to bosshoss for the scan of “White Birches”, and to Mop Top Mike for initial info on the release. Thanks also to Max Waller. Special thank you to Achille Brunet for pointing out the news item on Fred Cadena.
I interviewed Mr. McDonald a while back and he told me the songs were recorded as a studio group experiment. The songs were released as demos in the fall of 1970.
His dad, Eugene, was a hotel manager, with operations based in San Diego and Hollywood. He wanted to be a record producer, and thus, he started Vita Records in 1967.
Conn’s first group was the 50th Anniversary Zoo, a high-school based combo from San Diego. They recorded a single in 1967 “Love Man”. After graduation Conn kept up with music and songwriting, relocating to Los Angeles. He had several ideas for some songs, and that’s how “White Birches” (which sounds sort of like the 20th Century Zoo’s “Stallion Of Fate”) and “Yellow Listen” came about. A studio drummer (name forgotten at the time of interview) was used during the recording session. Conn played rhythm, with the harsh strumming run thru a flanging effect. The lead guitarist was the son of a famous symphony guy, as Conn related, named Gary Rose.
I found an article from Oct 1967 on 50th Anniversary Zoo’s guitarist and lead vocalist Fred Cardena, a former El Paso, Texas student who relocated in Los Angeles. “Love Man” is referred to as already released, and the article mentions that their second single would be “Yellow Listen”, to be released soon.
Either there is a early version of “Yellow Listen” by 50th Anniversary Zoo that was never released, or maybe they took the unreleased 1967 recording and paired it with the later recorded “White Birches”, which might explain why “Yellow Listen” sounds cruder than the flip
Thanks for sharing that information with us!
Really bad though that it only was a studio project, I always fantisized that it was this group with obscure performances, especially with songs like “Yellow Listen”. The interview you did with Mr. McDonald, did you ever publish it or intend to do it?
Thanks,
Danny
White Birches is a better song than Stallion of Fate, in my opinion. The latter is less tuneful and honestly just one of those songs that tries too hard. It’s a shame that there weren’t any other Scorpio Tube releases because the songs and the production are both quite fun.
To my knowledge (little as it is) “White Birches” hasn’t been comped, am I correct?
I’ve never seen it on a compilation but I don’t buy the things or pay much attention to them really. I’ve looked for more information for a long time though so I’ve seen it said more than once.
How did I miss when this went up? A thousand thanks!
Any idea what kind of keyboard/organ was used on White Birches, anyone??