The Lemon Pipers

Your Sister's (Record) Rack: The Lemon Pipers « 30 Days Out

By the Lemon Pipers.

The Lemon Pipers started life like just about every other rock band in the 1960s – college buddies from Ohio, the quintet gigged around Cincinnati and Cleveland, and eventually were discovered and signed to Buddah Records. That was kind of troubling for the Pipers, because the band wanted to have the chance to write and record its own music while Buddah bigwigs had other ideas. You see, Buddah was the label of bubblegum pop, and its stable of artists included the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Ohio Express.

From the outset, Buddah most likely wanted the Lemon Pipers to cut some bubblegum, but they nonetheless gave the band the benefit of the doubt and its first release was “Turn Around Take A Look,” written by Pipers guitarist Bill Bartlett. Despite its peppy beat and rock flourishes, the single stiffed so the suits at Buddah asked the Pipers’ producer Paul Leka to come up with a catchier tune. Leka was a Brill Building songwriter, and with his songwriting partner Shelley Pinz, they came up with “Green Tambourine.”

The band didn’t want to record the song but knew they would be dropped from their big-label gig if they refused. “Tambourine” had some unusual hooks for a pop song – in addition to a sitar, the vocal skips into a psychedelic echo hiccup in the chorus as the singer sings the word “play,” maybe not so original when you consider the Beatles had been doing stuff like this for a couple years. Anyhow, “Green Tambourine” went all the way to No. 1; it was Buddah’s first chart-topper and the first No. 1 bubblegum hit.

Which put the Lemon Pipers in a box. After their big success they released a followup “Rice Is Nice,” also written by Leka/Pinz. This one barely climbed into the Top 50, but the label kept trying to strike gold again with the Pipers. Green Tambourine , the album, was released in mid 1968 to capitalize on the hit single and it contained five tunes by Leka/Pinz. But the band got to do a few of their own tunes, including “Through With You,” a nine-minute epic written by guitarist Bartlett with a definite Byrds-y vibe. The best tunes on the album are “Blueberry Blue” and “Shoeshine Boy,” which both wear their Beatles influences well.