Guide to British Music of the 1960s
February 2019
CD Review: Tomorrow - Tomorrow
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Tomorrow were one of the top UK psychedelic bands but they do not
have the success or recognition that they surely deserve.
Even though a hit single may have eluded them they had a great live reputation
and the sole LP showed that they produced some classics of "English psychedelia".
Indeed the group may be better known from vocalist Keith West's association with
the Teenage Opera project that yielded one song, the commercial and successful
Excerpt from a Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack). This track is included on
some versions of the Tomorrow album. However, the release of the LP in
early 1968 may have meant that it missed the "summer of love" and did not fit
with the heavier music scene that was starting to emerge. This single LP is the only
studio LP of this innovative group although the live album Real Life
Permanent Dream is also well worth a listen. My White Bicycle is a wonderful track with swirling guitar sounds from Steve Howe. Revolution and Real Life Permanent Dream are excellent tracks that stand up many years later. The latter makes use of the sitar which had become very popular in British music during the mid-1960s. Note that Tomorrow's Revolution preceded the Beatles' song of the same name. A cover of the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever could be viewed as very brave, especially as the original was only one year old. However, it does come off well. Recurrring subjects of English psychedelia such as fashion and militaria are visited with Colonel Brown and Auntie Mary's Dress Shop while fairy stories are present in Three Jolly Little Dwarfs. This album may stand up better today as a snapshot of the time while in 1968 it may have seemed slightly dated as being very representative of the 1967 spirit. Times were a'changing fast and Tomorrow were a few months too late to make the impact they deserved. Steve Howe would return a short time later to make a huge impact with Yes. LP Release: February 1968 Parlophone PMC/PCS 7042 Essential Tracks
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Track Listing
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