Tintern Abbey: Vacuum Cleaner (1967)

 |   |  <1 min read

Tintern Abbey: Vacuum Cleaner (1967)

Without a doubt one of the least promising song titles ever (were they announcing this sucked?) and the band's name similarly tapped into the obvious Anglo-fashionability of the period when the Beatles' Sgt Peppers album and shops like Granny Takes a Trip were London's cultural reference points.

But, with lines like "fix me up with your sweet dose", the bent and careering guitar-feedback solo by Dan Smith, terrific drumming from John Dalton (like Ringo on a serious trip) and plummeting McCartney-like bass from Stuart McKay, this slim slice of British psychedelica from the summer of love is pretty cool in its own pop-economy way.

And as with so many bands of the era, Tintern Abbey were a one-single group -- and oddly enough this wasn't even the a-side (which was wittily punned Beeside to no avail -- other than maybe inviting you to flip it over to discover . . .)

No matter, it's one of those very British dreamy psych-pop pieces (written by singer/guitarist David McTavish) which deserves to be hauled from the vaults.

Oh, and they were never heard of again.

Got sucked into the cosmos.

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory use the RSS feed for daily updates, and check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

The Riverboat Captain - Apr 3, 2012

Excellent. Worth tracking down if you like this sort of stuff is the CD of Decca Originals called The Psychedelic Scene. Timebox, Small Faces, Moody Blues and a whole host of lesser known names like The Curiosity Shoppe and Felius Andromeda. Crazy, man.

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Brenda Lee, I'm Sorry (1960)

Brenda Lee, I'm Sorry (1960)

Little Brenda Lee -- who stood 4'9" -- was never a threat. Not to girls in her audience. "My image wasn't one of a heartbreaker," she once said. "I was the little fat girl your... > Read more

Romeo Void: Never Say Never (1982)

Romeo Void: Never Say Never (1982)

The British label Stiff Records (which gave the world Jona Lewie, Lena Lovich and Wreckless Eric alongside Elvis Costello and Ian Dury, among others) said everybody had one good single in them.... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

WATERMELON SLIM INTERVIEWED (2007): He's had interesting lives

WATERMELON SLIM INTERVIEWED (2007): He's had interesting lives

“You tell them this,” says 58-year old bluesman Watermelon Slim in a voice which sounds like he has been gargling whisky-soaked nails. “God has blessed me with an extremely full... > Read more

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . .  EDEN AHBEZ: Come and see the real thing . . .

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . EDEN AHBEZ: Come and see the real thing . . .

With the appearance of the New Zealand alt.folk singer who goes by the name of Arthur Ahbez – whose albums touches on world music, have a free-flowing quality and are somewhat trippy... > Read more