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35-636: The Peppermint Trolley Company was an American sunshine pop band known for their 1968 single "Baby You Come Rollin' 'Cross My Mind", their performances on Mannix and The Beverly Hillbillies , and their arrangement and performance of original theme song for The Brady Bunch . The Peppermint Trolley Company released one album and five singles on the Acta label, a subsidiary of Dot Records . The original line-up included Jimmy Faragher (vocals, bass, guitar), Danny Faragher (vocals, keyboards), Casey Cunningham (drums) and Patrick McClure (guitar, vocals). McClure

70-527: A "commercial disaster" and failed to chart in the United Kingdom or United States. This led to the group not recording any follow-up records. Following the release, Boettcher created Together Records in order to secure greater artistic freedom. In 1990, Begin was re-issued on compact disc. This version included two bonus tracks ("Just About the Same" and "Blight") which were recordings made after

105-405: A follow-up album for which they had already recorded songs. As pop music of the 1960s was re-evaluated by newer generation of critics, Begin continued to receive positive reviews after the album was re-issued in the 1990s, with AllMusic finding it to be a "bona fide lost classic" and that it was on the same level as "more widely popular albums from the era", and Pitchfork declaring it "probably

140-476: A little more track than vocal." Sunshine pop and the California Sound's influence expanded to other countries. In Spain, it initially was pioneered by groups like Pic-Nic , Granada Los Ángeles and Los Iberos in 1968. Between 1969 and the 1970s there was a boom of "soft pop" acts in the country, among them Los Yetis, Solera, Módulos, Nuevos Horizontes and Vainica Doble. After its peak in the 1960s,

175-406: A manual about 'To Claudia On A Thursday' alone, or you could simply lie back and let the cut-up sounds wash over your brain." The review concluded that, "If you want to see how far pop music can go, then [ Present Tense and Begin ] are essential." Following the album's release, artists began covering songs from the album. This included CB Victoria who covered "To Claudia on Thursday". "There

210-565: A melodic piece about the quite early-morning time" Salisbury drew from his love of bossa nova music for this song, specifically Antônio Carlos Jobim . Prior to the release of Begin a single for "It's You" backed with "I Just Want To Be Your Friend" was released as the album's first single in June 1968 on Columbia Records. Begin was released in July 1968 on Columbia Records where it received favourable reviews from music critics but described as

245-409: A sound-on-sound recorder and made my own demos. I recorded these late into the night in my rented North Hollywood house." before he was invited to record as part of the group with Boettcher. Unlike Sagittarius, The Millennium was described as "the original vision" of Boettcher. Mike Fennelly of the group stated that a "We were very enthusiastic about the creativity that was indeed at a high level for

280-484: A style later described as sunshine pop , a style noted for its influence of psychedelia with rich harmony vocals and lush orchestrations. Due to the album's complex recordings and long studio time, it became the most expensive studio album recorded by 1968. The album received critical acclaim on its release, but did not sell well, failing to chart in the United States and the United Kingdom. The group abandoned

315-504: Is credited with arranging and singing The Brady Bunch theme song for the show's pilot. After the band left Acta Records, the vocals were rerecorded and sung by studio singers Paul Parrish, John Beland and Lois Fletcher. In 2009, the Peppermint Trolley Company's self-titled album was re-released on Now Sounds, a division of Cherry Red . Produced for reissue by Steve Stanley , Beautiful Sun contained all 11 of

350-969: The Billboard 100 chart that summer, and No. 38 in Canada. The single "Trust", written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols , was released in September 1968, and the self-titled album The Peppermint Trolley Company was released the same month. While the album failed to chart, according to the liner notes of the 2009 reissue, "it sold well in many markets and can be easily found 40 years later, implying good distribution and multiple pressings." In January 1969, The Peppermint Trolley Company left Acta Records and changed its name to Bones , recording two albums for Signpost Records and MCA . The Peppermint Trolley Company made many notable television appearances, including Mannix , The Beverly Hillbillies , Happening '68 and Upbeat . The Peppermint Trolley Company

385-566: The Beach Boys , the Mamas & the Papas , and the 5th Dimension . In some ways, the genre is similar to baroque pop through being elaborate and melancholic, but it crossed into folk-pop and Brill Building styles. It may be seen as a form of escapism from the turmoil of the times. The A.V. Club ' s Noel Murray writes: "sunshine pop acts expressed an appreciation for the beauty of

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420-597: The Kind of Girl" was released in Spring 1967. Casey Cunningham (drums) joined the band that June. The single "It's a Lazy Summer Day" was released the same month. Patrick McClure (guitar) joined shortly thereafter. In Fall 1967, Patrick McClure left the band and was replaced by Greg Tornquist (guitar). In November, recording began for "Baby You Come Rollin' Across My Mind", which was released in January 1968 and peaked at No. 59 on

455-709: The Millennium released in July 1968 on Columbia Records . The group first appeared after members from various Los Angeles pop groups such as the Ballroom , Sagittarius and the Music Machine decided to collaborate on an album. Along with adapting previously recorded material, the band began recording and writing the music of Begin in early 1968 at Columbia Studios. Begin was the second album to use sixteen-track recording technology following Simon & Garfunkel 's album Bookends . The group wrote songs in

490-498: The Olivia Tremor Control started out, record collectors and music critics started to re-assess 1960s pop music, which led to the growth in popularity of Begin . From retrospective reviews, AllMusic described the album as a "bona fide lost classic" and that it was on the same level as "more widely popular albums from the era" such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers . The review praised the production and described

525-608: The Turtles and the Association . Other groups, like the Millennium , Sagittarius , and the Yellow Balloon were less successful but gained a cult following years later with albums like Begin (Millennium, 1968) and Present Tense (Sagittarius, 1968) being sought on the collectors’ market. Music identified under the sunshine pop banner initially was called "soft pop". Record collectors coined and popularized

560-683: The United States. Compilations and box-sets by groups such as Spanky and Our Gang , the Association , the Arbors and the Love Generation have been released on CD. Among the record labels which issue sunshine pop re-releases are Revola Records in Britain and the US label Sundazed . Begin (The Millennium album) Begin is the sole studio album released by the American music group

595-427: The album as "strikingly modern", with the songs being "as strong as the production". Reviewing the compilation album Pieces , Dominique Leone described Begin as "probably the single greatest 60s pop record produced in L.A. outside of The Beach Boys ." Uncut noted that "Boettcher's ability to dismantle and reassemble structures gives the listener infinite possibilities for aural delight," and that "You could write

630-477: The band to change its name. The Peppermint Trolley Company's name was proposed by Jimmy Faragher and chosen by a committee of the Mark V band members. The single "Lollipop Train" was released (with B-side "Bored to Tears") on Valiant Records . In January 1967, the band broke up, leaving brothers Danny and Jimmy Faragher as the sole members. Recording continued, and a deal was signed with Acta Records. The single "She's

665-532: The current world events and personal experiences happening to the members of the group. "To Claudia on Thursday" was written about Boettcher's wife Claudia who was pregnant at the time. Joey Stec described "It's You" as being about the establishment covering up information ranging from the Vietnam War to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy and Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy , specifically noting

700-593: The genre lingered in near-obscurity, although it enjoyed some interest among collectors of rare vinyl singles and LPs. Select albums would occasionally fetch hefty prices at online auctions or in record stores. A name was eventually given to the music, "sunshine pop", although it was rarely deployed outside of record collecting circles. In the early 1990s, a renewed interest began in Japan, where record companies started publishing compilations of long-forgotten, obscure 1960s music. This revival subsequently spread to Europe and

735-498: The initial writing, demo and master recording." The recording was completed in July 1968. Certain songs on the album, including "5 AM", "I Just Want to Be Your Friend", "The Island", "Some Sunny Day" and "Karmic Dream Sequence no. 1" were actually recorded by Boettcher's previous group The Ballroom. Columbia acquired the rights to these songs from Steve Clark as part of its buy-out of Curt's Our Productions contract. Guitarist and songwriter Joey Stec stated that Columbia "put them on

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770-468: The lyrics "You only let me see what you have planned for me / I guess they'll never be anything more". Doug Rhodes stated that "It's You" was his personal favourite song on the album. Lee Mallory described "I'm With You" as being written on Easter Sunday in 1966 after going to a love in at Elysian Park in Los Angeles. Mallory developed the chords for "There is Nothing More to Say" while Curt wrote

805-535: The melody and Michael Fennelly wrote the lyrics. The final song "Anthem (Begin)" was developed by Curt and Doug. Sandy Salisbury described the song "Karmic Dream Sequence #1" as "perhaps the essence of the Millennium experience", by developing music that evokes "feelings from the deepest parts of what we were doing at that time in our lives. We were at once spontaneous in artistic expression and fixed in who we were as individuals." The song's lyrics were written by Boettcher and Lee with Boettcher and Keith Olsen developing

840-407: The music on Begin as belonging to the "belatedly-dubbed genre" sunshine pop , noting that it was "perhaps the clearest distillation" of the genre. AllMusic described the genre as a form mid-1960s mainstream pop music that was mildly influenced by psychedelia and combined "rich harmony vocals, lush orchestrations, and relentless good cheer." Some of the lyrics and themes on Begin reflect

875-413: The music. The song included a Japanese woman invited by Boettcher to play the koto on the song. Mallory spoke on "Karmic Dream Sequence #1", explaining that it came from a return trip visiting his grandmother for the last time before she had died. He wrote the first and second verse and showed it to Curt who wrote the bridge for it. "5 A.M." came from songwriter Sandy Salisbury who desired to "write

910-454: The original album's tracks as well as 16 bonus tracks, including many B-sides and singles from The Mark V. Final lineup Previous members Timeline Sunshine pop Sunshine pop enjoyed mainstream success in the latter half of the decade, with many of its top 40 hits peaking in the spring and summer of 1967, especially just before the Summer of Love . Popular acts include

945-433: The record. But I don't really believe we had to. That was just because we had no management." On the album's completion, Columbia invested $ 100,000 into the recording making it the most expensive record recorded by 1968. Much of the budget was due to Boettcher's method of preparing the record during the studio hours. David Howard in his book Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings , described

980-469: The release of Begin for a 7" single release that Columbia rejected. The re-issues of Begin on labels such as Rev-Ola encouraged former Millennium members to contact Joe Foster of Sonic Past Music allowing them access to original demos of the group to be re-released on the compilation album Pieces . Throughout the 1990s, as pop-oriented music groups like Saint Etienne , the High Llamas and

1015-433: The single greatest 60s pop record produced in L.A. outside of The Beach Boys ." Following the release of Eternity's Children 's debut album, Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen began a new project that included members of The Ballroom and Sagittarius called The Millennium . Sandy Salisbury would later explain that "After the Ballroom disbanded, I got discouraged. I left music for a spell. But not writing. I got myself

1050-471: The songs reminds me more of soft samba music." Murray says that "John Phillips, on the other hand, practically created the blueprint for sunshine pop, with little of Wilson's uncommercial weirdness." Brian Wilson commented that "you can turn the Beach Boys upside down ... just the track or whatever, and I think they [the Mamas & the Papas] have as much vocal as we do track ... whereas, I think, we emphasize

1085-515: The songwriting as "sterling and innovative, never straying into the type of psychedelic overindulgence which marred so many records from this era," specifically noting the song "It's You" to be "as powerful and fully realized as the era ever produced, easily on par with songs by the Beach Boys and the Byrds -- and, yes, even the Beatles." In the book The Mojo Collection , the magazine referred to

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1120-425: The sunshine pop acts that followed, [their] music was rarely in step with the genre." The Suburban ' s Joel Goldenburg believes the closest the group ever came to the genre was the lightly produced album Friends (1968): "the vocals of sunshine pop songs are a little more anonymous and not as lushly featured as that of The Beach Boys. And I don't see the [Phil] Spector connection. The light touch applied to

1155-625: The term "sunshine pop" many decades after the fact. Sunshine pop originated in California in the mid to late-1960s, beginning as an outgrowth of the California Sound and folk rock movements. Rooted in easy-listening , advertising jingles , and the growing drug culture, the music was characterized by lush vocals and light arrangements similar to samba music. Most of the acts were lesser-known bands named after fruits, colors, or cosmic concepts that imitated popular groups like

1190-534: The world mixed with a sense of anxiety that the good ol' days were gone for good." Some of the artists who influenced the style include Curt Boettcher , the Mamas & the Papas' John Phillips , and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson . Concerning the Beach Boys' involvement with sunshine pop, the orchestral style of Pet Sounds (1966) was imitated by many Los Angeles record producers, but The A.V. Club notes: "Though [the Beach Boys] ... were hugely influential on

1225-483: Was replaced by Greg Tornquist. In 1969, Jimmy and Danny Faragher, Cunningham and Tornquist left their recording contract with Acta to form the rock/ soul group Bones . The Peppermint Trolley Company was formed in Redlands, California in 1966, when the band the Mark V, consisting of members Danny Faragher, Jimmy Faragher, Steve Hauser, Dave Kelliher, Brad Madson and Dick Owens, teamed with producer Dan Dalton, who urged

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