The Blades of Grass were an American

sunshine pop Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...

band formed in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's populatio ...

, in 1967. Competing with the abundance of sunshine pop groups originating from California, the Blades of Grass are most-known for their nationally charting rendition of the song "Happy". The band also released an album called ''The Blades of Grass Are Not for Smoking'' before disbanding.

History

Formed in 1967, with a lineup consisting of Bruce Ames (rhythm guitar, vocals), David Gordon (drums, organ), Frank DiChiara (bass guitar, vocals), and Marc Black (lead guitar, vocals), the band was originally known as the Furnace Men to allude to the basement the group typically practiced in. Becoming a popular attraction in their hometown, the group incited interest in managing partners Frank Latagona and Walter Gollander, who promised to find the Furnace Men a recording contract. Latagona and Gollander stood by their offer, promoting the band to Jubilee Records in mid-1967.

Record producers A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, according to Ames, changed their name to the Blades of Grass because they "thought that our sound was bright and clear and that the Furnace Men sounded dark and dirty. As our producers, we had no choice but to reluctantly agree to the name change". They recorded several

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

for the record label, including "Happy" for the band's debut single. Unbeknownst to the Blades of Grass, another sunshine pop group,

the Sunshine Company The Sunshine Company was an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. Originally the duo of Mary Nance (November 7, 1947 – November 24, 2019) and Maury Manseau, the group later added the rhythm section of bassist Larry Sims and dr ...

, also released their own rendition of "Happy" at almost the same time. Ames recalled that "We were blindsided and shocked when we were informed that there was another version of 'Happy.' As I remember it, our managers were equally surprised and upset". Having to compete with another release, the Blades of Grass's rendition of "Happy" did exceedingly well on the East coast, but the Sunshine Company's performed better on the West coast. The Blades of Grass had a moderate hit with "Happy" reaching number 87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, while their competitor peaked at number 50. Surprisingly enough, the group's second single, "I Love You Alice B. Toklas" from the film of the same name, was also simultaneously distributed in early-1968 with another version by

Harpers Bizarre Harpers Bizarre was an American sunshine pop band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/sunshine pop sound and their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." Career Harpers Bizarre was formed out of th ...

(whose version was used in the film) and failed to chart. More releases followed throughout 1968 that failed to chart, including their debut album, ''The Blades of Grass Are Not for Smoking''. The Blades of Grass were especially subdued in the studio to other songwriters' material, though Black, the band's main composer, claimed to have penned nearly 100 songs during the group's existence. The album contained heavily orchestrated instrumentals and airy

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...

that were coherent with many California-based sunshine groups. A few obscure non-LP singles were released in early 1969, but the Blades of Grass, after its members graduated high school, disbanded within the year. In 2002,

Rev-Ola Records Rev-Ola Records is a British independent record label formed in 1990 that specializes in reissues, as well as select new releases. The label is headed by Joe Foster, a former child actor and musician/producer. He, along with Alan McGee and ...

reissued the album on CD with liner notes by

Steve Stanley Steve Stanley (born 1970) is an American music historian, reissue producer, graphic artist, musician, and the founder of Now Sounds, a reissue record label established in 2007 and distributed by Cherry Red Records. Early life Raised in Oklahoma i ...

. The release included non-LP singles as

bonus tracks An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blades of Grass People from Maplewood, New Jersey Sunshine pop