''The Electric Prunes'', sometimes referred to as ''I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)'', is the 1967 debut album by the American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band,

the Electric Prunes The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." T ...

, released on

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. The first track, "

I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" is a song written with music by Annette Tucker and lyrics by Nancie Mantz, which was recorded in late 1966 by the garage rock band The Electric Prunes. Released as the band's second single, it reached number ...

", was a hit and became the band's signature tune. The album also contains another notable psychedelic rock composition, "

Get Me to the World on Time "Get Me to the World on Time" is a song written by Annette Tucker and Jill Jones for the American garage rock band, The Electric Prunes. The song was released in May 1967 following the success of the band's previous single, " I Had Too Much to Dr ...

". The album was listed in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.

Background

The success of the Electric Prunes' single, "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", which charted at number 11 in the U.S. and at number 49 in the UK, prompted the band to tour more and to record adverts. The band was featured in publicity photos for the November 1967 issue of ''Teen Pin-Ups''. They also recorded an advert for the Vox

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The p ...

and promoted use of the equipment in the ''Vox Teen Beat'' magazine. Following the band's extensive promotional campaign, a second single, "

", was released and charted at number 27 in the U.S. With the band having a busy touring schedule, the recording of the album was hurried in an effort to cash in on their recent success. The band was already composing material for what they hoped would be an album of their own design. However, much of the album's content was out of their control, as producer

Dave Hassinger Walter David "Dave" Hassinger (March 31, 1927 – August 15, 2007) was an American Grammy award-winning recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, he joined the U.S. Navy aged 17, and was ...

brought in the songwriting team of

Annette Tucker Annette May Tucker is an American songwriter, who found success in the 1960s as co-writer of songs for The Electric Prunes ("I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", "Get Me to the World on Time"), The Brogues (" I Ain't No Miracle Worker"), The K ...

and Nancie Mantz. They, alone, produced seven of the 12 tracks, much to the frustration of the band.

Mark Tulin Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

and James Lowe, the band's main songwriters, were limited to just one track, the song "Luvin'". The band considered some of the tracks to be filler and were disappointed in not having a choice in disclosing them. Tulin stated, "We had nothing resembling freedom, let alone total freedom, in the selection of our songs. Consequently, there are definitely songs that I do believe didn't belong on the album..." The album was released in April 1967 and charted with moderate success at number 113 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Personnel

;The Electric Prunes *James Lowe – lead vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5–14),

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

, rhythm guitar, tambourine *Ken Williams – lead guitar *James "Weasel" Spagnola – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (tracks 3, 4) *

– bass guitar, piano, organ *

Preston Ritter Preston James Ritter (April 24, 1949 – March 30, 2015) was an American drummer, drum teacher and author of drum methods. He joined The Electric Prunes in 1966, and played on their debut studio album, ''The Electric Prunes'', and two hit singl ...

– drums, percussion ;Technical *

– producer, liner notes *

Richie Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and career ...

– engineer *Bill Cooper – assistant engineer *

Perry Botkin Jr. Perry Botkin Jr. (April 16, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American composer, producer, arranger, and musician. The tune " Nadia's Theme", composed by Botkin and Barry De Vorzon, peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1976 and bec ...

– string and brass arrangements *

Ed Thrasher Edward Lee Thrasher Jr. (March 7, 1932 – August 5, 2006), known as Ed Thrasher, was an American art director and photographer. He was the recipient of numerous Grammy Award nominations for his work on album covers and won a Grammy for Best Album ...

– art director *Jane McCowan – photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electric Prunes, The The Electric Prunes albums 1967 debut albums Reprise Records albums