David Hemmings Happens is the debut studio folk-pop album by former British boy soprano and actor David Hemmings

David Hemmings

David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....

 released in 1967

1967 in music

The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...

 on MGM Records

MGM Records

MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...

, and included 9 songs. Hemmings once sang in his early youth with the English Opera Group

English Opera Group

The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' operatic works. The group later expanded in order to present larger-scale works, and was renamed the English...

 before becoming an actor. The album was available in both mono

Monaural

Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...

 and stereo

Stereophonic sound

The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...

, catalogue numbers MGM E/SE 4490. David Hemmings Happens was produced by Jim Dickson

Jim Dickson

Jim Dickson is a Labour Councillor for Herne Hill on Lambeth Council, London, United Kingdom , where he also serves as Cabinet Member for Health and Well Being, having previously been the Council's Cabinet Member for Finance and also its Leader....

, arranged by Jimmy Bond and was recorded in Los Angeles, California. Guitarist Roger McGuinn

Roger McGuinn

James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...

, bassist Chris Hillman

Chris Hillman

Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....

 both of The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

 and jazz drummer Ed Thigpen

Ed Thigpen

Edmund Leonard "Ed" Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best-known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965...

 from the Oscar Peterson Trio are the session musicians for the album. The album has several covers: Tim Hardin

Tim Hardin

James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...

's "Reason To Believe" and Bill Martin's "After The Rain". The songs "Good King James", "Talkin' LA", and "War's Mystery" were all co-written by David Hemmings.

Reception

The album failed to chart on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

. The only single released from the album was written by Gene Clark

Gene Clark

Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....

, "Back Street Mirror", it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

Track listing

Side One
Side Two

Re-release

David Hemmings Happens was released on Compact Disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 in its entirety for the first time on Rev-Ola Records

Rev-Ola Records

Rev-Ola Records is a UK record label formed in 1988 that specializes in reissues, as well as select new releases. The label is headed by Joe Foster, a former child actor and musician/producer...

(CD Rev 74) in August 2004.