Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Encyclopedia
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock
band The Beau Brummels
. Produced by Lenny Waronker
and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino
and guitarist Ron Elliott
composed together. The band incorporated fantasy
elements and surreal characters into the album's song titles and lyrics, and worked with a variety of session musicians to create Triangles psychedelic
musical style. The Beau Brummels were reduced to a trio—Valentino, Elliott, and Ron Meagher
—at the time Triangle was recorded, as former group members Don Irving
(guitars) and John Petersen
(drums) left the band following the release of the group's previous album, Beau Brummels '66
.
Triangle reached number 197 on the Billboard 200
albums chart and received mostly positive reviews; critics commended Elliott as a songwriter and compared Valentino's vocals to those of Bob Dylan
. The single "Magic Hollow
" was ranked one of "The 100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics" in a 1997 issue of Mojo
magazine. Warner Japan released this album as WPCP-5252 in 1993. Collectors' Choice Music
reissued the album in 2002.
. Titled Beau Brummels '66
, the album was a collection of cover songs
and was a commercial disappointment. Critics questioned Warner Brothers' decision to not release the band's original material, which had been recorded by the band in early 1966 as their previous label, Autumn Records
, collapsed. These recordings eventually appeared on the 2005 compilation album
San Fran Sessions
. Following the release of Beau Brummels '66, guitarist Don Irving
left the group when he received an induction notice into the armed forces
.
Drummer John Petersen
quit to join pop rock
band Harpers Bizarre
.
By early 1967, the three remaining members—vocalist Sal Valentino
, guitarist Ron Elliott
, and bassist Ron Meagher
—quit touring to focus on studio work. For their next album, Triangle, the band met with Warner Bros. producer Lenny Waronker
, who gave the band freedom to resume recording original material. According to Elliott, "Lenny Waronker wanted to do something creative, and I was up for that."
During the album's recording sessions, Meagher left the group when he was called to active duty in the Army Reserves
.
, a fine art
museum in San Francisco.
He admired the collection of 17th century Flemish portraits and landscape paintings at the museum, from which dark yet incandescent hues emanated. Elliott described the album as a "mythological cartoon about love written from some weird spaces", and explained it as "sort of a mood swing into the world that was around us at the time. It was sort of dissolving into this drug culture. So the music became very ethereal, mystic, and mysterious". In contrast with the band's generally straightforward recordings for the Autumn label, Triangles lyrics are more abstract, containing Tolkienesque
fantasy elements and dream-like characters, such as the gypsy in "Only Dreaming Now", the "Painter of Women", "The Keeper of Time", and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune", as well as the destination of "Magic Hollow
".
Elliott, the band's principal composer, sought to move away from the formulaic songs that Autumn Records wanted.
Having regained artistic freedom in the studio, and with the band no longer touring, Elliott and Valentino focused on creating an album of songs which were written and recorded specifically for that purpose.
The resulting sessions for Triangle saw Elliott and Valentino collaborate as songwriters for the first time. Four of the album's tracks were written by Elliott with frequent collaborator Bob Durand. The album also contained the Randy Newman
composition "Old Kentucky Home" and a cover version
of Merle Travis
's "Nine Pound Hammer", both of which hinted at the country rock
direction explored more heavily by the band on their 1968 album, Bradley's Barn
. Session musicians included guitarist James Burton
, drummer Jim Gordon
, bassist Carol Kaye
, and Van Dyke Parks
, who played harpsichord
on "Magic Hollow", adding to the album's psychedelic
musical style.
Elliott returned the favor, playing guitar on Parks' 1968 debut album, Song Cycle
.
Triangle also features strings, brass, woodwinds, and numerous types of percussion.
albums chart, peaking at number 197.
Though not a commercial success,
the album gained an underground following and received critical acclaim. Sal Valentino's "expressive" vocals were compared to those of Bob Dylan
by Crawdaddy!
s Paul Williams
in 1968 and by Perfect Sound Forever
's Steve Cooper in 2004.
A 2007 review in Electric Roulette stated that Valentino's voice resembles Gene Clark
of The Byrds
, "but superior in tone and emotion".
Williams, Cooper, and Allmusic's Stansted Montfichet praised Ron Elliott as a songwriter, with Montfichet adding that Elliott's "lyrical imagery ... is particularly striking" in the songs "Only Dreaming Now", "Painter of Women", and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune".
Australian journalist and author Lillian Roxon
wrote in her 1969 Rock Encyclopedia that Triangle "was the album that astonished everyone and blew a million minds".
Music journalist Jon Savage
named the song "Magic Hollow" in his list of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics" in the June 1997 issue of Mojo
magazine.
In 2006, Joel Selvin
of the San Francisco Chronicle
called the album a "cult classic",
while SF Weekly
s Justin F. Farrar remarked that it "has aged far more gracefully than that almighty concept record from '67, Sgt. Pepper's [Lonely Hearts Club Band
]."
Brendan McGrath of The Rising Storm wrote in a 2007 review that "Triangle has everything: it's a tightly produced country record that is rooted in rock; it's straight and folky and underlined by psychedelic imagery".
Author Tom Moon selected the album for his 2008 book, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, in which he wrote that Triangle "captured the crisscrossing events of 1967" and was "the rare bridge between the sunny straightforwardness of mid-60s pop and the fuzzy opaqueness of psychedelia".
During a 2005 broadcast of Fresh Air
, National Public Radio's Ken Tucker said that Triangle comes "perilously close to stuffy art rock."
The album was re-released in 2002 by Collectors' Choice Music
. Kim Cooper of Scram magazine said the reissue was "long overdue" and noted that "the remaster really brings out the arrangements' complexity".
American rock
American rock is rock music from the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music, and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music. The creation of American rock music was highly influenced by the British Invasion of the American pop...
band The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino , Ron Elliott , Ron Meagher , Declan Mulligan , and John Petersen...
. Produced by Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker is a record producer for Warner Bros. Records.-Career:He produced recording sessions for Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, Van Dyke Parks, The Beau Brummels, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, ...
and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S...
and guitarist Ron Elliott
Ron Elliott (musician)
Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
composed together. The band incorporated fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
elements and surreal characters into the album's song titles and lyrics, and worked with a variety of session musicians to create Triangles psychedelic
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
musical style. The Beau Brummels were reduced to a trio—Valentino, Elliott, and Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher is best known as bassist of American rock band The Beau Brummels. When guitarist-songwriter Ron Elliott was putting the band together in 1964, he asked a friend, Kay Dane, if she knew any good bass players....
—at the time Triangle was recorded, as former group members Don Irving
Don Irving
Don Irving is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for rock band The Beau Brummels...
(guitars) and John Petersen
John Petersen (musician)
John Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In 1964 he joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20...
(drums) left the band following the release of the group's previous album, Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
.
Triangle reached number 197 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...
albums chart and received mostly positive reviews; critics commended Elliott as a songwriter and compared Valentino's vocals to those of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. The single "Magic Hollow
Magic Hollow
"Magic Hollow" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's fourth album, 1967's Triangle. The song, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and lead singer Sal Valentino, was released as the album's first single...
" was ranked one of "The 100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics" in a 1997 issue of Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine. Warner Japan released this album as WPCP-5252 in 1993. Collectors' Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music is a company primarily in two businesses. They are best known for re-issuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs...
reissued the album in 2002.
Background
In July 1966, the Beau Brummels released their third album, and first with Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Titled Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
, the album was a collection of cover songs
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
and was a commercial disappointment. Critics questioned Warner Brothers' decision to not release the band's original material, which had been recorded by the band in early 1966 as their previous label, Autumn Records
Autumn Records
Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco-based pop record label. Its most prominent contract was considered The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little"....
, collapsed. These recordings eventually appeared on the 2005 compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
San Fran Sessions
San Fran Sessions
San Fran Sessions is a box set compilation which collects 60 demos, outtakes, rarities and unissued performances recorded by The Beau Brummels from 1964 to 1966...
. Following the release of Beau Brummels '66, guitarist Don Irving
Don Irving
Don Irving is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for rock band The Beau Brummels...
left the group when he received an induction notice into the armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
.
Drummer John Petersen
John Petersen (musician)
John Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In 1964 he joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20...
quit to join pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre was an American pop-rock band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/Sunshine Pop sound and their remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."- Career :...
.
By early 1967, the three remaining members—vocalist Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S...
, guitarist Ron Elliott
Ron Elliott (musician)
Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
, and bassist Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher is best known as bassist of American rock band The Beau Brummels. When guitarist-songwriter Ron Elliott was putting the band together in 1964, he asked a friend, Kay Dane, if she knew any good bass players....
—quit touring to focus on studio work. For their next album, Triangle, the band met with Warner Bros. producer Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker is a record producer for Warner Bros. Records.-Career:He produced recording sessions for Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, Van Dyke Parks, The Beau Brummels, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, ...
, who gave the band freedom to resume recording original material. According to Elliott, "Lenny Waronker wanted to do something creative, and I was up for that."
During the album's recording sessions, Meagher left the group when he was called to active duty in the Army Reserves
Military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion...
.
Composition
Valentino said Triangle was partially inspired by several day trips he took to the California Palace of the Legion of HonorCalifornia Palace of the Legion of Honor
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fine art museum in San Francisco, California...
, a fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
museum in San Francisco.
He admired the collection of 17th century Flemish portraits and landscape paintings at the museum, from which dark yet incandescent hues emanated. Elliott described the album as a "mythological cartoon about love written from some weird spaces", and explained it as "sort of a mood swing into the world that was around us at the time. It was sort of dissolving into this drug culture. So the music became very ethereal, mystic, and mysterious". In contrast with the band's generally straightforward recordings for the Autumn label, Triangles lyrics are more abstract, containing Tolkienesque
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
fantasy elements and dream-like characters, such as the gypsy in "Only Dreaming Now", the "Painter of Women", "The Keeper of Time", and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune", as well as the destination of "Magic Hollow
Magic Hollow
"Magic Hollow" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's fourth album, 1967's Triangle. The song, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and lead singer Sal Valentino, was released as the album's first single...
".
Elliott, the band's principal composer, sought to move away from the formulaic songs that Autumn Records wanted.
Having regained artistic freedom in the studio, and with the band no longer touring, Elliott and Valentino focused on creating an album of songs which were written and recorded specifically for that purpose.
The resulting sessions for Triangle saw Elliott and Valentino collaborate as songwriters for the first time. Four of the album's tracks were written by Elliott with frequent collaborator Bob Durand. The album also contained the Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
composition "Old Kentucky Home" and a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
's "Nine Pound Hammer", both of which hinted at the country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
direction explored more heavily by the band on their 1968 album, Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
. Session musicians included guitarist James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
, drummer Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon (musician)
James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
, bassist Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
, and Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
, who played harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
on "Magic Hollow", adding to the album's psychedelic
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
musical style.
Elliott returned the favor, playing guitar on Parks' 1968 debut album, Song Cycle
Song Cycle (album)
Song Cycle is a 1967 album by Van Dyke Parks that encompasses a number of genres, including psychedelic, folk, baroque, and experimental rock and pop. The release was Parks' debut album, and was produced by future Dreamworks Records co-founder Lenny Waronker.The album's material explores...
.
Triangle also features strings, brass, woodwinds, and numerous types of percussion.
Release and reception
Released in July 1967, Triangle spent two weeks on the Billboard 200Billboard 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...
albums chart, peaking at number 197.
Though not a commercial success,
the album gained an underground following and received critical acclaim. Sal Valentino's "expressive" vocals were compared to those of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
by Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
s Paul Williams
Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)
Paul Williams is an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism :Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans...
in 1968 and by Perfect Sound Forever
Perfect Sound Forever (magazine)
Perfect Sound Forever is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever (est. 1995) is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever...
's Steve Cooper in 2004.
A 2007 review in Electric Roulette stated that Valentino's voice resembles 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....
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...
, "but superior in tone and emotion".
Williams, Cooper, and Allmusic's Stansted Montfichet praised Ron Elliott as a songwriter, with Montfichet adding that Elliott's "lyrical imagery ... is particularly striking" in the songs "Only Dreaming Now", "Painter of Women", and "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune".
Australian journalist and author Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon was a noted Australian journalist and author, best known for Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia . Her niece Nicola Roxon, the Australian politician, is currently the federal Minister for Health....
wrote in her 1969 Rock Encyclopedia that Triangle "was the album that astonished everyone and blew a million minds".
Music journalist Jon Savage
Jon Savage
Jon Savage , real name Jonathon Sage, is a Cambridge-educated writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his award winning history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England's Dreaming, published in 1991.-Career:...
named the song "Magic Hollow" in his list of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics" in the June 1997 issue of Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine.
In 2006, Joel Selvin
Joel Selvin
Joel Selvin is a San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music and has interviewed a large number of musical artists...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
called the album a "cult classic",
while SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
s Justin F. Farrar remarked that it "has aged far more gracefully than that almighty concept record from '67, Sgt. Pepper's [Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
]."
Brendan McGrath of The Rising Storm wrote in a 2007 review that "Triangle has everything: it's a tightly produced country record that is rooted in rock; it's straight and folky and underlined by psychedelic imagery".
Author Tom Moon selected the album for his 2008 book, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, in which he wrote that Triangle "captured the crisscrossing events of 1967" and was "the rare bridge between the sunny straightforwardness of mid-60s pop and the fuzzy opaqueness of psychedelia".
During a 2005 broadcast of Fresh Air
Fresh Air
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
, National Public Radio's Ken Tucker said that Triangle comes "perilously close to stuffy art rock."
The album was re-released in 2002 by Collectors' Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music is a company primarily in two businesses. They are best known for re-issuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs...
. Kim Cooper of Scram magazine said the reissue was "long overdue" and noted that "the remaster really brings out the arrangements' complexity".
Chart performance
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 197 |
Side One
Side Two
Personnel
- Ron Elliott – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, vocals - Ron Meagher – bass, guitar, vocals
- Sal Valentino – vocals, vocal arranger
- Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
– harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, keyboards - Carol KayeCarol KayeCarol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
– bass - James BurtonJames BurtonJames Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
– guitar - Donnie Lanier – guitar
- Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
- drums - The BlossomsThe BlossomsThe Blossoms were a backing group from California. They had a recording career in their own right and were to the American West Coast what The Sweet Inspirations were to the East Coast and The Andantes were for Motown.-Early years:...
– backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Gene Garf – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Lou Klass – violin
- Shari Zippert – violin
- David Duke – French hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- George Hyde – French horn
- Gale Robinson – French horn
- Jesse Ehrlich – cello
- Raymond Kelley – cello
- Dick Hyde – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
External links
- [ Triangle] at Allmusic