With a title proclaiming
Now Sound of the Brass Ring (1967), the instrumental purveyors of space age pop effectively abandoned the practice of padding their long-players with dated show tunes and standards, some of which dated back to the '40s. The success of "The Dis-Advantages of You" apparently encouraged
Phil Bodner -- the ad hoc combo's primary component/musical director -- to continue mining the modern pop songbook for selections that would be suitable for a
Brass Ring treatment. For the most part, lightweight and catchy melodies, such as "Sunny," "Up, Up & Away," "The Look of Love," and "Don't Sleep in the Subway," -- encompassing practically the entire first half of the album -- are uniformly excellent choices for the "music as wallpaper" ethos that defined the easy listening leanings of
the Brass Ring. However, there are a few musical truffles to be rooted out over the latter half of the disc. The
Paul McCartney-penned "Love in the Open Air" was taken from
Macca's score to The Family Way (1966). Another mod cinematic number comes from
Lovin' Spoonful leader
John Sebastian who had written "Amy's Theme" for Francis Ford Coppola's major directorial debut comedy You're a Big Boy Now (1967). Again, the fresh, unconventional approach uncovers a minor classic, in terms of the original and
Bodner's sax-filled interpretation. In 2007, Collectors' Choice Music packaged the
Now Sound of the Brass Ring with its predecessor
The Dis-Advantages of You onto a single CD -- making them available after several decades of being out of print. ~ Lindsay Planer