The Misunderstood were formed in Riverside, California, and had their roots in the Blue Notes, an instrumental combo featuring George Phelps and Greg Treadway on guitars and Rick Moe on drums. Despite living in a landlocked town, Phelps and his friends developed a passion for surfing, frequently road-tripping to Encinitas to ride the waves, and a shared love of the beach brought Phelps together with Rick Brown, whose family had recently moved to Riverside. After the demise of the Blue Notes, Phelps, Treadway, and Moe decided to form a new band, and brought Brown on board as their lead singer. Billing themselves as Treadway & Company, they invited Steve Whiting to play bass, and began putting together a repertoire steeped in blues and covers of the tougher British Invasion groups, in particular the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Them, and the Yardbirds. They also began writing songs of their own, and by mid-1965 they had enough material to cut a demo at a local recording studio, by which time they had dropped the name Treadway & Company and branded themselves The Misunderstoods, a reference to the Animals' hit 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. After a few months of rehearsing, playing teen clubs, and appearing at school dances, another recording session took place in December 1965, this time under the revised name of The Misunderstood.
After recording some more material in January 1966, Phelps dropped out of the band, preferring to get a day job, and after seeing Glenn Ross Campbell playing steel guitar with his group the Answers, the members of the Misunderstood were certain his unique style was the right fit for them. Campbell had been playing in country and rock bands for years, and his use of a fuzzbox to add a beefier tone to his refashioned blues licks gave the Misunderstood a sound unlike any other group at that time. Not long after Campbell joined the act, they played a show at a shopping center in Riverside, and they were spotted by John Ravenscroft, a British disc jockey who had recently landed a job at a local FM radio station. Ravenscroft was blown away by what he heard, and he took the group under his wing, offering them advice and filling their ears with different musical influences. It would not be the last time the DJ helped a band get a break, as years later he would adopt the name John Peel, and became one of the most influential radio personalities in the U.K. In March 1966, Peel arranged for the band to record a session at Hollywood's Gold Star Studio, famed as Phil Spector's favourite recording facility, and the tapes showed a band who were moving beyond blues-rock into a more expressive and experimental sound that would anticipate psychedelic rock.
Peel and the musicians became increasingly convinced that if they wanted to find the right audience for their work, they would be better off in England than California, and after pressing a single of two of the Gold Star tracks as a calling card, 'You Don't Have to Go' b/w 'Who's Been Talking', they began blocking out plans to relocate to the U.K., with Peel's brother acting as their representative in England. They staged a final show in Riverside, and left for the U.K. in June 1966, but to their dismay they discovered that Peel hadn't contacted his mother, who was supposed to let the band stay at her home when they arrived in London, and his brother had done little to lay groundwork for their mission to conquer Great Britain. They also lacked work permits, but they were still able to land gigs and began finding an audience for their bold sound, especially after they acquired a manager, Nigel Thomas. However, in August 1966, homesick Treadway quit the group and returned to California, and the band replaced him with new guitarist Tony Hill, who proved to be an excellent foil for Campbell's steel work, and who also wrote new material in tandem with Brown. A new demo was cut at London's I.B.C. studios, which Thomas took to Fontana Records, and they signed the band and issued the single 'I Can Take You To The Sun' b/w 'Who Do You Love' in December 1966.
The group bowled over the press in a media event staged by Fontana and they were being talked up by the British music weeklies, but a dark cloud appeared on the horizon, as Brown had been called up for the military draft, and after ignoring numerous letters from America's Selective Service System, he was informed he would be officially indicted on charges on draft evasion if he didn't return home to meet the draft board, so he flew back to California. Brown hoped that his commitments to Fontana in England, as well as a letter from his doctor saying he was unfit for service, would permit him to return to London relatively soon. However, his pleas were rejected, and he was given the option of serving two years in the Army or five years in prison. Brown chose the Army, and though The Misunderstood found a new singer, Steve Colyer, their management had lost confidence in the band after Brown left. They were booked to play shows in France in early 1967, only to discover that Campbell's, Moe's, and Whiting's visas would not permit them to return to the U.K, and so they had no choice but to go back to California, which spelled the end of the group.
After returning to America, Campbell was befriended by blues artist Rod Piazza, and he joined Piazza's group the Dirty Blues Band, appearing on their self-titled debut album, issued in 1967 by Bluesway Records. Meanwhile, Peel continued to champion the Misunderstood even after their breakup, and at his urging, Fontana released another single from their recordings of the band, 'Children Of The Sun' b/w 'I Unseen'. The single generated enough attention that Campbell returned to England and assembled a new edition of The Misunderstood, but rather than trade on his old band's reputation they named themselves Juicy Lucy, and signed with Vertigo Records, who put out their first album in 1969. In spite of their relatively small output, they were considered to be influential pioneers of the acid style of rock music, and many of these tracks sound like they could have been recorded about two years later, showing how far ahead of their time they were. There have been a number of compilation albums issued over the years, but none have tried to show what an actual 1966 album by the group could have sounded like, and I hope that this post fills that gap.
Track listing
01 Children Of The Sun
02 I'm Not Talking
03 I Unseen
04 End Of Time
05 I Can Take You To The Sun
06 Why
07 My Mind
08 Find The Hidden Door
09 Who Do You Love
10 Bury My Body
11 Who's Been Talking
12 Got Love If You Want It
13 Don't Break Me Down
14 She Got Me
