The Poets formed in Glasgow in the early 60's, and comprised George Gallacher on vocals, Hume Paton on lead & 12-string guitar, Tony Myles on rhythm guitar, John Dawson on bass and Alan Weir on drums. They were discovered by Andrew Loog Oldham on a trip to Scotland in 1964, after which he quickly signed them up and arranged a recording deal with Decca, and in October 1964 they who issued the band's first single, a characteristically moody original called 'Now We're Thru'. It made number 30 in the UK charts, but that was to be their only taste of commercial success, despite a flurry of fine singles over the next couple of years. The two-bass throb of the hard-rocking 'That's The Way It's Got To Be' appeared in February 1965, backed with the exquisite acoustic ballad 'I'll Cry With The Moon', but it failed to trouble the charts, and even a fiery cover of Marvin Gaye's 'Baby Don't You Do It' in January 1966, by which time they'd moved to the Immediate label, couldn't break their duck. This last record was something of a departure for them, as unlike most other Scottish combos of the time they concentrated almost exclusively on original material, which alternated between mournful, almost fey ballads and storming mod rockers.
Critics have compared the melodic, minor feel of much of their work to the Zombies, a comparison that holds water to a certain point, although the Poets were far more guitar-based. While some may find their slow numbers a bit on the maudlin side, the group had a knack for fine melodies, harmonies, and dense guitar arrangements that lifted these above the ordinary. The move to Immediate may have been a mixed blessing, as although they might have had more money behind them, Oldham was always going to focus his energies on The Rolling Stones, and so The Poets got lost in the shuffle and began to feel discouraged, with members starting to come and go, so that by 1967 not one original member remained from the line-up that had first recorded. They did marshal the energy for a superb 1967 single, the blue-eyed soul/psychedelic 'Wooden Spoon', which indicated that the band was still progressing and maturing, but their heart didn't seem to be in it, and they struggled on until 1971, barely recording again. It was a sad end to what seemed like such a promising outfit at the start of their career, and you can hear that fresh energy on an album that Immediate could have put out in 1968 if Oldham could just have been bothered to release it.
Track listing
01 Some Things I Can't Forget
02 I Love Her Still
03 In Your Tower
04 I Am So Blue
05 Call Again
06 Wooden Spoon
07 I'll Cry With The Moon
08 Baby Don't Do It
09 It's So Different Now
10 Fun Buggy
11 I'll Keep My Pride
12 Never Thought She Would
13 Dawn
14 Someone
15 That's The Way It's Got To Be
16 I'll Come Home
