Song:It's-A- Happening
Album:Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968
This is one of the most outrageous examples of psychedelia and you gotta love the group name. And The Magic Mushrooms were even on a major label. But it's that name that killed them and they faded away to obscurity only to be kept alive by Rhino's 4CD Nuggets box set. The Magic Mushrooms were from Philadelphia and they met while attending the University Of Pennsylvania. Vocalist and guitarist Stu Freeman was group leader along with Ted Cahill on lead guitar, Dick Richardson on keyboards, Charles Ingersol on bass and Joe Lacavera on drums. They named themselves The Magic Mushrooms as suggested by the famous Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsburg when he lectured at the university. Vocalist Josh Rice joined the group from a rival band and then Richardson & Ingersol left and were replaced by Bob Grady & Chris Barbieri who knew Freeman from a previous band. Sonny Casella heard them and became their manager and The Magic Mushrooms were playing local gigs in 1966. He got them a deal with Herb Alpert's A & M Records and It's-A-Happening was released in Sept. 1966. The song was written by Freeman and Rice and Casella produced the song. With it's crazy guitar tracks, it's a great piece of vintage psychedelia. It's-A-Happening was headed up the charts when Alpert found out what Magic Mushrooms were. When the group refused to change their name, he pulled the single and cancelled their contract. The group recorded a couple of albums for smaller labels but that event doomed them to obscurity and only a couple of songs are available including It's-A-Happening on Nuggets. Here's a video of It's-A-Happening by The Magic Mushrooms.
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