Artist:The Neon Philharmonic
Song:Morning Girl
Album:Chartbusters USA: Sunshine Pop
The 1969 single Morning Girl was a top 20 hit. It was the only big hit for The Neon Philharmonic. This beloved oldie is perceived as a one hit wonder. But one of their other songs charted so they are not technically a one hit wonder. I'm sure most of you have heard Morning Girl but know nothing about The Neon Philharmonic. They only recorded two albums. They were from Nashville. Tupper Saussy wrote and produced everything and played keyboards. Don Gant was the singer. Saussy started out as a jazz musician. But he got into the Nashville studio scene which is where he met Gant. Saussy wanted to record a pop album but he needed a singer. The Neon Philharmonic's 1969 album The Moth Confesses was supposed to be a condensed opera. The album was recorded with Nashville session musicians and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The Neon Philharmonic was strictly a studio group. I don't think they ever toured or appeared on TV. They got a record deal with Warner Bros. through connections that Gant had at Acuff-Rose Music. Morning Girl reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was surprise hit. But like I said, it's still a popular oldie today. You can get it on this Ace Records various artists comp. The Neon Philharmonic recorded a second album in in 1972. But it didn't do well and Warners dropped them. Gant went on to work at Acuff-Rose as songwriter and executive. He died in 1987. Saussy turned out to be a nut. He befriended Martin Luther King's assassin James Earl Ray and finagled a 1987 autobiography out of him. Ray sued Saussy after it was published. Saussy was a tax protestor and was convicted of tax evasion in 1985. He fled and was eventually found in California in 1997. After he was released from prison, he got involved in another conspiracy theory. But eventually he returned to music and recorded a couple of albums for Rhino Handmade before his 2007 death. Here's a video for Morning Girl by The Neon Philharmonic.
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