The Beau Brummels were a band who never quite fulfilled their potential. Formed in 1964 in San Francisco they signed to Autumn Records and their early records were produced by Sly Stone, then Sly Stewart. Obviously working under the influence of the early Beatles, their songs nevertheless have an introspective and dreamy quality all of their own.
You could chuck them in the same pot as The Byrds or Love in terms of their sound but they've had nothing like the long term influence of either of those bands, probably because although their records are great they have very little impact lyrically, it's all about the sound and mood and they never made the transition required of bands at that point in time from being a singles band to producing a really powerful, groundbreaking album that captured the mood of the times as 1965 shifted to 1967.
The band's commercial success was also relatively short-lived. They had a couple of Top 40 singles in 1964 and 1965. Nevertheless, there's something about the melancholic nature of their sound that still sounds great fifty years on. What influence they have now can be most obviously heard in the records of The Allah Las, a contemporary Californian band who are clearly and unashamedly deeply familiar with The Beau Brummels back catalogue and get over a similar laid-back, thoughtful vibe in their own records.
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