The Cyrkle "Red Rubber Ball" 1966

With drummer Marty Fried and keyboardist Earl Pickens, The Cyrkle became the opening act for The Beatles on what became their final concert tour through America in 1966. "Red Rubber Ball" had been released in April 1966 and undoubtedly, the group's association with the Fab Four didn't hurt as their record climbed to #2. Later that summer, they released "Turn Down Day," which made it to #16, an anthem about teen-age freedom to do nothing on a typical summer's day. This song, using sitar and a plunky piano style further exemplified The Cyrkle's care-free image. But sadly, soon things fell apart......The Cyrkle's debut was a pleasant, if marginal, album, blending a light folk-rock flavor with fluffy pop/rock production and songwriting. "Red Rubber Ball" and the follow-up hit, "Turn-Down Day," were, as one might expect, by far the best cuts. The rest was split between group originals and odds and ends from an assortment of other writers, including a cover of the Paul Simon-Bruce Woodley composition "Cloudy" that predated its appearance on Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme album later in 1966. On the whole, it's feel-good and not terribly deep 1966 pop/rock, heavy on the breezy harmonies, occasionally using mild touches of experimentation, like the sitar on "Turn-Down Day," and inventively reverbed guitars. - by Richie Unterbergertrax:
01 Red Rubber Ball 02 Why Can't You Give Me What I Want 03 Baby, You're Free 04 Big, Little Woman 05 Cloudy 06 Cry 07 Turn-Down Day 08 There's A Fire In The Fireplace 09 Bony Moronie 10 How Can I Leave Her 11 Money To Burn 12 Straighten Out My Messed Up Life 13 Downtown Blues (prev. unissued) 14 How Can I Leave Her (prev. unissued demo) 15 Money To Burn (prev. unissued demo) 16 We Had A Good Thing Goin' 17 Reading Her Paper 18 Penny Arcade 19 The Words 20 Red rubber ball (av) 21 the words (alt version)