The 500 - #100 - Odessey and Oracle - The Zombies

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #100

Album Title: Odessey and Oracle

Artist: The Zombies

Genre: Chamber Pop, Baroque Pop, Psychedelic Pop

Recorded: EMI and Olympic Studios, London, England

Released: April, 1968

My age at release: Three

How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple of songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #243 - dropping 143 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: A Rose For Emily

Right from the start, something didn't sit right when I first saw this record coming up on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums list. Then it hit me. Odessey and Oracle is spelled wrong. Initially, I assumed the missing "y"  a  psychedelic statement but, as it turns out, it was just a typographical error.

The album cover designer, Terry Quirk, who was a friend of Zombie's bassist Chris White, made the mistake. By the time it was noticed, the record was ready for release and the band was on the verge of breaking up. In fact, the five members were already investigating new careers.

• Vocalist Colin Blunstone was training to be an insurance broker/clerk. 
• Drummer, Hugh Grundy had lined up a job in banking. 
• White, who was also the primary songwriter, planned to return to his studies to become a teacher. 
• Organist Rod Argent and guitarist Paul Atkinson were weighing the options of returning to university, or pursuing music with a new group. (They would chose the latter and the rock group Argent was formed in 1969).

The typo should have been an exclamation mark on a short and forgettable career. Instead, it marked an important milestone for the group. Sixty five years after forming in St. Albans, England, The Zombies remain one of the most beloved bands of The British Invasion.

They had enjoyed moderate success with the hit She's Not There from their debut record Begin Here, but The Zombies never quite broke through the way many of their British Invasion peers did. By the time they entered the studio in 1967, the band was running low on money, momentum and optimism. However, this is what made Odessey and Oracle special. It was forged by a group that more or less thought the end had arrived. Instead of chasing trends or desperately searching for a hit, they simply made the album they wanted to make. It was one filled with gorgeous harmonies, imaginative arrangements and songs that often disguised loneliness, regret and uncertainty, set within delightful melodies structured like finely crafted Baroque-Pop symphonies.

A Rose For Emily, described as a "whirling mini-symphony"
by Irish Independent critic Ed Power, is one of several
gorgeous tracks on the record.

Throughout the beautiful arrangements, the thing that stood out to me was White's bass work. Rather than simply following the chord changes or reinforcing the melody, he frequently slipped into what musicians call a countermelody, which is defined as an independent musical line that complements the song while charting its own course. It's a style of bass playing I've always loved. Some of my favourite bassists include Geddy Lee of Rush, Chris Squire of Yes, John Entwistle of The Who and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden They built entire careers on the idea that the bass could be more than a supporting instrument.

So, I decided to do a little research into the history of countermelody or, as it is sometimes called, contrapuntal bass playing. Fittingly, for the Baroque Pop record Odessey and Oracle, the origins of countermelody can be traced all the way back to the most famous Baroque composers, Johann Sebastian Bach. 

In Bach's music, every voice had its own identity. Rather than one melody sitting on top of simple accompaniment, multiple melodic lines, including the bass line, would weave around one another, each contributing to the whole while maintaining its own character. 

Johann Sebastian Bach

Centuries later, jazz bassists began creating walking bass lines that moved independently beneath the melody. However, in the early days of rock and roll the bass was often relegated to a simpler role, dutifully outlining the chord changes and staying out of the way. That changed when Elvis Presley's bass player, Bill Black, introduced a slap technique that brought rhythm and energy to tracks, including That's All Right.

Bill Black (right) performing with Elvis.

Then along came players like James Jamerson at Motown records who is credited with transforming the bass from a time-keeping instrument to one that provided a melodic voice. Jamerson filled songs with inventive runs and syncopated rhythms that seemed to have a conversation with the main melody. He became a massive influence on Beatle Paul McCartney who increasingly treated the bass like a melodic instrument, particularly on one of my favourite Beatles' songs, Something.

Sheet music for Something shows the complexity
of the bass melody.

By the late 1960s, musicians were pushing the idea even further. Not only was Chris White of The Zombies creating subtle countermelodies on Odessey and Oracle, John Entwistle of The Who was playing complex bass runs that often sounded like the lead guitar operating in the lower register. It is surprising how much is going on when listening to an isolated track of his bass work on the song Won't Get Fooled Again.

From there, progressive rock embraced the concept wholeheartedly. Chris Squire of Yes turned the bass into a second lead instrument, while Geddy Lee of Rush filled every available space with intricate melodic runs that somehow never overwhelm the songs.

Geddy Lee on the cover of Bass Guitar magazine
(October, 2019).

Heavy metal adopted the idea in its own way. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden used galloping, highly melodic bass lines that often carried as much momentum as the guitars. Listening to Harris, you get the sense that the bass isn't following the song so much as pulling it forward.

Steve Harris of Iron Maiden.

Today, contrapuntal bass playing can be heard across genres -- from progressive rock and metal to indie rock and modern jazz. Yet the basic idea remains the same as it was in Bach's day -- music becomes more interesting when the bass stops blindly following everyone else and starts having a conversation of its own.

Odessey and Oracle finally found an audience after The Zombies had already given up on it. When the album was released in 1968 it barely made a ripple and the band broke up, with most members moving into "civilian life". Then, the strangest thing happened. A rock radio station in Boise, Idaho, introduced the record's final track, Time Of The Season, into regular rotation. It quickly found an audience, and by the spring of 1969 it was sitting near the top of the American charts.

Album jacket for the single, Time Of The Season.

Unfortunately, by the time Time of the Season climbed the charts, The Zombies no longer existed. However, this was not the end of their collective Odyssey. The band reunited briefly in 1991 and later returned for a remarkable second act that introduced their music to a new generation of listeners.

This autumn, they will perform at the third Begin Here Festival in St. Albans, England, the city where their journey began more than six decades ago. Four of the band's five original members will be part of the celebration. The only absence will be guitarist Paul Atkinson, who died of cancer in 2004. Chris White will be present, playing his countermelodic basslines at 83 years of age.