Strawberry Alarm Clock’s third album was called The World In A Sea Shell and was released in November 1968 on Uni Records. The disc followed Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow, also from 1968, but has a much dreamier and more uniform sound.
Compared to the band’s earlier music, The World In A Sea Shell is lush, and swamped with orchestration. Almost completely gone are touches like the chilly gloom of “Curse Of The Witches”, the sound collage of “Nightmare Of Percussion”, and the commanding magnificence of “Pretty Song From Psych-Out”.
The general feeling here is that the band is exploring a more dense pop direction. The end result, from a modern perspective, is that the good stuff is half-submerged in a glossy sheen, like a sand dollar hidden in soft white sand.
There are rewards for the patient digger, though – mostly on the songs that the band members themselves composed.
The World In A Sea Shell personnel
The band membership of Strawberry Alarm Clock was stable around the time of this LP. (This was just before the infamous shakeups that would haunt and occasionally enliven SAC for the next three years.)
Rhythm guitarist Lee Freeman, drummer Randy Seol, lead guitarist Ed King, keyboard player Mark Weitz, and bassist George Bunnell all remain from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow.
About the outside compositions
About half of the album’s songs were written by non-band members, including Carole King. Roughly speaking, these compositions – done against the band’s wishes – make up side one of the LP, with the band’s more interesting songs comprising side two.
The World In A Sea Shell makes this new approach instantly understood with its first several tracks: “Sea Shell” is a wistful lament on a relationship that has ended. Its subdued, harmless feel extends to the next few tracks like Carole King’s “Blues For A Young Girl Gone” and the ironically-titled “An Angry Young Man” (actually one of the prettier and gentler songs on the album).
Not all of the outside-written songs are throwaways: “Home Sweet Home” is quite good, for example. In fact, all of the aforementioned have something to recommend them. On the other hand, Carole King’s other contribution, “Lady Of The Lake”, doesn’t quite work as well.
At any rate, fans of the glowing psychedelia of Incense And Peppermints and the unnerving edginess of Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow are likely to be confounded by the overwrought confections that await them here.
About the band compositions
It’s the band’s own songs that get the best treatment, and that make side two the more interesting and varied. They’re not all free of the first side’s dense, echoey arrangements exactly, but they do carry on in the tradition of Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow‘s freewheeling compositional structures and innovative arrangements. They also sport some audacious lyrics.
For example, “Barefoot In Baltimore” follows a very strange character called Barefoot, who wanders the town intensely fascinated by the sidewalk under his feet. “Eulogy” is a strange Oedipal confession to, and fond reminiscence of, a man’s parents. The protagonist of “Wooden Woman” commits suicide by jumping into the ocean. (That last one comes across as a wry extension of the album’s title and first track; one hopes it was a creative protest against the band’s management.)
Singles from The World In A Sea Shell
- “Barefoot In Baltimore” b/w “An Angry Young Man” – reached #67 in the US
- “Sea Shell” b/w “Paxton’s Back Street Carnival” – did not chart
The World In A Sea Shell in retrospect
However you slice it, Strawberry Alarm Clock’s management’s ideas for a greater commercial sound didn’t pan out. This album sank quickly, despite its charms.
For their fourth and final album, Good Morning Starshine, Strawberry Alarm Clock pointedly exerted more control, resulting in a much more satisfying collection of songs. The World In A Sea Shell has some good stuff on it, but remains a controversial anomaly in SAC’s catalog.
Track list
Side 1
- “Sea Shell”
- “Blues For A Young Girl Gone”
- “An Angry Young Man”
- “A Million Smiles Away”
- “Home Sweet Home”
- “Lady Of The Lake”
Side 2
- “Barefoot In Baltimore”
- “Wooden Woman”
- “Heated Love”
- “Love Me Again”
- “Eulogy”
- “Shallow Impressions”
Their most commercial album still containing mostly essential material, although unlike their other 60s albums can never make a claim to be the best.
Curious album with some good indispensable music, although can never claim to be sac best record.