"I may have been wrong all along"

Image from Strange Adventures #84 by Gil Kane, 1957

Clovis is a town in east New Mexico that is notable for exactly one thing - the Norman Petty Recording Studios. Norman Petty was a successful musician in the 1950's, and he opened a studio in town to record the singles of his band and others in the area. Petty had a talent for recording and got a great sound onto tape in his little studio, so many artists traveled to Clovis to record their songs. Petty's biggest score was in managing Buddy Holly and producing his records, which are still notable today for their remarkable sound quality. Petty and Holly parted ways over songwriting credits, but Petty went on to record many other artists that came through his studio in the years that followed.

Of particular interest to me were the psychedelic and garage-rock singles recorded at Petty's studio in the late '60s - some of which are collected on the compilation Get Ready to Fly. Petty's super-clean sound seems at odds with the grimy garage rock of the era, but, because of his state-of-the-art equipment and great ear for sound, some very obscure bands that made the trek to Clovis recorded singles that sound as good as anything recorded at the time. In some cases, the recording is much better than the songs deserve.

One of the better singles produced by Norman Petty during this period was the 1970 single "Someday/Going Wrong" by the Apple-Glass Cyndrom. The kids in the Apple-Glass Cyndrom were Clovis locals who won their recording time in a Petty-sponsored talent contest. Their a-side is not particularly interesting, but the b-side "Going Wrong" is a lovely piece of soft psych by keyboardist Johnny Mulhair. Mulhair drops a decent organ solo in the middle of the song, and Bill Aguirri's vocals have a nice ethereal quality to them. I have neglected to get a good collection of Buddy Holly's work, but hearing the quality of records coming out of Clovis, I plan on tracking this down, as well as anything else that was recorded by Norman Petty.

"Going Wrong" by the Apple-Glass Cyndrom