Annette Tucker’s husband.”
Mark: “In our whole life we had played maybe 10 outside gigs. Dick had left the band by this point, and we got ‘Weasel’ James Spagnola [on rhythm guitar].”
Annette Tucker (songwriter): “They were sensational. They had great energy, even the way they did their songs then, they were very creative. [I was writing songs then with Nancie Mantz]. Our first record was by Freddie Cannon [in ’65], called ‘She’s Somethin’ Else’. We wrote for The Knickerbockers (‘The Coming Generation’) and The Ventures (‘Green Light’, later a hit for The American Breed).”
James: “Dave Hassinger ended up coming to the party. He liked us and we made some kind of arrangement where we went
about something you’ll know what I’m talking about. So we went ahead and did it.”
Mark: “It took about six months to do this. At the end of [the] six months we go to Barbara’s house, off Benedict Canyon, and he came over and we showed him what we [had] done. He liked what he heard; why we were different from anyone else I cannot tell you. We didn’t do anything original.”
Mike: “We played maybe two or three songs and he said, ‘You know what? I want to sign you to the Warner Brothers/Reprise label. I want to produce you guys.’ Now we’re going into the big leagues.”
Mark: “We’re blissful because he engineers The Rolling Stones. In the meantime, he says he’s got a manager to manage us, he
James said, ‘That’s the name!’ I said, ‘No! That’s ridiculous.’ So, Dave’s in the studio with Mick Jagger cutting [a] vocal track. Dave evidentially thought it was very catchy and comes on the intercom and says, ‘Mick, what do you think about this name for this band I’m going to produce?’ Well it hit Mick like a rocket. He started laughing and said, ‘Yes, Dave, I think that’s the name.’ James comes back and says, ‘Dave likes the name, Mick likes the name; that’s our name.’ I thought, ‘Oh my God… The Electric Prunes?’”
Mark: “There were these esoteric grape jokes going around, like Moby Grape got their name from ‘What’s purple and swims in the ocean?’ Ironically, to me, I would have rather shot myself in the head. Dave said, ‘This must be cool, because Jagger thinks it’s cool.’ To me it just demeaned the kind of music we were trying to do.”
and learned some stuff he wanted us to learn.”
Mark: “Dave said to us, ‘I want to produce you. I’d like you to go learn to play The Beatles, The Rolling Stones… not just learn their songs but sound like them.’ The Byrds, [and] I think The Animals were thrown in there for good measure. His theory was, we’re going into the studio to record and there’s a language to recording.”
Mike: “He said if you can learn these songs and learn these different styles, then when we’re in the studio and I’m talking to you
First show as The Electric Prunes, a benefit at The Coconut Grove opening for Lainie Kazan. Left: Ken Williams, Mark Tulin
Centre: James Lowe Right: Mike Weakley
introduces us to this guy Lenny Poncher, whose prime income is auto parts. He had an office on Argyle (Avenue in Hollywood); there was just a door separating the auto parts section.”
Mark: “We get a record deal. We needed a name. It can’t be Jim & The Lords because that sounds like we’re gonna do ‘Linda Lu’. So now we have to come up with a band name.”
Mike: “Mark came up with the name The Electric Prunes. He had just come from a party, and somebody told a joke: ‘What’s purple and goes bzzz? An electric prune.’
AIN’T ITHARD
With Dave Hassinger secured as producer and “The Electric Prunes” solidified as their new and everlasting moniker, the group entered American Recording (an independent studio in North Hollywood) to record their debut Reprise release: ‘Ain’t It Hard’. American would serve as a home base for the band over the next several years and is where they would record the bulk of their output. American’s owners and house engineers/producers, Richie Podolor and Bill Cooper, would provide the invaluable sonic prowess to match the band’s unique production process.
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