Bitter Almond - In The Morning/ Silver

Optimistic springtime pop from short-lived early 70s UK group

Label: Warner Bros.

Year of Release: 1970

It's quite unusual to find an obscure British group on the Warner Bros label during this era, but nonetheless, that's what we've got here. Bitter Almond arrived in the summer of 1970 on a breeze of melodic optimism, then had one more 45 out on the equally American United Artists in 1971 ("Loving Each Other") before disappearing from view again.

"In The Morning" typifies the kind of brassy, well arranged sunshine pop which filled up the very early seventies. It's pure joy, with no dark underbelly in sight; music to take on warm countryside drives rather than contemplate the futility of existence while you eat your toast on a rainy Sunday morning ("Oof! Sounds lovely, Ken!"). As such, it's likely to have as many detractors as fans, but for my part, I think it's a bold and very well-written piece of pop which was actually unlucky not to have become a hit. Its slightly conservative sound may have disadvantaged it slightly by causing it not to stand out much on the airwaves, but beyond that, it's hard to understand what went wrong.

The group consisted of Nick Frost on vocals, Trevor Danby on lead guitar, Robin Lodge - of Kippington Lodge fame - on bass, Alan Harley on keyboards, Dick Errington on sax and flute, and Billy Kite (ex Zoot Money) on drums. I can't find any trace of what happened to any of the members after their final United Artists single failed to chart, I'm afraid. Feel free to enlighten me in the comments if you know.