Green Tambourine

AMG Review of Green Tambourine

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

Unlike the majority of ubblegum bands, the Lemon Pipers' albums are actually quite good, not least because they were one of the few ubblegum bands who were a proper band with their own songwriters (although outside writer/producers did provide the two hits, the inescapable "Green Tambourine" and the actually even better "Rice Is Nice," a sweet, harp-laden depiction of a wedding day). Even the album tracks are pretty groovy, like the Cat Stevens-like character sketches "Shoeshine Boy" and "The Shoemaker of Leatherwood Square," which effectively use trippy string sections and playful harmonies. The snottier folk-rock of "Ask Me if I Care" and the far-out "Fifty Year Void," to say nothing of the nine-minute freakout "Through With You," give Green Tambourine a harder edge than most ubblegum albums, though it's still closer to, say, the Cyrkle than Cream. Seek it out, ubblegum snobs: you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.