Electric Prunes

 

Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of early electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. 

Guitarist Ken Williams' and singer James Lowe's called the sound "free-form garage music" that set them apart from many of their contemporaries.

According to Lowe, the name Electric Prunes started off as a joke, but he eventually convinced other band members to keep it, saying, "It's the one thing everyone will remember. It's not attractive, and there's nothing sexy about it, but people won't forget it."

The band was signed to Reprise Records in 1966 and released their first single, "Ain't It Hard", in the latter part of the year. Their first album, The Electric Prunes, included the band's two nationally charting songs, "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" and "Get Me to the World on Time". With the appearance of their second album, Underground, the band was more free to create their own material. However, the original group disbanded by 1968 when they proved unable to record the innovative and complex arrangements by David Axelrod on the albums Mass in F Minor and Release of an Oath. Both albums were released under the band's name, the rights to which were owned by their record producer David Hassinger, but were largely performed by other musicians. Several of the original band members reconvened in 1999 and began recording again. The band still performs occasionally, although the only remaining original member is lead singer James Lowe.

They produced albums and got FM airplay but did not really have hit singles.

Mass in F Minor is their third studio album and explains pretty well why they were not a mainstream rock band. Released in 1968, it consists of a musical setting of the mass sung in Latin and Greek and arranged in the psychedelic style of the band, and was written and arranged by David Axelrod.