The David - Another Day, Another Lifetime (1967) (2001)

The David released a totally obscure, well-produced, and very fine baroque/pop/psychedelic album in 1967, Another Day, Another Lifetime. One writer described them in a collector magazine as a garage Left Banke, and the description is pretty apt. The melodies are gorgeous and the arrangements are delicate, yet they rock harder than the Left Banke, a gutsy electric guitar and organ often helping drive along the nifty orchestrated tunes. Lead singer Warren Hansen wrote all of the material, putting him nearly on par with fellow wunderkind Michael Brown.

The story of the group, and the fate of Hansen, was one of the greatest mysteries of '60s rock, but the liner notes to a CD reissue of the album on Jamie in 2001 brought much of their history to light. The David formed as the Reasons in the Los Angeles area in 1965, changing their name to the David the following year. They did some recording for 20th Century Fox in 1966, resulting in a couple of singles. One of those songs, "Forty Miles," did well in Bakersfield, CA, and has been reissued on the compilation Pebbles, Vol. 9: Southern California 2.

The David recorded their sole album for Vance Music Company(VMC), an organization formed by their manager. Of considerable aid in the sessions, and in making the album stand out from numerous other psychedelic garage efforts, was the work of string arranger Gene Page, who also worked on disco hits in the '70s. The record made little commercial impact, though, and the band never released anything else despite their promising start; they disbanded in the early '70s.