For those not in the know, deep beneath Denmark Street in 1967, while London’s flower children danced in the daylight above, four seasoned R&B veterans were cooking up something extraordinary.

Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera weren’t just changing their name from The Five Proud Walkers – they were transforming from blues purists into psychedelic alchemists.

With Dave Elmer Gantry Terry leading the congregation (in a preacher’s hat that would make any revival tent proud), backed by Colin Forster’s guitar prophecies, John Ford’s thunderous bass, and Richard Hud Hudson’s drum revelations, they turned that basement into rock’n’roll’s most exciting underground church.

Their debut single Flames burned so hot that even Led Zeppelin had to cover it, while their self-titled album packed more ideas into three minutes than most bands managed in their entire careers. From Mother Writes (powerful enough to make Pete Townshend check his amp settings) to Mary Jane (too clever for the BBC’s comfort), every track captures a band operating at full power.

Think Like A Key Music presents these perfectly crafted capsules of an era when anything seemed possible – as long as you had enough vision and a basement to call your own.

1. Intro
2. Mother Writes
3. Mary Jane
4. I Was Cool
5. Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey
6. Air
7. Lookin’ For A Happy Life
8. Flames
9. What’s The Point Of Leaving
10. Long Nights Of Summer
11. Dream Starts
12. Reaction Of Young Man
13. Now She’s Gone
14. Talk Of The Devil [From the short film Talk Of The Devil]
15. Salisbury Plain
16. Dreamy
17. A Quick “B”
18. Flames [Single Mix]
19. Mary Jane [Single Version]
20. Volcano
21. And I Remember
22. To Be With You
23. Salisbury Plain [Extended Demo Version]
24. Flames [Demo Version]

With every glorious moment of their 1968 masterpiece, plus essential rarities now lovingly brought together, they open on a short, yet drumstastic Intro and then the music erupts with the rhythmic Mother Writes, the psych-hued Mary Jane, the shimmering I Was Cool, the boombastic beauty Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey and then we get the Eastern-flavored Air, the drum-led midtempo AOR of Lookin’ For A Happy Life, the jaunty pop-rock of Flames, the low slung What’s The Point Of Leaving, before the trio gives us the Beatles-esque Long Nights Of Summer, the playful Dream Starts and the spacial psych of Reaction Of Young Man.

Along next is the impassioned Now She’s Gone, the shimmering rocker Talk Of The Devil [From the short film Talk Of The Devil], the flirtatious Salisbury Plain, and they are in turn backed by the aptly-titled lushness of Dreamy, the guitar-fed A Quick “B” and single mixes of both Flames and Mary Jane, with the full on, harmonic-driven Volcano, the effervescent And I Remember and the atmospherically-charged To Be With You rounding things out, the set closing on extended and demo versions if both Salisbury Plain and another Flames.

Included is a 16-page booklet featuring Mike Stax’s deep dive into the band’s evolution (from R&B soldiers to psychedelic warriors) with the music itself having been expertly remastered by Prof. Stoned to make 1968 sound like yesterday.

It also comes housed in a 350g cardboard digipak (sturdier than Denmark Street’s foundations).

Official Purchase Link