DAILY FLASH
RECORDINGS
 |
"Everyone
who came to see us was expecting to see a great group, and because of that we played like a great group." - Steve Lalor on the October 1967 Daily Flash shows in Seattle |
Even among the wealth of interesting, groundbreaking outfits that walked the
earth in the mid-1960s, the DAILY FLASH stands
out as remarkable. With very few official releases to show for it, the band's
story cuts right through the heart of the folkrock and psychedelic explosion
on the west coast. They began in Seattle, to which they quickly became what
the Beau Brummels were to San Francisco and the Byrds were to L A; that is,
the first "alternative" rock band, playing new music for a new crowd
at a new type of venue. While they returned to the Northwest often the band
soon made Los Angeles their homebase, with occasional gigs at the ballrooms in
San Francisco.
You could fill a huge Pete Frame family tree with the Flash's various members
and their connections to famous and legendary groups; from the pre-Moby Grape
Frantics to Iron Butterfly, from the Driftwood Singers to Rhinoceros. And that
doesn't even take their session work into account. Indeed this was a band that
no matter what the line-up was seemed geared towards excellent musicianship,
and this must have been a crucial part of what garnered them respect in the
insider circles of LA and SF.
Their official output is limited to 2 (or 3) 45s, and the retrospective
catalog isn't terribly impressive either; the "I Flash Daily" album
on Psycho Records from England 1985 is an excellent release, but that was 18
years ago. A Sundazed EP with some additional unreleased tracks exist, but no
major effort to present the band has been seen so far. As you can tell from
the attempted sessionography below, there is no lack of material; all of it
good or excellent.
The rest of the Los Angeles '66 live tape remains unseen, anyone know more on
it, do get in touch. The terrific Seattle 1967 tape circulates among tape
traders, and most of it can be found on the recent "S F Odds &
Ends" bootleg. "Cantaloupe Island", the band's acidrock magnum
opus, can be found on the old Psycho album.
1.
DISCOGRAPHY
Original era
45: Queen Jane Approximately (vers 1)/Jack Of Diamonds (Parrot 305), 1966-Spring
Seldom listed, but existence has been confirmed. The "Birdses" B-side 45 does NOT exist.
45: Queen Jane Approximately (vers 2)/Jack Of Diamonds (Parrot 308), 1966-June
Note the new catalog number for this second version.
45: The French Girl/Green Rocky Road (UNI 55001), 1967-February
Retrospective
EP: Jack Of Diamonds/Queen Jane/Green Rocky Road/The French Girl (Moxie 1014) 1983
LP: "I Flash Daily" (Psycho 32) 1984
EP: Bonnie Ship The Diamond/The Girl From North Alberta/Grizzly Bear/When I Was A Cowboy (Sundazed SEP 120) 1996
-- note: the first track is incorrectly listed as 'Jack Of Diamonds'CD: "I Flash Daily" (Flash 60) 199?
A European boot of the Psycho LP + "Grizzly Bear" and "When I Was A Cowboy" from the Sundazed EP
2.
RECORDINGS
First Demo Disc
- home recording from Seattle, late 1965/early 1966
Let Me Die In My Footsteps
Referred to in an article on the band; unconfirmed.
Parrot
45 Sessions (I) - Seattle, early 1966
Queen Jane Approximately
(version 1)
Birdses
Parrot
45 Sessions (II) - Tacoma, early 1966
Jack Of
Diamonds
First appearance in the Bay Area
LA
45 Sessions - Los Angeles, circa May 1966
Queen Jane Approximately
(version 2)
The existence of two different versions of "Queen Jane" is little known, but has been confirmed from two sources.
Byrds
Tour Tape - Los Angeles, September (?) 1966
Queen Jane Approximately
(live)
Other contents of the tape unknown. The recording was made by Wally Heider and has also been credited as being from the Whisky A Go Go in November 1966.
UNI
45 Session - Los Angeles (?), late 1966
French Girl
Green Rocky Road
Violets Of Dawn [unconfirmed; may be from another session]
US Army Spot
Apparently the band provided music for an advert for the US army; it's unknown whether it was newly created material or an existing recording.
Rare variant on the
"Poe" handbill
"Girl
From UNCLE" TV series - Los Angeles, January-1967
My Bulgarian
Baby (a spoof-like tune; assumed to be by the band)
The band appears in the episode (aired 1967-Jan-31) and even has lines of dialogue.
1967
studio session
Barbara
Flowers
Grizzly Bear
The Girl from North Alberta
When I Was A Cowboy
Bonnie Ship The Diamond [this is NOT the same tune as Jack Of Diamonds]
May be from different sessions
Eagles
Auditorium, Seattle 1967-Oct-6
Canteloupe Island
It takes a lot to laugh
Blues flash
No money down
My Suzanne
...
Again & Again
Blackstone Ferry
Let Me Die In My Footsteps
This is based on the most complete version of the tape I've found. The last three tracks have been reported to exist, but haven't been in circulation at all from what I can tell. The various bootlegs of the first five tunes are in OK sound quality, while the "Canteloupe Island" found on Psycho's "I Flash Daily" is near perfect. The Seattle recording was made by Rick Chin.
Denver show week after the recorded
Seattle gig
"Pit Stop" movie soundtrack
In 1968-69, a few remaining members of the band recorded the soundtrack for the "Pit Stop" movie (a k a "The Winner") directed by Jack Hill ("Spider Baby";"Foxy Brown"). No vinyl release of the soundtrack exists, but the music has been described as follows: "...One of the most remarkable aspects of this movie is the powerful sound track. All the car sounds were recorded separately and added in post-production, and the movie is a veritable wall of roaring engines during the race scenes. On top of the raw hormonal call of a souped-up V8, Hill hired Seattle psychedelic band The Daily Flash (an acid reference) to do the original music. And it's bloody wicked. You're treated to tortured, fuzzed-out acid blues that makes other racing movies sound like Neil Sedaka on prozac..." (from review written by Rick McGrath).
Sources:
"The
Rhinoceros story" by Nick Warburton; "I Flash Daily"
liner notes; private correspondence. Thanks to John Berg for valuable input.