The band picked up on the British psychedelic movement after supporting The Pink Floyd as a soul/blues band called 'The Five Proud Walkers', the lineup was Richard " Hud" Hudson on drums, John Ford on bass, Colin Forster on lead guitar, Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) on organ and flute (who left early in the band's history), and Dave Terry on vocals and harmonica.
Earlier, they gigged for a while playing blues-based material,but gradually got interested in more a free-form style. The name Velvet Opera was chosen initially, which was amended to Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera within days after Dave Terry turned up to a session wearing a long black cape and a preacher's hat and had to endure some piss-taking from the rest of the band (Elmer Gantry was the fictional hero of a Sinclair Lewis novel and 1960 film about a preacher). The name stuck and Dave became Elmer. By this time Elmer, influenced by the music of John Cage, was making experimental taped backing sounds and using signal generators on stage in the act.
The band began to get quite a following and played clubs and university gigs all over the UK and at London venues like the Marquee and 100 club and Electric Garden. They would also occasionally play at the Speakeasy where Jimi Hendrix would jam with them, also people like Jeff beck and Eric Burdon. The band had been recorded independently for a while by Southern Music Publishing, who had their own four-track studio in Denmark Street, and it wasn't long before they had secured a record deal with CBS's "Direction" label. The problem was that Southern Music had originally signed them as a bluesy/jazzy band and they were not very keen on trying to get new, more riotous stage act on disc.
The group were persuaded to do more "regular" material. The first recording was the song, written by Elmer, that the band were best known for, 'Flames'. The record was on jukeboxes all over the UK and was covered live by bands as diverse as "The Joe Loss Orchestra" and "Led Zeppelin", in fact Jimmy Page told Elmer that Flames was the only non-Zep number that they included in their early stage-act (Robert Plant also included it in his 2001-2002 tour). However, for the average radio listener the song was too far ahead of its time and despite live popularity and numerous radio plays the song only managed to achieve number 30 in the charts. Direction did however, take faith in the band to record second and third singles and more importantly a self-titled album.
The group's second single, "Mary Jane" was removed from the BBC playlist after they realised that the song was the slang term for Marijuana. The third single, Volcano, was written by Howard & Blakely, who had written hits for Dave Dee etc.
After three singles and the album, major success had still not been achieved. The agent at the time, Terry King, had booked the group a lot of shows, they were regularly appearing on the BBC on John Peel's show, among others, they were playing, touring and promoting hard, but recording success was still elusive. Colin Forster was then replaced by Paul Brett but this still didn't achieve the desired result.
Disagreements erupted within the band, which led to a split from Elmer and so the Velvet Opera was formed. Elmer Gantry remembers : "eventually, EGVO broke up due to a change of direction within the band. Paul Brett, (who incidentally I had worked with previously and had brought into the band following our initial success) although a brilliant guitarist, had a strong interest in more folkish music and, with Hud's increasing interest in playing instruments other than drums, the band started to change direction. I did not welcome this change, and whilst I had great admiration for all the other members as musicians, was not interested. There followed a coup in which the other members of the band attempted to just replace me and keep the name. This would clearly have been ridiculous as I was already known as Elmer Gantry and the band was largely know for its riotous, envelope-pushing stage presence, not for electro-folk. The result was that they brought twelve string guitarist folk-blues guitarist Johnny Joyce in, and continued as The Velvet Opera and eventually Strawbs and The Monks producing the novelty hits "Union Man" and "Nice legs, shame about the face" and I continued with a new line-up, formed from the Downliners sect, as the Elmer Gantry band. I also later had a lead role in "Hair" in the west end, recorded on two Alan Parsons Project albums, did the lead vocals on Cozy powell's album, sang and wrote with Jon Lord on his solo album."
A second album, "Ride a Hustler's Dream" was released by the Velvet Opera on their own, Elmer and Colin having been replaced by John Joyce and Paul Brett. The album was recorded (as was the EGVO album) at Southern Music's studios in Denmark St. Paul Brett remembers : "It was an 8 track set up and was a real struggle to get real quality and instrument separation, but we did our best. We did lots of Radio 1 sessions and quite a few dates, the most memorable being with the Who at The Lyceum. John Ford and Richard Hudson were getting more into writing their own songs and they also wanted to perform them, Johnny and I were more into acoustic music and inevitably, we went our own ways quite amicably. Southern would have made another LP with us but we felt we needed to follow our hearts! I spoke to Hud last year about the possibility of collaborating on a new Velvet Opera LP as the bands reputation has survived and even grown over the years, probably because we have all done our own things. This is very much a possibility and I will pursue this with Hud and John. I did a CD last year with John Joyce 'Acoustic Power' that was really well received by the media. It could also be that there is another Fire LP in the future and certainly their will be more Paul Brett CD's and there are collectors issues on CD of the previous material and some unreleased Paul Brett & Sage stuff via my site www.fret-dancer.com".
After the split, Ford and Hudson joined Strawbs whilst Rick Wakeman was still a member. In 1971, Colin Forster recruited a whole new Velvet Opera featuring ex-Tintern Abbey vocalist, Dave MacTavish, bass player Colin Bass and drummer Mike Fincher who recorded one single on the Spark label. Elmer Gantry later appeared in the Seventies in Stretch singing the hit single "Why Did You Do It?" Stretch released four albums and some singles on the "Anchor" label. During the 90s, a CD of live "John Peel BBC Sessions" was released by "Strange Fruit" and a double CD set " Stretch, The Story of Elmer Gantry" was released on Repertoire Records. The Stretch catalogue is currently handled by "Trojan Records." Elmer is now working in the drug-rehabilitation field but still gigs occasionally both in the UK and in America.
Flames
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A flickering love light turning all aglow
Flames are growing higher
Your love is like fuel on a fire
I can feel the burning deep inside and my heart begins to beat
I'm crying out for mercy but she's turning on the heat
Flames are growing higher
The temperature is rising
I'm slowly realising
The way you fill my loving cup
You're just burning me up
And when I think about you, baby
It makes me hot from head to toe, yes it does
I wanna shout out that I love you so much
I'll let everybody know
I'll let everybody know
Now the love that was smouldering has burst into flames
(.......) feeling surges through my brain
Flames are growing higher
But your love is like fuel on a fire
You're just burning me up
And when I think about you, baby
It makes me hot from head to toe, yes it does
I wanna shout out that I love you so much
I'll let everybody know
I'll let everybody know
Now the love that was smouldering has burst into flames
(.......) feeling surges through my brain
Flames are growing higher
But your love is like fuel on a fire
Flames are growing higher
But your love is like fuel on a fire
Flames are growing higher
But your love is like fuel on a fire
The lyrics in Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera's song Flames talk about the intense feeling of love and passion that comes with being in a relationship. The lyrics describe a feeling of burning desire and a growing love that is fuelled by the intensity of the emotions involved. The imagery of flames and heat is used throughout the song to convey the intensity of these feelings.
The songwriter talks about the physical sensations that come with being deeply in love, describing how it makes them feel hot from head to toe. The lyrics express a desire to shout about their love and let everybody know how passionate they are feeling. The last section of the song talks about how the love that was once smouldering has burst into flames, and the feeling surges through the songwriter's brain.
Overall, the song Flames is a passionate and intense love song that describes the overwhelming emotions that come with being in love. The lyrics use vivid imagery and intense language to paint a picture of heat, flames, and desire.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a flame burning in my heart and it's gonna grow
I feel a passion stirring within me that will only intensify.
A flickering love light turning all aglow
My smoldering love is now being ignited.
Flames are growing higher
The passion between us is rapidly intensifying.
Your love is like fuel on a fire
Your love is the reason my passion burns so fiercely.
I can feel the burning deep inside and my heart begins to beat
My passion is awakening and I can feel my heart racing with desire.
I'm crying out for mercy but she's turning on the heat
I'm overwhelmed by desire, but you're only making it worse.
The temperature is rising
The passion between us is getting hotter.
I'm slowly realizing
I'm starting to see how deeply I love you.
The way you fill my loving cup
You satisfy me like nothing else.
You're just burning me up
Your love is so intense that it's consuming me completely.
And when I think about you, baby
When you're on my mind,
It makes me hot from head to toe, yes it does
I'm completely on fire for you.
I wanna shout out that I love you so much
I want the whole world to know how much I love you.
I'll let everybody know
I'll shout it from the rooftops if I have to.
Now the love that was smouldering has burst into flames
Our love has gone from a slow burn to a raging inferno.
(.......) feeling surges through my brain
I'm overcome with intense feelings of love and desire.
But your love is like fuel on a fire
Your love only intensifies my already burning passion.
Flames are growing higher
Our passion for each other is getting more and more intense.
But your love is like fuel on a fire
Your love is the driving force behind our intense passion.
Flames are growing higher
Our love and desire for each other is reaching a fever pitch.
But your love is like fuel on a fire
Your love is the reason we're burning so hot for each other.
Contributed by Allison M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@678jjjaaaakkkklo
This album is bloody amazing! First time I heard it I couldn't believe just how good it was.
@Syd4510
Totally agree Parklife Enjoyer!
@aeropro7558
I inherited this plus many more albums off an old uncle....love this tune...Great album also.
@TheGamecock366
Elmer Gantry also sang lead on a few Alan Parsons Project albums
@beatsinabar
Played this in a covers band, in 1967.
@btrump1
Saw these at Newcastle Mayfair supporting Traffic in 1968
@notmadheardthingsinhell8079
When the radio plays classic rock and not Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera.
@dougsmith7083
Covered by Zeppelin in their earliest days
@keniabbll
great song!
@karencopeland5404
Love this !