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.
I Was Cool
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Whatever happens, do not blow your cool
You've gotta have nerves out of steel
Never let folks know how you honestly feel
I've lived my whole life this way
For example, take yesterday:
I breezed home happy, bringing her my pay
Her note read: "So long Elmer, I have run away."
This is what I said:
Ooowww, oh nooooo…
But I was cool!
I went for a drink at a roadside bar
I got so stoned that I smashed up my car
The judge threw the book at me
And when I read the sentence there I said:
Oh no, man, you just can't do this to me…
But I was cool!
I said, she's the only one that I have to thank
So I found her and I took my gun and fired point-blank
The bullet whistled right on past that old woman's head
Killed my hound dog dead
Oooooh, oh no, not again…
As they took me away I was overheard to say:
Be cool, keep cool, stay cool, be cool, be…
No matter whatever happens to you man,
You must always remember to keep your mind at all times
And always stay cool!
The song "I Was Cool" by Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera tells the story of a person who always tries to maintain his composure and stay cool even in the most challenging situations. The song's opening lines reveal the singer's guiding principle - the golden rule he has always lived by is to never blow his cool. He believes in keeping his nerves intact and not expressing his true emotions to others. The lyrics provide examples of how he has applied this philosophy in his life, both in the case of being deserted by his loved one and facing a harsh sentence from a judge for drunk-driving. The singer maintains his cool demeanor and resilience even after he commits a horrific crime of shooting his hound dog while trying to find his runaway partner.
The song may be interpreted in different ways, but it seems to suggest that the singer's coolness and self-restraint may have saved him from the consequences of his actions in the short term. However, the final lines suggest that he is aware of the importance of keeping one's mind under control and staying cool, no matter what happens in life. Whether the singer's behavior is commendable or not is left to the listeners' interpretation.
Line by Line Meaning
I've always lived by this golden rule:
I have a guiding principle that I follow in life
Whatever happens, do not blow your cool
No matter what happens, do not lose your composure or let your emotions get the best of you
You've gotta have nerves out of steel
You need to have strong nerves and be able to handle stressful situations
Never let folks know how you honestly feel
Do not show your true emotions to others
I've lived my whole life this way
I have maintained this attitude throughout my entire life
For example, take yesterday:
As an illustration, consider what happened yesterday
I breezed home happy, bringing her my pay
I returned home feeling content and brought home my earnings
Her note read: "So long Elmer, I have run away."
I discovered a note from my partner informing me that she left me
I threw myself down across our empty bed
I collapsed onto our bed, which was now empty
This is what I said:
These were my words:
Ooowww, oh nooooo…
I yelled out in pain and disbelief
But I was cool!
However, I maintained my composure
I went for a drink at a roadside bar
I went to a bar located alongside the road
I got so stoned that I smashed up my car
I became so intoxicated (probably with drugs/alcohol) that I crashed my car
The judge threw the book at me
The judge punished me severely
And when I read the sentence there I said:
At the moment when I read my sentence, I commented:
Oh no, man, you just can't do this to me…
I protested and refused to accept the punishment
But I was cool!
Despite my protest, I kept my cool and didn't lose my composure
I said, she's the only one that I have to thank
I said to myself that she was the one responsible for what happened
So I found her and I took my gun and fired point-blank
I located her and fired my gun at close range
The bullet whistled right on past that old woman's head
The bullet missed the intended target (likely my partner) and barely missed an elderly woman instead
Killed my hound dog dead
The bullet hit and killed my loyal canine
Oooooh, oh no, not again…
I expressed disappointment and frustration
As they took me away I was overheard to say:
As they escorted me out, someone heard me say:
Be cool, keep cool, stay cool, be cool, be…
I repeated the mantra of keeping one's composure, remaining calm, and not losing control of oneself
No matter whatever happens to you man,
Regardless of the situation you find yourself in, man,
You must always remember to keep your mind at all times
You must always remember to maintain your mental composure and not let your emotions take over
And always stay cool!
And always remain calm and collected!
Contributed by Madison B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lorrij53
I'm loving this sound! It's totally how I feel.
Barry Knoedl
Loved this album!
jenny talia
Had this album, brilliant.
VideoTester7
The vocalist here Elmer Gantry aka David Terry would later go on to sing both "May Be a Price to Pay" from 'The Turn of a Friendly Card' and "Psychobabble" from 'Eye in the Sky' two albums from The Alan Parsons Project.
phcassa
thx for share this amazing song!
Juan Pedro de la Plancha
Thanks for discover ;) Great song.
jeffthrow6892
Wow! This is pretty, uhh.......cool.........
Ayahx Pineda
Cremita. 🕯️