JUNE 6TH 2018
I V A N
B R O W N E
LEAD SINGER-GUITARIST-SONGWRITER
T H E L E M O N P I P E R S
"GREEN TAMBOURINE"
& IVAN & ISA BAND
Ivan Browne
(vocals/rhythm guitar), Bill Bartlett (lead guitar), R.G. (Reg) Nave (organ),
Steve Walmsley (bass) and Bill Albuagh (drums) - made its debut in 1967 with
‘Turn Around and Take A Look’. Its rudimentary style was then replaced by the
measured approach of aspiring songwriting/production team, Paul Leka and Shelly
Pinz. Together they created a distinctive Lemon Pipers sound, a sparkling mélange
of sweeping strings and percussive vibraslaps exemplified on the group’s
million-selling hit, ‘Green Tambourine’.
The attendant album contained several
songs - ‘Rice Is Nice’, ‘Shoeshine Boy’ - which were recorded in a similar
style, but the set also contained the startling ‘Through with You’, an extended
tour de force for Bartlett’s rampaging guitar work and a surprise for those
anticipating easy-on-the-ear fare. Subsequent recordings failed to match their
early success, and although a second album, Jungle Marmalade, offered several
inventive moments, the Lemon Pipers were tarred as a bubblegum attraction on
the strength of that first hit. The group broke up in 1969, although Bartlett
later found success as a member of Ram Jam predominantly known for their hit single
"Black Betty" in 1977.
IVAN and his wife ISA started traveling together in 1973. They performed in R.I., Hawaii, Alaska and
New Hampshire, where they were married and started the IVAN and ISA BAND
in October of 1975. Their musical travels continued to Florida and Ohio. In
1977, I and I settled down in Sonoma County, California, where they
played 108 consecutive weeks as a house band at Santa Rosa's Ponderosa Club. In
May 1981, they once again packed up their equipment and headed for the east
coast and traveling through R.I., Ohio, and back to California. In March of
1985, IVAN and ISA bought a ridgetop home in Mendocino County from the
"DOOR'S" Ray Manzarek's family.
For
more information about Ivan & Isa Browne visit www.ivanandisa.com
5PM PACIFIC/8PM EASTERN
ON BBS RADIO 1
