The Royal Guardsmen from Ocala, FL -- Bill Balough (bass), John Burdette (drums), Chris Nunley (vocals), Tom Richards (guitar), Billy Taylor (organ), and Barry Winslow (vocals/guitar) -- enjoyed their brief reign of pop fame in 1966-1968 by recording a series of songs taking off from the Peanuts cartoon character Snoopy and his fantasy about aerial dog fighting with German World War I flying ace Baron Von Richthofen. The million-selling "Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron" was the first and most successful of these novelty records in the fall of 1966, and its follow-up, "The Return of the Red Baron," also made the Top 40.
"Snoopy's Christmas" topped the seasonal charts at the end of 1967. After a few non-Snoopy singles were less successful, the Guardsmen released "Snoopy for President" in the summer of 1968, but the fad was over. The group scored a final Top 40 hit with its two-year-old, reissued debut single, "Baby Let's Wait," in the winter of 1968-1969. The original group split in 1969; a version with some replacement members continued for another year. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
"Snoopy's Christmas" topped the seasonal charts at the end of 1967. After a few non-Snoopy singles were less successful, the Guardsmen released "Snoopy for President" in the summer of 1968, but the fad was over. The group scored a final Top 40 hit with its two-year-old, reissued debut single, "Baby Let's Wait," in the winter of 1968-1969. The original group split in 1969; a version with some replacement members continued for another year. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Snoopy And His Friends The Royal Guardsmen (1967) VINIL
(rebuilttrannyrecords.com)
In contrast to their debut album, which mixed straight rock & roll -- plus a few delightfully odd pop-related covers -- with their novelty hit, the Royal Guardsmen's third album is pretty much novelty themed all the way through. Not that they don't try to rock out on numbers like "The Return of the Red Baron," but on this album they never get away from the Snoopy/Red Baron theme until the second side. That's when you get to hear some mainstream pop-rock, on the Billy Taylor/Barry Winslow "I See Love," a fine piece of pop laced with blue-eyed soul. But even on the LP's second side, they can't quite get away from the Snoopy/Red Baron motif for very long, so that song is rather wasted here, as is another original, "So Right (To Be in Love)." What those two numbers are doing on this album is anyone's guess (though one imagines that the ex-group members would probably have a story to tell about it, if asked) -- they don't fit with anything else on the record, but they're the only part of this album that gives it anything value beyond being a pop culture curio, four decades on. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
1. The Royal Guardsmen - The Story of Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (1:48)
2. The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (2:42)
3. The Royal Guardsmen - The Story of the Return of The Red Baron (1:50)
4. The Royal Guardsmen - The Return of The Red Baron (2:45)
5. The Royal Guardsmen - The Story of Snoopy's Christmas (3:27)
6. The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy's Christmas
7. The Royal Guardsmen - I Say Love
8. The Royal Guardsmen - Down Behind The Lines
9. The Royal Guardsmen - It's Sopwith Camel Time
10.The Royal Guardsmen - So Right (To Be In Love)
11.The Royal Guardsmen - Airplane Song (My Airplane)
12.The Royal Guardsmen - It Kinda Looks Like Christmas
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