The Palace Guards - The Palace Guards (2006 Comp)

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A British Invasion-influenced garage band popular in the New Orleans region in the late '60s, the Palace Guards were formed in 1966 by singer Les Gray, drummer Frank Bua, bassist Richie Faber, and guitarists Glen Acombe and Jeff Miller. Their first single, "Better Things to Do" b/w "Sorry," was released that same year on Frank Udoe's local U-DOE Records imprint and both sides of the single became popular on local radio stations, leading to four more singles with the label. Ray Morant on piano and organ and Doug Davis on 12-string guitar were added to the group in 1967, fleshing out the sound and giving it a more soulful edge, although the group always maintained a kind of Byrdsian jangle. Faber and Acombe left the band a year later in 1968 and the Palace Guards worked with a lineup of Bua, Morant, Miller, and new bassist Bobby Fonseca until finally calling it quits in 1970. Gear Fab Records released the group's entire recorded output, including both sides of all five singles and additional unreleased and alternate tracks, as the single disc Complete Recordings in 2007.

A 1960s garage band out of New Orleans, the Palace Guards sound pretty much like a thousand other similar regional bands who drew inspiration from the Beatles, the Byrds, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Animals during the middle part of the decade. The Guards, particularly after they added an organist in 1968, had at times a soulful R&B edge, but they remained pretty much part of the Byrdsian jangling guitar army throughout their run, which lasted from 1966 to 1970, during which time they released five locally successful singles on Frank Udoe's U-DOE Records imprint. Both sides of all five of those singles are included here, as well as some unreleased material and alternate takes, and a 1974 recording by guitarist Jeff Miller ("Waltz for Alissa") made a couple years after the group disbanded. Nothing here rises to the level of a lost gem, although "Gas Station Boogaloo Downtown" has a playful energy and both "My Window" and "Wrong Side of the Street" are compelling pop songs with decent hooks. One of the most striking tracks is "Don't Know Why I Feel Good," which has a distinct Rascals-like soulful groove to it, and indicates a direction the band might have taken had they broken free of the British Invasion influences. Seemingly every town in America had a band or two like the Palace Guards in the mid-'60s, and they are hardly singular in what was essentially a suburban garage band folk movement, but there is still something refreshing about these guys, derivative as they are, and fans and collectors of the genre will undoubtedly be delighted with this set.

Thanks Cor !!

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