Green Tambourine is the first album by the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 band The Lemon Pipers

The Lemon Pipers

The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968...

. It was released in 1967 (see 1967 in music

1967 in music

The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...

) after the band's bubblegum

Bubblegum pop

Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...

 single of the same name had topped the charts in the US.

The album revealed the wide division between the musical tastes of the band and the commercial demands of the label, which hoped to replicate the success of the "Green Tambourine" hit single. It contained extended blues-inspired psychedelic tracks "Fifty Year Void" and "Through With You" (the latter, running to more than nine minutes, written by guitarist Bill Bartlett and bearing influences of The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

, particularly their John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

-infused song "Eight Miles High

Eight Miles High

"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...

") as well as five bubblegum tracks written by Brill Building

Brill Building

The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...

 songwriters Paul Leka

Paul Leka

Paul Leka was an American songwriter, pianist, arranger, and orchestrator, most notable for his writing associations with the 1960s hits "Green Tambourine" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", the latter of which has become a standard song at sporting events.-Life and career:Born in Bridgeport,...

 and Shelley Pinz. Leka was also the album's credited producer.

The album's liner notes, written by Buddah Records

Buddah Records

Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...

 General Manager Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....

, described the band as "five very intelligent young men with a solid sound and a real interest in all kinds of music. They perform folk ballads, soul, psychedelic, blues, country and western and write much of their own material."

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Rice Is Nice" (Paul Leka
   Paul Leka
   Paul Leka was an American songwriter, pianist, arranger, and orchestrator, most notable for his writing associations with the 1960s hits "Green Tambourine" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", the latter of which has become a standard song at sporting events.-Life and career:Born in Bridgeport,...
   
   , Shelley Pinz) - 2:16
2. "Shoeshine Boy" (Leka, Pinz) - 3:19
3. "Turn Around Take a Look" (Bill Bartlett) - 2:42
4. "Rainbow Tree" (Kenny Laguna, Hy Mizrahi) - 2:16
5. "Ask Me If I Care" (Eric Ehrmann
   Eric Ehrmann
   Eric Wayne Ehrmann is an expatriate American author, polemic columnist and essayist who resides in Brazil...
   
   ) - 3:03
6. "Straglin' Behind" (no author credit listed on original pressings) - 2:32
7. "Green Tambourine
   Green Tambourine
   "Green Tambourine" was the primary hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group The Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track to their debut-album Green Tambourine. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart-topper. Released towards the end of 1967, it peaked at number one on the U.S...
   
   " (Leka, Pinz) - 2:22

Side 2

1. "Blueberry Blue" (Leka, Pinz) - 2:19
2. "Shoemaker of Leatherwear Square" (Leka, Pinz) - 2:00
3. "Fifty Year Void" (Albaugh, Bartlett, Browne, Nave, Walmsley) - 5:41
4. "Through With You" (Bartlett) - 9:09 (original pressings incorrectly list this track's duration as 8:31)

Personnel

• Bill Albaugh – drums
• Bill Bartlett – lead guitar
• Ivan Browne – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
• R. G. Nave – organ, tambourine, fog horn, toys
• Steve Walmsley – bass guitar

Additional personnel

• Irv Spice Strings – string section
• Kenny Hammond – engineer (Cleveland)
• Bill Radice – engineer (New York)