Artist: Mark Eric

Album: A Midsummer's Day Dream

Release: 1969 (2002)

Genre: Pop Surf Rock

Country: US

Quality: FLAC | lossless



Mark Eric (whose real name is Mark Eric Malmborg) wasn't the most original composer of his day, and yet years after its 1968 release his long out-of-print one-off soft pop LP for Revue (a UNI/MCA subsidiary) commands a fairly high price from soft pop collectors who've managed to nab themselves a copy. The reason? A Midsummer's Day Dream is treasured by collectors as one of the more perfect blends of soft pop and surf pop, with appropriately accenting vibraphones and French horns, pseudo-studio jazzy/soft pop melodies, "bah bah bah" harmonies, and moody string arrangements reminiscent of Curt Boettcher's productions of Sagittarius and the Millennium. Eric's charming, somewhat imperfect falsetto (in a somewhat obvious homage to Brian Wilson) hints at a subterranean layer of loneliness throughout. His self-penned, broken-hearted Beach Boys-style ballads (think Pet Sounds/Friends) are, in fact, the perfect vehicle for his faltering upper-register voice. Highlights include "California Home" (about a homesick airplane flight away from L.A.); an end-of-summer lament, "Where Do the Girls of the Summer Go"; and "Don't Cry Over Me," with its gorgeous blend of harmonic filigree and sophisticated studio sheen. Eric -- who as an actor appeared on TV's The Partridge Family as the pal of Snake (a biker played by a pre-Meathead Rob Reiner) -- apparently never recorded another album.



Tracklist:

A Midsummer's Day Dream

1. California Home - 2:31

2. Move With The Dawn - 2:46

3. Laura's Changing - 2:19

4. Where Do The Girls Of The Summer Go - 3:21

5. I'd Like To Talk To You - 2:56

6. Take Me With You - 3:04

7. Night Of The Lions - 2:41

8. Don't Cry Over Me - 2:49

9. We Live So Fast - 2:25

10.Sad Is The Way That I Feel - 3:05

11.Just Passing By - 2:49

12.Lynn's Baby - 3:11

Bonus Tracks:

13.Place For The Summer - 2:34

14.Build Your Own Dreams - 3:42

15.Summer Goes This Way - 2:50

16.Goin' Native - 2:43

17.Night Of The Lions (45 Mono Mix) - 2:40

18.Don't Cry Over Me (45 Mono Mix) - 2:45

19.California Home (45 Mono Mix) - 2:46

20.Where Do The Girls Of The Summer Go? (45 Mono Mix) - 5:40