01	She's Not There						02:26
	02	Tell Her No						02:09
	03	Summertime						02:14
	04	You Really Got A Hold On Me						03:40
	05	Woman						02:25
	06	Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself						02:28
	07	I Got My Mojo Working						03:34
	08	Nothing's Changed						02:31
	09	Road Runner						02:06
	10	Time Of The Season						03:35
	11	Going Out Of My Head						03:02
	12	Sticks and Stones						02:56
	13	I Can't Make Up My Mind						02:37
	14	Leave Me Be						02:07
	15	Kind of Girl						02:12
	16	You Make Me Feel Good						02:40

The Zombies
Formed 1962 in St. Albans, Herts, England
Disbanded 1967
Group Members Chris White Rod Argent Colin Blunstone Paul Atkinson Hugh Grundy
Styles England, British Invasion, Baroque Pop, Pop, Psychedelic Pop, British Psychedelia

by Richie Unterberger

Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-'60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies. Dominated by Colin Blunstone's breathy vocals, choral backup harmonies, and Rod Argent's shining jazz- and classical-influenced organ and piano, the band sounded utterly unique for their era. Indeed, their material - penned by either Argent or guitarist Chris White, with unexpected shifts from major to minor keys - was perhaps too adventurous for the singles market. To this day, they're known primarily for their three big hit singles, "She's Not There" (1964), "Tell Her No" (1965), and "Time of the Season" (1969). Most listeners remain unaware that the group maintained a remarkably high quality of work for several years.
The Zombies formed in the London suburb of St. Albans in the early '60s, and actually didn't entertain serious professional ambitions until they won a local contest, the prize being an opportunity to record a demo for consideration at major labels. Argent's composition "She's Not There" got them a deal with Decca, and the song ended up being their debut release. It was a remarkably confident and original first-time effort, with a great minor melody and the organ, harmonies, and urgent, almost neurotic vocals that would typify much of their work. It did well enough in Britain (making the Top 20), but did even better in the States, where it went to number two.

In fact the group would experience a lot more success across the waters than they did at home throughout their career. In early 1965, another piece of classic British Invasion pop, "Tell Her No," went into the Top Ten. Yet that was as much Top 40 success as the group would have for several years.

The tragedy was that throughout 1965 and 1966, the Zombies released a string of equally fine, intricately arranged singles that flopped commercially, at a time in which chart success on 45s was a lot more important to sustain a band's livelihood than it would be a few years down the road. "Remember When I Loved Her," "I Want You Back Again," "Indication," "She's Coming Home," "Whenever You're Ready," "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself," "I Must Move," "Remember You," "Just out of Reach," "How We Were Before" - all are lost classics, some relegated to B-sides, that went virtually unheard, all showing the group eager to try new ideas and expand their approaches. What's worse, the lack of a big single denied the group opportunities to record albums - only one LP, rushed out to capitalize on the success of "She's Not There," would appear before 1968.

Their failure to achieve more widespread success is a bit mystifying, perhaps explained by a few factors. While undeniably pop-based, their original compositions and arrangements were in some senses too adventurous for the radio. "Indication," for instance, winds down with a lengthy, torturous swirl of bitter organ solos and wordless, windblown vocals; "Remember When I Loved Her," despite its beautiful melody, has downbeat lyrics that are almost morbid; "I Want You Back Again" is arranged like a jazz waltz, with the sorts of sudden stops, tempo shifts, and lengthy minor organ solos found in a lot of their tunes. The group were also, perhaps unfairly, saddled with a somewhat square image; much was made of their formidable scholastic record, and they most definitely did not align themselves with the R&B-based school of British bands, preferring more subtle and tuneful territory.

By 1967, the group hadn't had a hit for quite some time, and reckoned it was time to pack it in. Their Decca contract expired early in the year, and the Zombies signed with CBS for one last album, knowing before the sessions that it was to be their last. A limited budget precluded the use of many session musicians, which actually worked to the band's advantage, as they became among the first to utilize the then-novel Mellotron to emulate strings and horns.

Odessey and Oracle was their only cohesive full-length platter (the first album was largely pasted together from singles and covers). A near-masterpiece of pop/psychedelia, it showed the group reaching new levels of sophistication in composition and performance, finally branching out beyond strictly romantic themes into more varied lyrical territory. The album passed virtually unnoticed in Britain, and was only released in the States after some lobbying from Al Kooper. By this time it was 1968, and the group had split for good.

The Zombies had been defunct for some time when one of the tracks from Odessey, "Time of the Season," was released as a single, almost as an afterthought. It took off in early 1969 to become their biggest hit, but the members resisted temptations to reform, leading to a couple of bizarre tours in the late '60s by bogus "Zombies" with no relation to the original group. By this time, Rod Argent was already recording as the leader of Argent, which went in a harder rock direction than the Zombies. After a spell as an insurance clerk, Blunstone had some success (more in Britain than America) in the early '70s as a solo vocalist, with material that often amounted to soft-rock variations on the Zombies sound.

Much more influential than their commercial success would indicate, echoes of the Zombies' innovations can be heard in the Doors, the Byrds, the Left Banke, the Kinks, and many others. After a long period during which most of their work was out of print, virtually all of their recordings have been restored to availability on CD.





She's Not There
Composed By Rod Argent

AMG REVIEW: "She's Not There" is the kind of song that makes you think its composer is a major talent destined for a long and prolific career, which is not quite what happened. In 1964, Rod Argent, the keyboard player in the Zombies, was challenged by U.K. Decca Records producer Ken Jones to write a hit record for his group, which had just won a talent contest leading to a contract with the label. He came up with "She's Not There," a spooky minor-key tune with a lyric in which the singer takes out his frustration over a duplicitous (and, of course, absent) woman on a friend who failed to warn him about her in the first place. The Zombies gave the song a recording that mixed Argent's jazzy electric piano playing and Colin Blunstone's ethereal vocal with a turn toward Merseybeat rave-up on the choruses. It was a masterful effort that made the British Top 20 and crossed the Atlantic to hit number one on at least one U.S. singles chart. What the Zombies needed to do, of course, was keep turning out more of the same, and they did initially with Argent's "Tell Her No," but after that they had trouble, and by 1967 they called it quits, not even re-forming when Argent's "Time of the Season" belatedly gave them a final hit. Meanwhile, there were cover versions of "She's Not There" by the Ventures, Vanilla Fudge, and Orpheus, each in their individual styles. Blunstone went solo under the pseudonym Neil MacArthur and hit the British Top 40 in 1969 with a string-filled remake of "She's Not There" that continued to demonstrate its appeal beyond the original recording. But it took Santana to reconceive "She's Not There" in its patented Latin rock style for a 1977 Top 40 single for the song to be thought of as more than a British Invasion standard. - William Ruhlmann


Time of the Season
Composed By Rod Argent

AMG REVIEW: A virtual mini-suite, "Time of the Season" is one of the most remembered Zombies songs of all time, and for good reason. Musically, the song has some unique and unusual influences (especially for the time), like the Afro motif, which underpins the song, along with a vague jazz feeling. Lyrically, it echoes some of the concepts on the other Odessey & Oracle songs, especially the change of seasons. The song has been covered by several artists, namely Argent. The Zombies' version has an interesting chart history, especially in the U.S., where it was released as a posthumous single almost two years after it was recorded, providing the group with an excellent, fitting closing hit to their career. This fact alone puts the concept that almost all of their music was slightly ahead of its time in place. - Matthew Greenwald


Must Move
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: Led by an inventive octave-driven riff, "I Must Move" is another one of Chris White's underrated songs in the Zombies' canon. Levels of introspection, melancholy, and general teen angst are the usual themes there, and White captures them with an easy, effective grace, all couched in a fine, minor-key melody. - Matthew Greenwald


I Remember When I Loved Her
Composed By Rod Argent

AMG REVIEW: A perfect example of the early Zombies genius. An excellent minor-key ballad that reflects all of the melancholy of a broken romance. In terms of mood and flavor, Rod Argent hardly ever bettered himself as far as the early stages of the Zombies' career. Somewhat similar to the Beatles' "And I Love Her." - Matthew Greenwald




What More Can I Do
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: A fine, tight rocker by Rod Argent, "What More Can I Do" is another example of the Zombies flexing their garage muscle. The verses have some highly compacted lyrics, and it's an almost blinding little rocker. Although the group's ballads were indeed their specialty, it was songs like this that helped their teen appeal in the London-area clubs. - Matthew Greenwald


Can't Nobody Love You
Composed By Phillip Mitchell/James Mitchell

AMG REVIEW: A huge and well-beloved hit for soul singer Solomon Burke, "Can't Nobody Love You" is one of those classic love ballads. The Zombies, however, transformed this classic plea into a unique fusion of soul and folk, and their arrangement is led by Paul Atkinson's exquisite 12-string fingerpicking. This almost puts the arrangement into the folk-rock genre - six months before it was recognized. It's one of those few soul ballads that relates the comfortable feelings of when everything's going right in a romance. - Matthew Greenwald


I Can't Make up My Mind
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: Led by an excellent 12-string guitar riff and a breezy melody, "Can't Make Up My Mind" was one of the highlights of the Zombies' Begin Here album. One of the great things about the band's two songwriters ( Chris White and Rod Argent) was that there was a homogenous feel in the compositions, no matter who wrote them. The melancholy and emotional strength of their work is brought into wonderful focus here. - Matthew Greenwald


I Don't Want to Know
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: Led by a fine, jangled 12-string guitar riff, "I Don't Want to Know" is an interesting amalgamation of ideas. On the surface, it's a simple, Beatlesque pop-rocker. However, further listening reflects a strong folk influence, and it's not at all far removed from P.F. Sloan's excellent songs of the period. While the Zombies are certainly not considered architects of " folk-rock," this song isn't too far from that genre. - Matthew Greenwald


I Love You
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: Opening with the same syncopated drum figure as "She Not There," "I Love You," while not being one of the Zombies' more adventurous tracks, certainly attracted a lot of attention and cover versions. The People had a Top 40 hit with it in 1968, and, in Japan, the Carnabeats also scored with a fine cover a year earlier. Simplistic in nature - as the title implies - it is, though, an effervescent slice of mid-'60s pop. - Matthew Greenwald


Whenever You're Ready
Composed By Rod Argent

AMG REVIEW: One of the early Zombies' most accessible efforts, "Whenever You're Ready" is a stylish slice of Beach Boys-inspired pop. The lushness of the melody and the chord progression not only is reminiscent of Brian Wilson, but Burt Bacharach as well. The group had high hopes for it as well, but, unfortunately, it did not become a hit. It is, though, one of the most treasured early Zombies songs, and with good reason. - Matthew Greenwald


Way I Feel Inside
Composed By Rod Argent

AMG REVIEW: A charming, almost a cappella song, "The Way I Feel Inside" provided the Zombies a hit in - of all places - the Philippines. Written by Rod Argent during a tour with the Isley Brothers, the song has a wonderful vulnerability to it. The confusion of romance was always good fodder for Zombies songs, and this is another great example of that. The recording begins and ends with a fine theatrical touch by producer Ken Jones: the sounds of footsteps and a coin dropping, which add to the feeling of alienation that the song projects. - Matthew Greenwald


You Make Me Feel Good
Composed By Chris White

AMG REVIEW: While not one of the more auspicious Zombie songs, "You Make Me Feel Good" has the distinction of being the first song written by Chris White that was recorded by the group. A Beatlesque pop-rocker, it certainly bears similarities to early Lennon/ McCartney songs from the Beatles' Please Please Me album, and it has a fine period charm. - Matthew Greenwald