Grapefruit Records

Melodic, catchy pop songs are the forte of this British group formed in 1967. Grapefruit originally comprised three former members of Tony Rivers & The Castaways, John Perry (guitar, vocals), Pete Sweetenham (guitar, vocals) and Geoff Sweetenham (drums), who tea-med up with songwriter George Alexander (bass, vocals). The group was given its name by John Lennon and they were the first act signed to Apple publishing. Their debut single ‘Dear Delilah’ was a UK Top 30 hit and ‘Around Grapefruit’ was first released in 1968. The 12 tracks on the album are mostly George Alexander’s songs, such as ‘Another Game’ and ‘Yesterday’s Sunshine’. We have added a dozen more bonus items - including the single ver-sions of ‘Dear Delilah’, ‘Elevator’, ‘C’Mon Marianne’, ‘Theme For Twiggy’, and two rare Italian language tracks, ‘Dolce Delilah’ and ‘Mai Nessuno’.

Southside Johnny with LaBamba's Big Band - Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits (2008) {Blue Harp Inc.}
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© 2008 Blue Harp Inc. / Evangeline Records | GELM 4200
Rock / Bar Band / Progressive Big Band / Rock & Roll / Heartland Rock

Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits is Southside's tribute to one of his favorite songwriters, but also a pet sound: big band music. The idea to marry the brassy, ballsy sound of a big band to Tom Waits' cinematic, character-driven songs has been sitting in the back of Southside's mind for sometime.

The Beatles loved Grapefruit so much that they signed them to their Apple Music Publishing Company. John Lennon even suggested the band’s name. George Alexander (the brother of George Young of The Easybeats) was the leader, joined by John Perry and brothers Pete and Geoff Swettenham, formerly of Tony Rivers & The Castaways. The fruity ones enjoyed a hit single with ‘Dear Delilah’ in 1968 and released debut album ‘Around Grapefruit’, acclaimed for its orchestral arrangements and vocal harmonies. ‘Deep Water’, Grapefruit’s second album, was released in 1969 and marked a seismic switch towards soul, rock and country influences. We have added six bonus tracks to the original album, including four single versions plus two other recordings.

Long-established as a hugely popular radio format, the Classic Rock sound was established – though not codified and canonised until some while later – in the Seventies, when numerous British bands from a pop or blues-based background pioneered a muscular, riff-based sound that dominated American FM airwaves and led the most successful practitioners to fame, fortune and all manner of related excess.

The Action are one of the great "lost" bands of mid-'60s England. Though they filled mod clubs with happy patrons and managed to score George Martin as a benefactor, they only released a handful of unsuccessful singles during their brief existence. Most of their music remained in the vaults for years, only to be discovered later and celebrated. After years of reissues that only told part of the band's story, Grapefruit's 2018 Shadows and Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968 collects everything: their five officially released singles, BBC sessions, their legendary demos from 1967, backing tracks, alternate takes, different mixes, and songs they recorded just before the band broke up in 1968. It's an impressive haul made even better by the excellent liner notes, session information, and crisp sound…

Various Artists - Looking At The Pictures In The Sky: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1968 (2017) {3CD Set}
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© 1968, 2017 Grapefruit Records / Cherry Red Records | CRSEGBOX040
Rock / Psychedelia / Psychedelic Rock / British Psychedelia

It goes without saying that 1968 doesn't have the same kind of cachet as 1967 - a year that, in musical terms, will always be indelibly associated with the Summer of Love, Sgt Pepper and the emergence of psychedelia. •But although the major players turned away from the excesses of the previous year in favour of a back-to-basics musical approach, there were arguably a greater number of psychedelic records made in 1968 than during the preceding twelve months. •Vital, lysergically-inclined 45s emerged from a whole host of younger groups, with The Factory, Mike Stuart Span, Fleur de Lys, The Fire, The Barrier, Boeing Duveen, Rupert's People and numerous others all releasing singles that have long been widely regarded by psychedelic collectors as genre classics.