Viva Max (1969) Jerry Paris, Peter Ustinov, Pamela Tiffin, Jonathan Winters

A psychedelic blues-rock outfit whose only album, 1969's Please Tell a Friend, has enough interesting moments, given the era's production quirks, to make it a highly sought after period piece, Sugar Creek originated when John Edwards (who later, as Jonathan Edwards, had a big hit in 1971 with "Sunshine") and guitarist Malcolm McKinney met while both were attending Ohio University. The two drafted in Malcolm's brother Tod McKinney and began playing music together as St. James Doornob, becoming the Infinite Doornob when Joe Dolce and Gary Gans came over to join from the Finite Minds. Moving east to Boston, the band built a fair following on the New England/New York club circuit, changing its name yet again, this time to Headstone Circus, and eventually settled in as Sugar Creek…

Who is in a bad mood here, Max Raabe asks with his new album and sings about love, about its tender blossoming and fading, about feelings and their confusion. It is about the amalgamation of happiness and doubt, of euphoria and insecurity, of joy in others and quarrels with oneself.