Feelin' Groovy
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Album Summary
Now here's a record that just wraps itself around you like a warm California breeze on a Sunday afternoon. Feelin' Groovy, the debut album from Harpers Bizarre, came into this world in 1967 on Warner Bros. Records, right in the thick of the Summer of Love. Produced by the masterful Lenny Waronker, this Los Angeles vocal group delivered something that stood apart from the noise and chaos of the era — a sophisticated, sun-drenched sound that married baroque pop elegance with just enough psychedelic shimmer to feel absolutely of its time. Waronker's production hand was meticulous and loving, draping these five voices in lush string arrangements and honeyed harmonies that made every track feel like it was made in a place where the sky is always golden. The album rode the momentum of the group's breakout cover of Paul Simon's 59th Street Bridge Song, and from there, Harpers Bizarre built a full statement of artistic purpose — proof that sophisticated beauty had a home right alongside the flower children and the dreamers.
Reception
- The album reached number six on the Billboard 200, a remarkable achievement that confirmed Harpers Bizarre as a genuine commercial force in the baroque and psychedelic pop landscape of 1967.
- The single drawn from the album's title track — the group's joyful rendering of the 59th Street Bridge Song — became a Top 40 hit, anchoring the album's identity and bringing Harpers Bizarre to a wide national audience.
- Critics of the era praised the album's exceptionally lush production and the warmth of the group's vocal harmonies, with some noting that the cover-heavy song selection leaned on outside material, though the interpretations were undeniably distinctive.
Significance
- Feelin' Groovy stands as one of the purest expressions of the baroque pop movement, demonstrating how classical-influenced arrangements — sweeping strings, intricate vocal layering, and meticulous studio craft — could coexist beautifully with the spirit of 1967's psychedelic pop moment.
- The album's success illustrated the remarkable crossover power of sophisticated, harmony-driven pop during the Summer of Love, appealing simultaneously to mainstream audiences seeking something polished and to progressive listeners hungry for adventurous studio artistry.
- Through their treatment of material including the Paul Simon composition that anchored the record, Harpers Bizarre helped establish an important precedent — that contemporary songwriting could be elevated and transformed through elaborate group vocal arrangements, opening a creative doorway that pop producers and vocal groups would walk through for years to come.
Tracklist
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A1 Come To The Sunshine 153
2:32
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A2 Happy Talk 97
2:13
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A3 Come Love 95
2:00
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A4 Raspberry Rug 130
2:20
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A5 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) 153
2:34
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B1 The Debutante's Ball 143
3:03
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B2 Happyland —
2:15
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B3 Peter And The Wolf 120
1:57
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B4 I Can Hear The Darkness 201
2:00
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B5 Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear 72
2:15
Artist Details
Harpers Bizarre was a sunshine pop and baroque pop group that came together out of Santa Cruz, California in the mid-1960s, originally playing as The Tikis before finding their groove and their name in 1966, and oh what a name they made for themselves. With lush orchestral arrangements courtesy of the legendary Leon Russell and a honey-smooth vocal blend that felt like a warm breeze rolling in off the Pacific, they scored a gorgeous hit with their cover of "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" in 1967, landing them right in the middle of that flower-power moment when pop music was dressing itself up in the finest threads it could find. They stand as one of the most elegant examples of the West Coast soft pop sound, a group that brought a kind of sophisticated tenderness to the era that still sounds like a Sunday morning done exactly right.
