Critic's Review
Bryan Thomas, All Music Guide
Michelle O'Malley's solo album is another lost classic from the West Coast psych-folk era, the kind of album that is highly valued by collectors of this genre and certainly very deserving of reissue treatment. Michelle (she uses her first name here) was, prior to this release, a backing vocalist on numerous Curt Boettcher "Our Productions" projects and a member of Boettcher's short-lived 1966-era group the Ballroom, along with oboist Jim Bell and vocalist Sandy Salisbury. The band for this group -- who issued only one single during their brief existence -- included Boettcher, drummer Ron Edgar, vocalist/guitarist Lee Mallory, and quite a few members of "the Wrecking Crew," including the fantastic guitarist Mike Deasy. Michelle also appeared on Tommy Roe's Boettcher-produced It's Now Winter's Day album and sang on the Summer Children's "Milk and Honey" single. In 1967, she appeared on Deasy's Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar album and in 1968 she performed the vocal on the Millennium's "It's a Sad World." So, with all of these previous connections to Boettcher's productions, it's understandable that her solo album would include many of the people listed here and that Boettcher would play a large role. In fact, he wrote five of the 11 songs that Michelle sings on the album, including "Musty Dusty" (included on the Gary Usher and Boettcher-produced Sagittarius album, Present Tense). Saturn Rings was produced by Deasy for ABC. There is a substantial Eastern influence here and there, particularly on the tracks that feature tabla and electric violin ("Fallen Angel" and the eight-minute "Lament of the Astro Cowboy"). "Would You Like to Go" was written by Bob Jameson -- who had also recorded a wonderful soft jazz/garage acid folk album under the name Chris Lucey -- even though it is credited to Boettcher and Gordon Alexander (of Association fame) on other recordings. The song also appears on the Present Tense album. Jameson also penned "Know Yourself." "Spinning, Spinning, Spinning" is the same song that was released as a Ballroom single by Warner Brothers in 1967 (and later recorded by a New Zealand band called the Simple Image). There are numerous session players on this album who went on to fame later, including Lowell George (later in Little Feat) on flute and harmonica, Elliot Ingber (the Mothers of Invention, Captain Beefheart, and Fraternity of Man) on electric guitar, and Bobby Notkoff (the Rockets) on electric violin. The album's original cover artwork was designed by Dean Torrence (ex-Jan & Dean) of Kittyhawk Graphics.
