OPAL

In summer `88 I was looking for some buzz.  Some psychedelic buzz.  I've always been partial to summer-of-love-psychedelic rock, especially when the emphasis is on the "rock".  Think the Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home", or The Who's "Amazing Journey" and you get the idea.  

So, summer `88 and I'm looking at either Creem or Pulse, and some little piece on a band called Opal, the text box decorated with stark, black-and-white, sort of medieval/tarot card-like artwork depicting stars and meteors, it all catches my eye.  The description of the music sounds thrilling - crunchy psychedelic rock, a mix of T.Rex and early Pink Floyd, connections to The Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade (so, hip credentials solid) and the album's on SST - so it's bona fide.  When I came across the album a short time later over at Streetlight, I snagged it.

I bought a lot of albums based on coverage in music rags back then.  And most of them turned out to be just okay.  But Opal's Happy Nightmare Baby was everything that had been promised. Alan McGee in the Guardian called it "a mesmerising swirl of organs, wah-wah guitar and crunched-up T Rex basslines with the bored, narcoleptic vocals of Kendra Smith colouring the songs in."  I'd say that about nails it.  Echoing T. Rex, The Doors, early Floyd, The Velvets and god-knows-what else, Happy Nightmare Baby remains one of my favorite albums of the 80's and one that has aged incredibly well - not surprisingly, since it was out of step with any musical trend of the moment.  

I wish I could write a lot about Opal's story.  Someplace I have a Bucketfull Of Brains interview/article done shortly after Baby came out, but I'm too lazy to dig it up right now.  I don't recall it being that informative.  

So the band is shrouded in mystery.  David Roback (ex-Rain Parade) and Kendra Smith (ex-

Dream Syndicate) paired up (artistically and, it is said, romantically) and, with drummer Keith Mitchell, cut a handful of songs under the name Clay Allison. These came out on a 45 in `84 or `85.  The songs were spare and haunting, evocative of folks and blues and yet spacey and strange - folk and blues not from the Mississippi Delta, but from the planet Yuggoth.

Somewhere along the line the dropped the name "Clay Allison," dubbed themselves "Opal," and picked up extra musicians - Suki Ewers (who contributed the overpowering keyboards), William Cooper (also keys? violin?), Aaron Sherer and Paul Olguin (note - the musicians are not credited as to instruments on any of the bands records - just their names - I have no idea exactly what Cooper, Sherer or Olguin played.  Suki Ewers helpfully maintains Myspace and Facebook presence).  They recorded another EP, and then the full-length album.

Things get hazy after that.  In the midst of a European tour, Kendra Smith quit the band - whether she stormed offstage (as rumor has it)  mid-set or what I can't really say.  All I know is, she was out and her replacement, Hope Sandoval (allegedly at Smith's suggestion)  was in.  They finished off the tour, and worked on a second album to be called Ghost Highway.  it was never released.  Well, not exactly.

Instead the band, retaining largely the same membership (Roback, Sandoval, Ewers and Mitchell were all on board) renamed themselves Mazzy Star, and most of Ghost Highway (apparently) ended up on Mazzy Star's debut album, She Hangs Brightly.  It's not a bad album, though it doesn't have the majesty of Baby, alas.  But it makes for a decent followup. Mazzy went on to score some hits and became a surprise success before fading away at the end of the 90's.  In recent years Roback and Sandoval have done some sporadic solo work.  In 2012 Mazzy reunited (Ewers and Mitchell both on board) and did a tour.  An album is promised.  I can't comment much on Mazzy Star ... I've never listened past the first album.  I probably should.

In between Baby and Mazzy's debut, there was another Opal album, Early Recordings, which contained most of the two EP's and some unreleased tracks.  It's actually pretty great.  The sound is mostly sparer but no less haunting.  I'm a big fan of the acoustic "She's A Diamond" and "Hear the Wind Blow" and quite a few other tracks.  In 2006 a bootleg, Early Recordings Vol II began circulating.  These were less compelling recordings, but still of interest.

Essential Listening

The early singles/EP's are all collected on the two official Opal albums except for one song ("Freight Train"), which can be found on the bootleg.

Sadly, Opal's recorded output is all out of print.  Used copies of Happy Nightmare Baby  go for $35-$400 on Amazon  - bummer.  Early Recordings is also prized and will set you back $60-$80 if you're determined enough.  Both of these are excellent, but you may want to try other means, at least until someone wises up and reissues them.  Early Recordings Vol II is completely unofficial and questionably legal.  It's nowhere near as compelling as the other two, but if you're curious (obviously, I was) it's worth a listen.  Mazzy Star's She Hangs Brightly is readily available, as are the other two MZ albums.  A bootleg of Opal with Kendra performing at the I-Beam in 1987 circulates, but not recently.  It's not bad.

Opal Allmusic
Opal Wiki
Alan McGee's Guardian article on Rain Parade, Opal, et al.
Mazzy Star wiki
Mazzy Star Allmusic