Brigadune

Brigadune was the short-lived alias of one-time West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band singer/bassist Shaun Harris. Born in Colorado Springs, CO, in 1946, Harris was the oldest son of symphonic composer Bob Harris; the family relocated to Los Angeles in 1962, and a year later Shaun and his younger brother, Danny, joined the Kim Fowley-produced rock combo the Snowmen. While attending Hollywood Professional School, the Harris brothers befriended Michael Lloyd, leader of rival band the Rogues; Shaun eventually assumed bass duties in the Rogues, and in 1965 he also recorded a solo single, "Wanted: Dead or Alive," for Fowley's Living Legend label. With recording equipment borrowed from their father, the Harris brothers and Lloyd next began cutting the demos that would ultimately comprise the first WCPAEB album (later issued on Fifo); with the addition of svengali Bob Markley and drummer John Ware, the group began regularly appearing on the Sunset Strip club circuit, eventually signing to Reprise and releasing a series of underground psychedelic classics. In 1968 Harris briefly left the WCPAEB to tour and record with his band the California Spectrum; after the 1970 LP Markley, a Group, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band split for good, and the following year Harris signed to Verve. The lone Brigadune single, "I'll Cry Out From My Grave (God I'm Sorry)," is a minor classic, documenting the sunshine pop sound at its most mordant -- as of this writing, it's most easily found on the excellent Soft Sounds for Gentle People compilation. In 1973 Harris signed to Capitol, issuing a self-titled LP boasting a country-rock sound unlike any of his previous efforts -- unfortunately, the record hit stores the exact same day as another Capitol release, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the...