The Canterbury Music Festival

Biography

The Canterbury Music Festival recorded one of the rarest late-'60s sunshine pop albums, Rain and Shine, of which only 150 copies were pressed upon its initial 1968 release. The album mixed some decent if innocuous original compositions from lead singer Roger Gernelle with less impressive material supplied to them by their producers, the Tokens. Though at their best they were adept at soft pop-rock songs with string arrangements, accomplished harmonies, and a tinge of psychedelia, the record was weighed down by Tokens-devised tunes with a more gimmicky bubblegum-psych flavor. Not too many people got to hear the record in any case; Gernelle has said that at the time, he didn't even know the LP was released. For a band whose records barely made it into distribution at all, the Canterbury Music Festival had a complicated history. Formed in New York City around 1966, they got a contract with the Tokens' label, BT Puppy, in 1967. Their first single, "First Spring Rain"/"Poor Man," was first credited to We Ugly Dogs, although later pressings bore the name Canterbury Music Festival. In addition, a track by the Train called "Pamela" from the time that was recorded by another band might have Gernelle on lead vocals, and has been added to the CD reissue of Rain and Shine as a bonus track. In any case, Gernelle left the Canterbury Music Festival to get into heavier psychedelic sounds, and the band's music remained virtually unknown until excavated for re-release by sunshine pop devotees. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide