The Millennium

The Millennium was the creation of Curt Boettcher, who gathered a handful of California musicians to create a psychedelic rock supergroup with sunshine pop harmonies.

The group consisted of:
*Curt Boettcher (Vocals, Guitar, Producer)
*Lee Mallory (Vocals, Guitar)
*Sandy Salisbury (Vocals, Guitar)
*Joey Stec (Vocals, Guitar)
*Michael Fennelly (Vocals, Guitar)
*Doug Rhodes (Bass, Harpsichord, Piano) and
*Ron Edgar (Drums, Percussion).
*All of the musicians were songwriters as well.

The roots of the band lie in several groups. Curt Boettcher had originally worked with drummer Ron Edgar for a brief time in the folk group The GoldeBriars. Following the dissolution of The GoldeBriars, Ron Edgar joined the group The Music Machine, which also featured Doug Rhodes on bass. The Music Machine scored a top-20 hit with the song "Talk Talk" before disbanding. Boettcher had also formed a group called The Ballroom, which featured Sandy Salisbury as a vocalist. Lee Mallory had worked as a songwriter and solo performer, and Boettcher had produced some of his recordings, including a cover of Phil Ochs' "That's The Way It's Gonna Be." The group also featured support from legenday session musicians such as Jerry Scheff in the studio.

The Millennium recorded one album, the highly influential, yet commercially unsuccessful "Begin" in 1968. The album was an interesting combinition of breezy pop and psychedelic rock. At the time, it was the most expensive record Columbia had ever produced. Before disbanding, the group recorded one last follow-up single: "Just About The Same" b/w "Blight," as well as several tracks that were later released on compilations. Curt Boettcher went on to make several attempts at recording solo albums (only one was released during his lifetime, the album There's An Innocent Face), as did Sandy Salisbury and Joey Stec. Michael Fennelly would end up in the early 70s group Crabby Appleton, who signed with Elektra Records (probably because of Jac Holzman, who was a huge fan of "Begin" and who also signed Curt Boettcher to a solo deal) and released two albums, scoring a top-40 hit with the single "Go Back".

Joey Stec founded the record label Sonic Past Music in the late 1990s and this label has subsequently released previously unavailable albums from The Millennium, Curt Boettcher, Sandy Salisbury, Lee Mallory, and Joey Stec.

Discography

*"Begin" (1968, Columbia Records)

Compilations

*"The Second Millennium" (2000, Dreamsville)
*"The Millennium Continues" (2000, Trattoria)
*"Magic Time" (2001, Sundazed Records)
*"Voices of the Millennium" (Sonic Past Music) [ [http://www.sonicpastmusic.com/artists/the-millennium/ Sonic Past Music » The Millennium ] ]
*"Pieces" (Sonic Past Music)

References

External links

* [http://rare-albums.com/albums.php?id=9 Review of Begin Album]
* [http://www.sonicpastmusic.com/artists/the-millennium/ Sonic Past Music] - record label who has reissued music by The Millennium