The Zombies only released 2 albums during their prime, so how did they get into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame? Because one of those albums is a bona fide classic: Odessey and Oracle is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums of the ’60’s, holding its own against classics by The Beatles, the Stones, Velvet Underground, The Who… by virtually any measure, it’s an iconic album. And it was a complete flop when it was first released, along with its first single, “Care Of Cell 44“. But over time, it’s been recognized as a true masterpiece. Let’s give The Zombies their due and take a deep dive into their orchestral pop magnum opus, “Care Of Cell 44.”
Here’s a link to the article I mention in the podcast:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/danielralston/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies-the-strangest-con-in-rock
It’s definitely worth checking out!
The Zombies – “Care Of Cell 44” (Rod Argent) Copyright 1967 Verulam Music Company Limited
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, where we delve into a different song each time and see what we uncover. On this show, we’re listening to a true classic: “Care of Cell 44” by The Zombies.
My name is Brad Page, and every episode I pick one of my favorite songs and we do some musical exploring, looking in all the nooks and crannies of the song and seeing what might be hidden there. Great songs always have something new to reveal, and it’s always cool to see what we can discover.
The Zombies were just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few days ago, so now is a great time to take a look at a Zombies tune. So let’s check out “Care of Cell 44.”
The Zombies have a really fascinating history. I don’t have time to go into all of it now, but here’s a quick overview. The Zombies were a British band formed in 1961. They signed to Decca Records and released their first single, “She’s Not There,” in 1964. I’m sure you all know this song. And they had a second hit in 1965 with “Tell Her No.” And they released their first album, called Begin Here, the same year.
But the band struggled to find success with their follow-up singles, and they ended up signing a new contract with CBS Records in 1967. They headed into Abbey Road Studios and proceeded to record their most ambitious songs yet. The result was the Odessey and Oracle album, one of the greatest albums of the 1960s.
It was not easy to make this record, though. There were a lot of hurdles, particularly involving money. They couldn’t afford an orchestra, so Rod Argent played all the orchestral parts himself using John Lennon‘s Mellotron, which Lennon had left behind in the studio from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sessions. Also, the artist who made the cover art for the album misspelled the word “Odyssey” on the cover, but they couldn’t afford to have the artwork fixed. So to this day, “Odessey” is still spelled wrong in the album title. And they didn’t have the budget for a stereo mix of the album, so they had to scrounge up the cash themselves to pay for it.
Prior to the album coming out, they released “Care of Cell 44” as a single first. Unfortunately, it flopped. And by the end of 1967, the band called it quits. The Odessey and Oracle album was released in April 1968 after the band had already broken up, and the album flopped too.
But then something interesting happened. The song “Time of the Season” was released as a single in the U.S. It was a long, slow burn, but finally, a year after the band split up, the song reached number three on the charts.
The former members of The Zombies had gone on to other bands and other careers at that point, and they did not get back together at that time, which left an open opportunity that some less than honest promoters were happy to fill. They put together fake versions of The Zombies with no original members and toured them all around America. In fact, at one point, there were two fake bands calling themselves The Zombies touring at the same time. One of those bands included Frank Beard and Dusty Hill, who would later become founding members of ZZ Top. There was a great story written about the whole debacle called “The True Story of the Fake Zombies.” I’ll post a link to the article in the show notes if you want to check it out; I highly recommend it.
So, let’s get into “Care of Cell 44.” The song takes the form of someone writing a letter to their lover in prison as they anxiously await their release. It’s some pretty grim subject matter sung to some incredibly happy-sounding music. Pitchfork Magazine described it as the sunniest song ever written about the impending release of a prison inmate.
“Care of Cell 44” is a perfect baroque pop song. The arrangement is intricate, the harmonies are beautiful, and the performances are perfectly matched for the song. It is a pop symphony. The song features Rod Argent on all keyboards, Paul Atkinson on guitar, Hugh Grundy on drums, Chris White on bass—listen to his bass parts—and Colin Blunstone on lead vocals.
On the original album, all of the songs are credited as composed and produced by The Zombies, although on later releases of the song, Rod Argent gets the credit. The song opens with vocals, drums, and Argent on tack piano. Listen for Chris White’s bass guitar to enter with a fantastic McCartney-style riff. White’s bass playing is great throughout the whole song; it’s one of the highlights of this track.
At this part of the verse, there’s a second keyboard part that’s added in the left channel. I’m not a piano player, but it sounds to me like it’s more or less duplicating the main part, just to thicken up the sound a bit. Also, notice that the lead vocal is panned to the right. That’s not the kind of thing that a producer would normally do today, but they did this kind of off-the-wall stuff in the psychedelic sixties when stereo was still a new toy to play with.
There’s the first of the string parts that Rod Argent played using a Mellotron because they didn’t have the budget to hire an orchestra like they wanted. If you’re not familiar with a Mellotron, it’s a complex mechanical device with a piano-style keyboard that, when you press a key, it plays an actual loop of tape that has the corresponding note recorded onto it. That recording could be of a flute, or a choir, or in this case, a string section. Probably the most famous use of a Mellotron on a recording is the introduction to “Strawberry Fields Forever.” By playing notes on the Mellotron keyboard, you can build up an orchestra from the various sounds. Let’s go back and listen to how Rod Argent uses the Mellotron to orchestrate this track.
Backing vocals added in the left channel. Notice how Colin Blunstone doubles his voice there, starting with the words “every Sunday.” Then he’s going to continue doubling his voice for only the first half of the next line. In other words, the first line is solo voice for the first half, doubled at the end, where the next line is doubled at the start, solo at the end. It’s just an interesting production choice.
Let’s stop and talk about the lyrics for a minute. You’ve got lines like “counting the days until they set you free again,” “writing this letter hoping you’re okay,” “we’ll get to know each other for a second time, then you can tell me about your prison stay.”
So, the singer is writing a letter to their lover in jail. What’s interesting is that the lyrics are not gender-specific. Because the song is sung by a guy, we can assume that the singer is writing to his girl in a women’s prison, which is a spin on how these prison songs usually go. But the singer could also be a woman writing to a man in jail; there are no specific mentions of “he” or “she” anywhere in the song. I’ve even heard one interpretation where the voice of the singer is supposedly the man in prison reading a letter out loud. By keeping the lyrics vague in certain ways, they open up the song to multiple interpretations.
Now the song is going to break for some Beach Boys-style harmonies before crashing back in with the loudest and most joyful part of the song, as if the singer is just bursting with anticipation that their lover is going to be home soon. Listen to the piano playing triplets in the background. And keep listening to that orchestration on the Mellotron and Chris White’s bass part. Check out how the vocals are arranged in stereo.
I really love how that part just explodes after the quiet a cappella section. When he sings “feel so good you’re coming home soon,” you really feel it. Now we head into the bridge section. The bass guitar hangs on one note through the bridge while the piano and Mellotron climb down the scale.
The way Colin Blunstone sings this next line, it’s real good. “Kiss and make up and it will be so nice.” Now they’re going to sing the a cappella part again, but this time it’s a full-volume performance. And listen to how the song swells and recedes a few times before the ending.
“Care of Cell 44” by The Zombies. You just can’t find a better-crafted pop song than that. It has all the hallmarks of the great sixties psychedelic pop songs: the Mellotron, the layered vocals, the bass guitar parts. This is a real classic of the era. It’s a song about second chances and redemption, and we can always use more of that message. And did you notice that they never actually mention Cell 44 anywhere in the song?
Well, thanks for checking out this great song with me. Please join me again soon; there’s another I’m in Love with that Song episode right around the corner. Find me on Facebook—just search for the I’m in Love with that Song podcast—and share it with your music-loving friends. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app; that way, you never miss an episode. All right, I’m out of here for now. This is The Zombies with “Care of Cell 44.”