As musicians, the Flames
broke the mold in almost every way. Of East Indian extraction, they
were the only non-African soul group performing in South Africa; they
lived in Durban, not Jo-burg; recorded albums, rather than attempting
the singles market; and they covered pre-existing songs rather then
writing their own material.
In spite, or perhaps because, of this
unorthodoxy, they were wildly successful. Two group members subsequently
emigrated to the States where they joined the Beach Boys in 1972.
The Flames changed their name with the next album to ''The Flame'' and with the album of the same name they had a little success in psychedelic pop circles. Two of the members later go into the US and worked also as studio musicians and hired hands. In 1972 Ricky Fataar and Blondie joined the Beach Boys (i think for three albums).
These two albums are before ''The Flame'' and the sound is more in a pop & soul direction. If you hear the albums of the Flames from the middle of the sixties until the early seventies there is a continuous developement in their sound despite the fact they played so much songs by other artists.
But you also can see in these covers how strong this band were.
Enjoy
SB1 Flac part1 & Flac part2 & Flac part3 - mp3@320





Wasn't aware of Ricky Fataar's earlier work. I came across him in the Beatles spoof band the Rutles and an Australian band from the 80's called The Monitors. Cool.
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