With a string of bubblegum hits behind him, Roe was one of America?s biggest-selling solo artists when he hooked up the Curt Boettcher, the producer of his previous hits, ?Sweet Pea? and ?Hooray For Hazel? to record this album of more mature, quasi-psychedelic tracks, featuring backing vocals from Boettcher and several of his prot?g?s, including Ballroom?s Michele O?Malley (who later recorded her own solo album, Saturn Rings) and future Millennium members, Lee Mallory and Sandy Salisbury. The album opens with a stomping burst of fresh air, ?Leave Her,? featuring leading session guitarist, Friar Tuck (aka Mike Deasy)?s snarling fuzz guitar solos. (Deasy may be unknown to most listeners, but you?ve heard his distinct style on records he?s played on by The Association, Beach Boys, The Byrds, The 5th Dimension, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Grass Roots, Barry McGuire, The Monkees, Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Elvis Presley, Spanky & Our Gang, and many more.) Swirling, backwards sound effects and helium-voiced Chipmunk backing vocals highlight ?Moontalk,? with a curiously prophetic opening lyric: ?Headlines ? moon landing successful!? a full two and a half years before we actually landed on the moon!

?Aggravation,? written in NYC in 1965, is a short, bouncy slice of pop that reminds me quite favorably of any number of the Micky Dolenz-sung tracks on the contemporary Monkees? albums, and a sliding, sitar-like guitar swirls through the funky, Bo Diddley-meets-Buddy Holly, ?Misty Eyes,? which culminates in another barnstorming guitar solo from Deasy. Roe pours his heart, soul and lungs into a commendable Otis Redding impersonation on ?Have Pity On Me? and returns to the world of sunshine pop on the merry ?Sing Along With Me,? featuring marvelous backing from Jim Bell (oboe) and Toxie French (vibes). ?Long Live Love? is more uplifting, sunshine pop with soaring backing vocals that fondly recalls the contemporary hits of The Cowsills and predicts the groovy pop of that other TV-fabricated band, The Partridge Family.

Unfortunately, Roe was so pigeon-holed as a bubblegum artist, singing songs about perky little girls named Hazel, Sheila, Donna, Susie and Sweet Pea, the public wasn?t ready for such a heavily orchestrated, gorgeously harmonized album, and ?It?s Now Winters Day? (the album title?s original misspelling is replicated on this reissue!) ? minus all the frothy, bubblegum singles ? sank without a trace upon it?s initial release in early 1967. But with the aforementioned winners alongside the melodramatic, Roy Orbison-inspired ?Cry On Crying Eyes? and the cheery, ?Sweet Sounds? (the B-side to the album?s third single, ?Moontalk,? which might have done better if the sides were reversed) to recommend it, I heartily suggest that you overlook your possible preconceptions of Roe?s earlier work and give this a try.

Roe completists will also be pleased to hear that Fallout have appended the non-LP B-side of the album?s title track (and debut single), ?Kick Me, Charlie? as a bonus track. It?s a bluesy, barrelhouse clapalong, featuring some gnarly (and, unfortunately, unidentified harmonica blowing) that surely would have done better if, once again, it was flipped over to the A-side. Following a subsequent, even more psychedelic album (?Phantasy), Roe would return to his bubblegum roots (and the top of the charts) with 1969?s ?Dizzy? and the top 10, ?Jam Up Jelly Tight,? but all fans of 60?s psych pop owe it to themselves to check this one out. 8/10 -- Jeff Penczak (27 February, 2007)