Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation-- and its expanded box-set editions-- reminded us that, for every Beatles and Stones, there were a hundred other 1960s rock'n'roll combos who never rose above the status of regional one-hit wonders. Now Drag City's latest excavation project reminds us there were another thousand bands who never even got to enjoy those measly 15 minutes of fame. Little is known about Spur beyond this: They initially formed in Belleville, Illinois circa 1965 as a folk-rock outfit called the Unknowns, before changing their name, opening up their sound, and releasing just one album, 1968's Spur of the Moment, in a limited local run. This similarly titled 11-song collection-- select tracks from the original LP, plus previously unreleased material-- doesn't make a wholly convincing case that Spur were unjustly overlooked visionaries. Rather, Spur of the Moments works best as an intriguing snapshot of a late-60s era when rock was evolving out of its garage-band base and splintering into myriad sub-genres-- roots-rock, prog-jazz, power-pop-- and fledgling bands were scrambling to anticipate which way the tide was going to turn.
Like more famous peers such as the Byrds, Spur were situated at the crossroads where studio-abetted psychedelic exploration intersected with a reactionary desire for a simpler, earthier mode of songwriting, and, as the acid-country opener "Mind Odyssey" suggests, Spur were neck-and-neck with Roger McGuinn and co. in the race to the rodeo (a notion reinforced by a sweet, bluegrassed cover of The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week"). But Spur of the Moments presents so many stylistic 180s-- sometimes within the same song-- that the band seems more emblematic of a rapidly changing musical culture than a driving force within it. In its most jarring juxtaposition, the ace two-minute freakbeater "Mr. Creep" butts into the veritable Fillmore-audition-tape jam "Tribal Gathering/We Don't Want to Know", which over the course of its 14-minute run, veers between free-form Doors-style noodling, Grand Funk-ian proto-metal, drum solos, and a cheery, Southern-rockin' denouement, like an FM dial spun out of control.
But there's no denying vocalists Rick Willard and Stan Bratzke were ardent, attentive students of both the UK and San Francisco schools of 60s pop, and the CSN-worthy "Time Is Now" and the Badfingered ballad "Help Me I'm Falling" are more than sturdy enough to stand alongside those classic-rock warhorses on golden-oldies radio. But even if rigid FM-station playlists still deem that fate unlikely today, at the very least, Spur of the Moments makes you wonder-- nearly 40 years after the first issue of Nuggets-- how many more quality 60s curios are still out there waiting to be unearthed.
