Good Morning Starshine

Good Morning Starshine is Strawberry Alarm Clock’s fourth album, released in 1969. It features new lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Jim Pitman, who helped lead the band away from the lustrous sentimentality of 1968’s The World In A Sea Shell and into more immediate and entertaining blues-rock grunge.

Without the crushing influence of boneheaded management decisions and the reliance on outside writers, Good Morning Starshine is something the Clock could be more proud of. It was almost all their own work, compositionally and musically, with which they would fail or succeed. Good Morning Starshine, for better or worse, is a true Strawberry Alarm Clock statement.

The public reaction to Good Morning Starshine

So how did the album do? Commercially, well, not great. The only song to make an impression in the charts was the title song “Good Morning Starshine” (from the musical Hair). But that song is an anomaly on the album, one that sticks out like a sore thumb. And it’s a song the band hadn’t wanted to record at all. (It made it to #87 as a single.)

Looking back, if Good Morning Starshine had been called something different rather than being named for its weakest and silliest song, it might today enjoy a much better reputation.

That’s because overall, artistically, Good Morning Starshine triumphs. It neatly presages the era of gritty 1970s guitar rock, while revisiting the band’s well-known harmonic and baroque psych-pop. There are brilliant performances and well-crafted songs here. The album even finds time for some new Clock-ish experimentation, just to spice things up.

The blues rock of Good Morning Starshine

Good Morning Starshine begins with “Me And The Township”, a startlingly crude blues-rock anthem. It shocks listeners expecting a continuation of The World In A Sea Shell. The equally grimy guitar jam “Off Ramp Road Tramp”, like the first track, was co-composed by Pitman.

Later, the final song on the album, the long, slow blues “Changes”, was co-written – as was most of the album, in fact – by all five musicians. These three songs make up a sort of hard rock trilogy.

The photo of Strawberry Alarm Clock that became the cover of Good Morning Starshine.

The gentler side of Good Morning Starshine

Pitman shows his softer side on “Write Your Name In Gold” and “Dear Joy”. Both tracks allow Strawberry Alarm Clock to indulge in their well-practiced pop craftsmanship. Whether the public was paying close attention anymore or not, the members of SAC, even with Ed King moving to bass and Thee Sixpence/”Incense And Peppermints”-era drummer Gene Gunnels rejoining the band, were always improving.

By Good Morning Starshine the players had evolved into a compelling mastery. The album finds them at ease with deceptively complex compositions (“Miss Attraction”), nimble instrumental acuity (“Small Package”), and playful studio experimentation (the backwards solo and musique concrète effects on “Hog Child”).

Good Morning Starshine‘s best song, I believe, is “Miss Attraction”. It appears on the LP twice: the single version (from the b-side of “(You Put Me On) Stand By”) and a longer album version. The single version is a fantastic slice of groovy psych-funk, with classic buzzing SAC guitars. The longer version is a tad slower and features more extended jamming. If you like “August” by Love you’ll like the album version of “Miss Attraction”.

Good Morning Starshine in history

As good as Good Morning Starshine is, it really has little in common with the band’s past work. Thus it was unfortunately unable to capture the attention of the music-listening public. Strawberry Alarm Clock would release a few (often excellent) singles after this album, and contribute to the film Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, but much of that work was without Jim Pitman.

For many fans of this band, Good Morning Starshine is beloved – try it out and pick your own classics. There’s plenty to choose from.

Track listing

Side 1

  1. “Me And The Township”
  2. “Off Ramp Road Tramp”
  3. “Small Package”
  4. “Hog Child”
  5. “Miss Attraction” [album version]

Side 2

  1. “Good Morning Starshine”
  2. “Miss Attraction” [single version]
  3. “Write Your Name In Gold”
  4. “(You Put Me On) Stand By”
  5. “Dear Joy”
  6. “Changes”

Japanese Good Morning Starshine CD bonus tracks

Japanese Good Morning Starshine CD, with obi.

The Japanese CD release of this album is recommended for fans who also want Strawberry Alarm Clock’s late-era non-LP songs. They’re all here, except for “I’m Comin’ Home” from Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls:

  1. “Desireé”
  2. “I Climbed The Mountain”
  3. “Three”
  4. “Starting Out The Day”
  5. “California Day”
  6. “Girl From The City”
  7. “Good Morning Starshine” [single version]

2 thoughts on “Good Morning Starshine

  1. Ignore the weak comments about Pitmans singing. Apart from Miss Attraction his singing at least adequate and competent. This lp is my favourite although the first 2 are much more adventurous. the music on this fourth much richer.

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