H.P. Lovecraft - Spin, Spin, Spin (1968)

In 1967, an ex-folk singer now session vocalist by the name of George Edwards walked into Dunwich Records with the intention of covering Chip Taylor’s “Anyway That You Want Me,” which had recently been successfully been covered by The Troggs. Assigned to assist Edwards was classically trained multi-instrumentalist Dave Michaels. When Dunwich Records decided to put out the record, they wanted to use the name “H.P. Lovecraft” for the duo, as they were both fans of the horror author of the same name. In fact, they had named their record company, Dunwich Records, after the Lovecraft short-story The Dunwich Horror. After securing the rights from the author’s estate, the band was formally able to keep their name. All that remained was to pick up some more musicians. The most notable member to join the band at that stage was Jerry McGeorge on the bass, who had previously been the guitarist for the local Chicago band The Shadows of Knight. The band put out two mildly successful albums, H.P. Lovecraft in 1967 and H.P. Lovecraft II in 1968, before Michaels left the group to go back to college in late 1968. Resulting from Edwards’ departure, the rest of the group soon split up in early 1969. A few spin-off groups, Lovecraft and Love Craft, were later formed with ex-members of the group, but neither is really regarded as being officially connected to the original band.

Both of this band’s albums mixed the folk singing style of George Edwards with the operatic singing style of Dave Michaels and laid them on top of a psychedelic folk sound. This song in particular, which exemplified such vocals, was written by the American jazz, soul, and folk guitarist Terry Callier. As a side note, Edwards would later co-produce several of Callier’s songs in 1969. It’s rumored that the album this song appeared on, H.P. Lovecraft II, was the first instance in musical history where the entire album was recorded by members who were all under the influence of LSD while recording. But I bet the 13th Floor Elevators would have something to argue about that claim.



H.P. Lovecraft - Spin, Spin, Spin (1968)

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Lyrics:

Spin, spin, spin my little darling
Spin, spin, spin my little babe
Stay in the garden, let your mind tarry
Dance to the sunlight, smell the strawberry, spin
My little darling, spin

Turn, turn, turn my little darling (my little darling)
Turn, turn, turn my little babe (my little babe)
Seeing yourself as you climb through the meadow
Seek out the answer, follow the bright glow, turn
My little darling, turn

Turn, turn, turn my little darling (my little darling)
Turn, turn, turn my little babe (my little babe)
Watching the colors change with the season
Discovering truth while searching for reason burns
My little darling, turn

Spin, spin, spin my little darling
Spin, spin, spin (spin) my little babe (my little babe)
Stay in the garden, let your mind tarry
Dance to the sunlight, smell the strawberry, spin
My little darling, spin

Spin, spin, spin