Song of the Week – Through a Window, Euphoria

Ignored            Obscured             Restored

One of my favorite “hidden classics” is Lee Michaels’ Carnival of Life.  I featured a SotW from that album way back in late 2012.

Although Michaels is known for his work behind the keyboards (organ, piano, harpsichord), one of the best parts of Carnival of Life is the guitar playing by Hamilton W. Watt.  But who is Hamilton W. Watt?

Trying to answer that question sent me down an internet wormhole.  First I landed on this interesting obituary:

Hamilton W. Watt Obituary

And by the time I came out, I had discovered a terrific album that I hadn’t heard before – A Gift from Euphoria, by Euphoria.

Euphoria was a duo made up of Watt and William Lincoln.  They were signed to Capitol Records and made one album that was released in 1969.  That album has become a cult classic among record collectors.  (No, I don’t own a copy!)  It is well regarded for the eclectic mix of styles that are executed so well.  The album has symphonic ballads (think Moody Blues), hippy country rock (like The Byrds), psych, and songs that integrate sound collages (like The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”).

Today’s SotW – “Through a Window” – is the cut that makes the best use of Watt’s guitar prowess.

After listening through the whole album a couple of times I happened to pick up my copy of The MOJO Collection – The Greatest Albums of All Time, and guess what?  A Gift from Euphoria is represented in the section for 1969!

To fully appreciate this album, you should listen to it all the way through.  It isn’t available on Spotify, but the full album can be found on YouTube.

Enjoy… until next week.

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