ALBUMS:
1(A)	ORPHEUS	(MGM (S)E-4524)	1968
2(A)	ASCENDING	(MGM SE-4569)	1968
3(A)	JOYFUL	(MGM SE-4599)	1969
4(B)	ORPHEUS	(Bell 6061)	1971

NB: There is also a double CD set The Best Of Orpheus (Big Beat CDWIK 2 143) 1996, which contains 34 tracks from all four albums and a pre-Orpheus cut by The Villagers, circa 1966.   

45s:
1	Can't Find The Time / Lesley's World	(MGM K 13882)	1968
2	I've Never Seen Love Like This / Congress Alley	(MGM K 13947)	1968
3	Brown Arms In Houston / I Can Make The Sun Rise	(MGM K 14022)	1969
4	By The Size Of My Shoes / Joyful	(MGM K 14139)	1970
5	Big Green Pearl / Sweet Life	(Bell 45 128)	1971

NB: There have also been some reissue 45s: Can't Find The Time / Brown Arms In Houston (MGM Golden Circle MVG 529) and (Polydor Band Of Gold MVG 529); and Can't Find The Time (Rock 'n Mania RMGD-2424A).  

From Worcester, Massachusetts, Orpheus were formed by ex-Villagers, (name deleted) and McKennes, Gulliksen from The Blue Echoes and Harry Sandler from The Mods. McKennes and Gulliksen had earlier worked together in a few folk groups, including The College Boys, who had one 45, The Man (Swan S-4166) 1963. Gulliksen: "This was a Kennedy tribute record; the group name was selected by Swan to remove commerciality from the record!".

Under the guidance of Alan Lorber, who produced all their albums, Orpheus became part of the "Boss-town Sound" movement but cultivated an almost singer-songwriter styled soft rock sound, with folkie elements, at variance with the overtly psychedelic sounds and image of most of their stablemates. Possibly a marginal case for inclusion here therefore and not recommended to either garage or psych fans, although some of their material could be classified as 'hippie-rock' at a stretch.

Check out their contributions to the double CD set The Best Of Bosstown Sound: Can't Find The Time To Tell You (1967), Walk Away Renée (1968), Brown Arms In Houston (1969), Tomorrow Man (1971) - and decide for yourself.

They should be given credit for having a wider appeal and more output than most of their regional stablemates which saw them survive most of the hype and subsequent critical backlash. One of their songs, Can't Find The Time, was also covered by '60s instrumental band Groovin' Strings on their 1969 album Groovin' Strings And Things, and Rose Colored Glass, who had a Top 40 hit with the song. Other covers have included Brown Arms In Houston by the Plastic Cow on an album called The Plastic Cow Goes MOOOOOOG (!?!?) and a very interesting cover of Congress Alley by a New York jazz funk group called Congress Alley on their album Congress Alley.

Eric G: "A few years after the group split up, Harry Sandler went to California where he did various things like being wardrobe manager for Sha Na Na, cue card boy on "Wheel of Fortune", etc. Later he got into personal management (no, he's not the Harry Sandler who manages John Mellencamp) and handled several fairly successful TV personalities. Harry hadn't heard of the Rose Colored Glass or of their version of Can't Find The Time. At a party, he struck up a conversation with a fellow there ... turned out that he was also an ex-drummer, hailing from Texas, that had also gone ex-pat to California. Harry asked if they had had any records, and the guy said yeah, his group was the Rose Colored Glass, and they had had a hit with Can't Find The Time. That blew Harry away - "hey! I was in Orpheus and that was OUR major hit!" The Texan, on the other hand, had never heard of Orpheus - he said that their singer had brought in the song and suggested that they do it, and they went ahead without ever having heard the original. Small world, eh?"

Orpheus also performed the theme song for the MGM movie "Marlowe", starring James Garner, called Little Sister. Jack McKennes and (name deleted) can also be heard playing guitar on a 45 by The Alan Lorber Orchestra, Massachusetts / Congress Alley (MGM K-13926SS).

Can't Find The Time was covered more recently by Hootie and the Blowfish, and this version was included on the soundtrack for the 2000 Jim Carrey movie "Me, Myself and Irene". Eric's verdict - "It's not bad at all, certainly better than the one by The Rose Colored Glass back in the 70s".

(Max Waller/Grayson Delworth with thanks to Eric Gulliksen & (name deleted))