Tintern Abbey

British psychedelic band Tintern Abbey were active for only the blink of an eye in the late '60s, leaving behind just one single, "Beeside"/"Vacuum Cleaner," made for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Deram%22">Deram</a> in 1967. But on the strength of that sole 45, they qualify as one of the very best (if one of the more obscure) one-shots of the British psychedelic era. The band formed in 1966 and was gone before 1968 came to a close, but accrued a wealth of unreleased recordings that were eventually collected on the 2021 anthology Beeside (The Complete Recordings).

Tintern Abbey formed in 1966, comprised of original members Don Smith, David MacTavish, Stuart MacKay, and John Dalton. In December of 1967, the band released their sole <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Deram%22">Deram</a> single, employing a wistful melodic character rarely seen in the hard-rocking psychedelia of the time, as well as interesting use of Mellotron and piano in the arrangements. Smith left the band after the release of the single, and new guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0TQXapJa9mudx4Lr8PYGPa">Paul Brett</a> and keyboardist Terry Goldberg joined the fold. More recordings were made, and a second single was planned for a 1968 release, but the band broke up before it saw the light of day. In the decades that followed, a couple of members of Tintern Abbey had associations with other marginal bands on the British psych/prog scene. Vocalist/songwriter MacTavish was in <a href="spotify:artist:1pA1elhVJgu7d1gVaRSFnO">Big Bertha</a> (which also had ex-<a href="spotify:artist:2BLpGstUHxDc6vHfBEiaXm">Move</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:3eBQVLP5Rzx4UzVYJVX8On">Ace Kefford</a>) and a late version of the <a href="spotify:artist:1VUWJwGcyD3Psb99xOUaw3">Velvet Opera</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0TQXapJa9mudx4Lr8PYGPa">Brett</a> played in the <a href="spotify:artist:1VUWJwGcyD3Psb99xOUaw3">Velvet Opera</a> (though not when MacTavish was in the lineup) and <a href="spotify:artist:17EYkBbVpPuORassyzM8pX">Fire</a>. Original copies of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Deram%22">Deram</a> single became highly sought-after collector's items, and miscellaneous Tintern Abbey songs wound up on various compilations and one-off reissues. In 2021, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Grapefruit+Records%22">Grapefruit Records</a> assembled a proper anthology for the band in the form of Beeside (The Complete Recordings). The compilation included multiple versions of the band's publicly released single, studio outtakes, demos, and more or less everything else Tintern Abbey had put to tape during their brief existence. ~ Richie Unterberger & Fred Thomas, Rovi