Biography
Bernie Schwartz, who performed under the alias Adrian Pride and should not be mistaken for the actor Tony Curtis born under the same birth name, had long established himself as a seasoned songwriter with ties to Sharon Sheely and the Everly Brothers while also stepping in front of the microphone from time to time. For his second Warner Bros. release he adopted the Adrian Pride moniker on the late-1966 single “Her Name Is Melody,” a raga-tinged sunshine-pop ballad distinguished by its intricate drumming and multiple strata of virtuoso guitar work. That recording represented Schwartz’s lone outing in the Adrian Pride persona; in 1968 he re-emerged under his own name within the Comfortable Chair. Despite its qualities, “Her Name Is Melody” failed to register on the charts and remained largely unheard until Rhino Handmade assembled the 2004 anthology Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults, finally presenting the track to a receptive listenership.