Orpheus

In the closing years of the 1960s and the opening stretch of the 1970s, Boston-based Orpheus released four albums that functioned as early forerunners of soft rock. Although certain members traced their beginnings to the folk circuit and the group was routinely grouped with the louder, more psychedelic outfits that briefly defined the “Bosstown sound,” Orpheus actually sat closer to the “sunshine pop” then saturating AM radio. Producer Alan Lorber, already known for his work with Ultimate Spinach and other regional acts, wrapped the band’s airy harmony pop in lavish orchestral settings that nodded toward Baroque classical forms.

Jack McKenes and Eric Gulliksen had previously performed together in the pop-folk ensemble the Minutemen, while McKenes and Bruce Arnold had formed the pop-folk duo the Villagers; the three musicians, completed by drummer Harry Sandler, then assembled Orpheus. Working chiefly from original songs written by Arnold and Gulliksen, the band recorded three LPs for MGM—the principal label for Bosstown sound acts—in the late 1960s. Their vocal blends and songcraft recalled the Fifth Dimension and the Association, at times evoking the Lettermen while revealing occasional folk or psychedelic touches.

When Orpheus delivered their fourth and final album on Bell in 1971, Arnold was the lone remaining original member. Songwriting and vocals on that release came from Steve Martin—not the Steve Martin who sang lead for the Left Banke—who had already contributed material to the MGM recordings. The 1995 double-CD Big Beat collection The Best of Orpheus gathers nearly every track from the MGM albums, several cuts from the Bell LP, and a handful of previously unreleased pieces.