The David

The David put out Another Day, Another Lifetime in 1967, an obscure yet finely crafted album blending baroque, pop, and psychedelic elements. A contributor to a collector magazine once labeled the band a garage Left Banke, an assessment that holds up well. Gorgeous melodies and delicate arrangements coexist with a tougher edge than the Left Banke ever displayed, propelled by gutsy electric guitar and organ lines coursing through the cleverly orchestrated material. Warren Hansen, the lead singer, composed every track, placing him on roughly equal footing with the similarly precocious Michael Brown.

For years the band’s trajectory and Hansen’s own path ranked among the more tantalizing enigmas of 1960s rock until the liner notes accompanying the 2001 Jamie CD reissue illuminated much of their background. Originally assembled in the Los Angeles area in 1965 under the name the Reasons, the musicians adopted the David moniker the next year. Their 1966 sessions for 20th Century Fox yielded a pair of singles, one of which—“Forty Miles”—found favor in Bakersfield, CA, and later surfaced on the Pebbles, Vol. 9: Southern California 2 compilation.

The group’s only album appeared on Vance Music Company (VMC), the concern established by their manager. String arranger Gene Page, later known for his work on 1970s disco hits, contributed substantially to the sessions and helped the record distinguish itself from countless other psychedelic garage releases of the era. Despite this promising foundation the album achieved scant commercial traction, the band issued nothing further, and they disbanded in the early 1970s.