Polly Niles: Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind - The Lost Album, 2CD

*** LEGENDARY “LOST ALBUM” FROM 1970 BY CULT SINGER POLLY NILES – FINALLY RELEASED! ***

• The 1970 Ember Records album by actress/model/singer/songwriter Polly Niles, was for many years the stuff of internet rumour and legend, said to exist only in test pressing form. Now, it is finally released.

• Polly, who later appeared in the film Super Fly (1972), was a singer/songwriter from New York married to folk revival star, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. She signed with the London-based Ember label in 1969 and recorded an album that blended her songwriting with cuts by Stephen Stills, Goffin/King, John Barry and Bob Dylan.

• Producers of Polly’s album included Beau Ray Fleming, whose CV included work for Dean Courtney, Jon Lucien and Mandrill. Arrangements and conducting were by the legendary Bert DeCoteaux, later a key figure in soul/funk/disco, working with Sister Sledge, Peter Nero, Zulema, Linda Lewis and Martha Reeves.

• Only one track from Polly’s album was ever released at the time – the gently psychedelic ‘Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind’ on an Ember sampler release, Future Star Explosion – New Faces Of The 70s, in 1970. The song was also recorded by fellow Ember artist Milly Scott and covered in 2012 by indie band The Primitives.

• In 1970, two Polly Niles singles made it to acetate stage before being cancelled: ‘Since I Lost You Baby’/‘The Milk Of The Tree’ and ‘Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind’/‘Get High On Jesus’. Another, ‘If I Let You’/‘East Virginia’, was cancelled prior to any manufacturing.

• Over the last decade, six tracks from Polly’s Ember sessions have emerged on compilations, but now, newly remastered, they can finally be heard, as originally intended. This 2-CD set consists of twelve titles but has been expanded to over twice its original length. Also included are cancelled mono singles, alternative mixes, works in progress, and some new 2019 mixes made from the original multi-tracks.

• This is an artist-approved release, with Polly on board as a consultant. And for the first time, Polly’s story is told in a 3000-word liner essay by journalist, Charles Donovan. Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind has been assembled with luxurious, period-appropriate design work, with top flight remastering. The album is illustrated by Ember-era photographs from Polly’s own archives.

• Follows limited edition vinyl reissue of the original, unreleased Polly Niles album on Record Collector magazine’s label.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE: POLLY NILES ~ THE ALBUM
1. I AM A CHILD
2. EAST VIRGINIA
3. BANG BANG
4. I SHALL BE RELEASED **
5. IF I LET YOU **
6. I WALK THE LINE **
7. WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW **
8. SINCE I LOST YOU BABY **
9. THE MILK OF THE TREE
10. FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
11. SUNSHINE IN MY RAINY DAY MIND
12. GET HIGH ON JESUS **
BONUS TRACKS
13. SINCE I LOST YOU BABY (Mono Unreleased Single) *
14. THE MILK OF THE TREE (Mono Unreleased Single) *
15. IF I LET YOU (Mono Mix) *
16. EAST VIRGINIA (Mono Mix) *
17. I AM A CHILD (Mono Mix) *
18. WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW (Mono Mix) *

* PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED
** PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED ON CD

DISC TWO: BONUS MATERIAL
1. SUNSHINE IN MY RAINY DAY MIND (First Version) *
2. EAST VIRGINIA (First Version) *
3. IF I LET YOU (Final Mix From 16-track) *
4. SUNSHINE IN MY RAINY DAY MIND (4-Track Vocal
Experiment From Unmixed Rhythm Track) *
5. EAST VIRGINIA (Final Mix From 8-track) *
6. I AM A CHILD (Final Mix From 8-track) *
7. SUNSHINE IN MY RAINY DAY MIND (Final Mix From 8-
track) *
8. GET HIGH ON JESUS (Final Mix From 8-track) *
9. SINCE I LOST YOU BABY (2019 Mix) *
10. THE MILK OF THE TREE (2019 Mix) *
11. FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH (2019 Mix) *
12. I WALK THE LINE (2019 Mix) *
13. I SHALL BE RELEASED (2019 Mix) *
14. BANG BANG (2019 Mix) *
15. FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH (Mono Mix) *
16. I WALK THE LINE (Mono Mix) *
17. I SHALL BE RELEASED (Mono Mix)
18. BANG BANG (Mono Mix) *

*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED