The Letter/Neon Rainbow
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The Letter/Neon Rainbow is an album by American Blue Eyed Soul band Box Tops, released in 1967.
Following "The Letter" reaching number one on the singles charts, "The Letter/Neon Rainbow" was quickly assembled for a follow up. The album peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1968.
Although most of the backing tracks were done by session musicians, the original group played the hit "The Letter". The session musicians were most likely guitarists Reggie Young and Bobby Womack, bassist Tommy Cogbill, pianist and organist Bobby Emmons, and drummer Gene Chrisman.[1]
Although lead singer Alex Chilton was 16 years old at the time and had already written a number of songs, none were included on this debut. He later went on to a moderately successful career with the pop group Big Star as well as independently.
The Letter/Neon Rainbow was re-released on CD in 2000 on the Sundazed label (SC 6158) with four additional tracks. These included the mono single versions of "The Letter" and "Neon Rainbow", a B-side "Turn on a Dream" and a previously unreleased track "Georgia Farm Boy".
Track listing
- "The Letter" (Wayne Carson Thompson) – 1:55
- "She Knows How" (Thompson) – 3:08
- "Trains and Boats and Planes" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:48
- "Break My Mind" (John D. Loudermilk) – 2:29
- "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Gary Brooker, Keith Reid) – 4:34
- "Everything I Am" (Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn) – 2:20
- "Neon Rainbow" (Thompson) – 3:04
- "People Make the World" (Bobby Womack) – 2:31
- "I'm Your Puppet" (Oldham, Penn) – 2:54
- "Happy Times" (Oldham, Penn) – 1:46
- "Gonna Find Somebody" (Womack) – 3:02
- "I Pray for Rain" (Oldham, Penn) – 2:26
- "Turn on a Dream" (Mark James) – 2:50 [*]
- "The Letter" (Thompson) – 1:58 [*]
- "Neon Rainbow" (Thompson) – 3:00 [*]
- "Georgia Farm Boy" (Newbury) – 3:48 [*]
[*] denotes bonus tracks found on the CD release.
Personnel
- Alex Chilton – vocals, guitar
- Bill Cunningham – bass
- John Evans – keyboards
- Danny Smythe – drums
- Gary Talley – guitar, background vocals
- Dan Penn – background vocals
- Un-named session musicians — see above.
Production notes
- Produced by Dan Penn
- Engineered by Chips Moman
- Remastered by Bob Irwin at Sundazed Studios, Coxsackie, NY
- Original cover photo by Frank Lerner
- Cover art by Rich Russell
- Original cover design – Steven Craig Productions
- Liner notes by Jud Cost and Hal Smith (original and re-issue)
- Re-issue photos & graphics courtesy of Bill Cunningham, Danny Smythe, Clark & Steve Besch, Ric Zannitto, and the Sundazed Archive