The Paupers – Magic People

The Paupers are known for two things: playing at the Monterey International Pop Festival and being Canadian. Their success at Monterey and other live shows led to a well-funded but ultimately commercially unsuccessful debut album, Magic People, released in late 1967 on Verve Forecast. Although they are known as a Canadian psychedelic rock band, their sound was much more versatile and much more like the sounds coming out of San Francisco in the mid to late 60s. Songs like the title track “Magic People” and “Think I Care” are typical psychedelic rock songs of the era, although they tend to favor more dominate and complex drum parts than most psychedelic rock of the time. Like many psychedelic rock bands, The Paupers incorporated guitar distortion, but it is not near as prominent as most of their contemporaries. The Paupers also played well outside the psychedelic rock genre. Their song “Let Me Be” is a classic folk rock song that evokes the songwriting and sound of John Denver or Peter, Paul and Mary. They also dabbled in traditional pop with songs like “One Rainy Day.” This song has great harmonies and range, demonstrating the band’s ability to work outside their persona. Although the album is stocked full of good singles, there are several songs on the album that are underwhelming and/or underdeveloped. Songs like “Black Thank You Package” or “Tudor Impressions” seem to lack direction, more like a jam session tune than a well-structured album number. This album does a good job of demonstrating the band’s skills but it also leaves the listener with a feeling that they could do better. B-