September 1967 - December 1968: The Rest is History

Pictured above: Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968

During George Harrison’s vacation to America in 1967, he traveled to San Francisco and while in a particular pub came along a local band known at “The Golliwogs”.

“Well, we came on stage, we were still called The Golliwogs at that time, and I don’t remember who spotted him first, I think it was Doug [Clifford], but in the audience, not really upfront but we could easily see him, we could’ve sworn we say none other than George Harrison. Now of course nowadays we know it was actually him, but at that moment we were just looking at ourselves like ‘is that really him?’, (laughs). Anyways, must’ve been about a week later, and we got a call from our manager at the time, Saul Zaentz, about how he got a call from someone at this record label called Red Maple Records, and how they wanted to sign us and have us record an album. It must’ve been the best deal we’ve ever seen, especially considering how we were essentially nobodys at the time. We only really found out the association of the record with Apple Corps when the album was going to be distributed in the UK, and well, the rest is history.”

- Stu Cook, 2009

Before signing onto Red Maple, Saul Zaentz insisted on them changing their name in part due to the racial charge “The Golliwogs” had. He ended up agreeing to their first suggestion right off the bat, such suggestion being “Creedence Clearwater Revival”. Their self-titled debut album was recorded during October 1967 and between January and February 1968, with it being released on May 28th, 1968 under Red Maple Records.

Pictured above: The Soft Machine, 1968

Some time between Syd Barrett leaving Pink Floyd and starting work on his own solo music, and having heard of Apple Records, he invited John Lennon to the UFO Club in London, to check out some bands who could potentially be signed onto the label. After a few duds, a particular band came on stage which caught John’s attention, one of the pioneers of the Canterbury scene named The Soft Machine, consisting of Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge and Robert Wyatt.

“The Machines then started to come on stage, playing some real futuristic music, and I was sitting there thinking ‘Jesus christ, how come nobody has signed this group yet?’, so being the gentleman I was, I asked Syd if I could have a meet and greet with ‘em, of course he said yes.”

 - John Lennon, 1969

“After the gig, Syd stopped by the backstage area, saying ‘Now presenting, his majesty, John Lennon’ (laugh) and Mike was like ‘Jesus Syd, how did you manage to get him here’, and we just chatted for a while, John then popping the question on if we were interested in hooking up with Apple, Robert was a bit hesitant at first, but John assured us that we’d be treated with the best kind of respect an artist could ask for.”

- Kevin Ayers, 1974

Being managed by Michael Jeffery, also manager of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Soft Machine became the opening act for Hendrix throughout most of early 1968, recording their self-titled debut album in April of 1968, eventually releasing it on December 6th, 1968 under Apple Records.

Apple Records / Red Maple 1967 - 1968 Discography Round-up:

Notable Apple singles:

• The Beatles - Hello Goodbye / Hey Bulldog - November 24th, 1967
• Focal Point - Never Never / Sycamore Sid - January 31st, 1968
• The Beatles - Lady Madonna / The Inner Light - March 15th, 1968
• Focal Point - Love You Forever / Lonely Woman - May 16th, 1968
• Grapefruit - Dear Delilah / Dead Boot - June 17th, 1968
• The Beatles - Hey Jude / Revolution - August 30th, 1968
• Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days / Turn! Turn! Turn! - August 30th, 1968
• Jackie Lomax - Sour Milk Sea / The Eagle Laughs at You - August 30th, 1968
• John Fosters & Sons Limited / Black Dyke Mills Band - Thingumybob / Yellow Submarine - August 30th, 1968
• The Soft Machine - Joy of a Toy / Why Are We Sleeping? - November 1st, 1968
• Badfinger - Maybe Tomorrow / And Her Daddy’s a Millionaire - November 15th, 1968

Notable Apple albums:

• The Beatles - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - December 26th, 1967
• Focal Point - Focal Point - February 29th, 1968
• Grapefruit - Around Grapefruit - August 30th, 1968
• George Harrison - Wonderwall Music - November 1st, 1968
• The Beatles - Peace - November 22nd, 1968
• The Beatles - Chaos - November 22nd, 1968
• The Modern Jazz Quartet - Under the Jasmine Tree - December 6th, 1968
• The Soft Machine - The Soft Machine - December 6th, 1968

Notable Red Maple singles:

• The Band - All Along The Watchtower / This Wheel’s On Fire - December 27th, 1967
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Suzie Q - June 15th, 1968
• The Band - The Weight / I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight - August 22nd, 1968
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell On You / Walk On the Water" - October 12th, 1968

Notable Red Maple albums:

• The Band - Music From Big Pink - July 1st, 1968
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival - May 28th, 1968
• James Taylor - James Taylor - December 6th, 1968