Spare Creativity #8: 1967 - 1969: We Really Came Into Our Own

Pictured above: Timebox, 1968

Timebox was a band formed in 1966 initially under the name Take Five by Jeff Dean, Frank Dixon, Kevan Foggetry, Clive Griffiths, Peter “Ollie” Halsall, and Chris Holmes. After going through several lineup changes (and a name change early on), by late 1967 the band found themselves with a lineup consisting of Mike Patto, Ollie Halsall,  Clive Griffiths, Chris Holmes, and John Halsey. Up until that point the band had only released two singles, I’ll Always Love You b/w Save Your Love, and Soul Sauce b/w I Wish I Could Jerk Like My Uncle Cyril under Picadilly Records. However, after acquiring a deal with Deram, the band set on to record a full-length album, consisting of both original songs and covers. The result was a self-titled record, which release was preceded by the singles Don’t Make Promises b/w Walking Through the Streets of My Mind and Beggin’ b/w A Woman That’s Waiting.

Timebox

Side A:

01. I Wish I Could Jerk Like My Uncle Cyril (2:05) [1]

02. You’ve Got The Chance (3:52) [1]

03. Your Real Good Thing is About to Come to an End (3:12) [1]

04. Come On Up (3:08) [1]

05. A Woman That’s Waiting (2:57) [1]

06. Soul Sauce (2:58) [1]

Side B:

07. Love The Girl (2:21) [2]

08. Misty (4:40) [2]

09. Walking Through the Streets of My Mind (2:51) [1]

10. Don’t Make Promises (3:11) [1]

11. Leave Me to Cry (3:18) [1]

12. Beggin’ (2:50) [1]

Released: 1968

Track sources:

[1] - Beggin’, 2008

[2] - The Deram Anthology, 1998

“The first album was alright I guess, but barely did anything in the charts, not a big surprise, but I feel like we really came into our own, songwriting-wise anyways on our “Moose on the Loose” album.”

- Mike Patto, 1973

While their singles featured a pop sound with mild psych and jazz influences, during their live performances they focused on a heavier progressive rock and jazz sound. This caused a great deal of concern for the band as audiences came to view Timebox mainly for their singles and recorded material. This eventually caused keyboardist Chris Holmes to leave the band, but not before the recording of one last album with the group, in 1969.

Moose on the Loose

Side A:

01. Yellow Van (2:51) [1]

02. Tree House (2:56) [1]

03. Poor Little Heartbreaker (2:46) [1]

04. Baked Jam Roll in Your Eye (3:23) [1]

05. Black Dog (3:02) [1]

06. Country Dan and City (2:17) [1]

07. Eddie McHenry (2:47) [1]

Side B:

08. Barnabus Swain (2:50) [1]

09. Promises (2:08) [1]

10. Stay There (2:50) [1]

11. Girl Don’t Make Me Wait (2:33) [1]

12. Timebox (3:14) [1]

13. Gone is the Sad Man (3:45) [1]

Released: 1969

Track sources:

[1] - Beggin’ - 2008

Author’s comments:

Hey folks, I know the common practice set by Strawberry Peppers and myself is to get all of the “extra scenes” (in this case dubbed “Spare Creativities”) out of the way between phases (or decades in my case), however, this is a rare case where we fully formed an idea a little too late even for the Spare Creativity window as such I am conjuring up the label once more for the jumping point of yet another band to be altered in Something Creative.

Timebox is often remembered as the jumping point for Mike Patto and Ollie Halsall, before moving onto Patto and later Boxer. In our timeline, they didn’t record a single album under the Timebox name, yet there is enough material to fill at least two LPs, which is exactly what we did here. Where will Timebox go from here? You’ll just have to wait and see!