Chicago group The Capes Of Good Hope released a pair of 45's on the small Round Records label in late 1966, this one being the first (and most common). The top side 'Shades' is a light sunshine pop tune with a nice piano intro and string flourishes. The acoustic guitar is high in the mix along with the vocals which most definitely fall somewhere in the Association's category of harmony pop delights.
The flip side 'Lady Margaret' is a different story all together and is the one made familiar by it's inclusion in A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych (it also appears on a 'Soft Sounds For Gentle People' compilation). It seems every instrument from 'Shades' was dropped in favor of some late '66 Eastern flare. In come the electric guitars accompanied with the prominent percussion of cymbals, tambourines and tablas. Throw in some bits of compact organ and mystical lyrics and you have two minutes and thirty seconds of prime evidence supporting a theory that music of this era was, in fact, THE coolest ever made.
The unique label design also deserves mention as it seems out of place for it's time. It's more in line with the indie label designs that would appear several decades later...
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