Present Tense (Sagittarius album)

Present Tense
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 3, 1968
GenreSunshine pop[1][2]
Length53 minutes (CD reissue)
LabelColumbia
ProducerGary Usher, Curt Boettcher
Sagittarius chronology
Present Tense
(1968)
The Blue Marble
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Uncut[3]

Present Tense is the first Sagittarius album, released in 1968 by Columbia Records. Though the record was basically a Gary Usher solo project, he enlisted many top LA session musicians, and heavily utilized Curt Boettcher as a songwriter, musician, vocalist, and producer (even going so far as to include two tracks that Boettcher had produced on his own as the leader of the group The Ballroom). The album also contains the recording "My World Fell Down", which had no Boettcher involvement, albeit the LP version was edited, with the musique concrète bridge from the single version being excised (though a few extra bars of music were added in between the first and second verses). The single "Hotel Indiscreet" also had a similar fate when it reached the LP.

The album was reissued on CD by Sundazed Records in 1997 with 9 bonus tracks. Two of these are the original single versions of "My World Fell Down" and "Hotel Indiscreet", as well as another track from The Ballroom, a Sandy Salisbury song, and the instrumental track for a song that was recorded by Chad & Jeremy. In 2006 the album was reissued again on CD in Japan by Sony in a Mini-LP style sleeve, featuring the album but with different bonus tracks, then again in 2009 by Rev-Ola Records but with the same track listing as the Sundazed reissue. The track listing given below reflects the original LP.

  1. ^ Murray, Noel (April 7, 2011). "Gateways to Geekery: Sunshine Pop". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. ^ Howard, David N. (June 1, 2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 85. ISBN 978-0634055607. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. ^ Bell, Max (March 1998). "Sagittarius: Present Tense / The Millenium: Begin". Uncut. No. 10. p. 88.