Nowadays, drummer extraordinaire Nigel Olsson can be found behind the kit for Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, supporting the same superstar artist with whom he's been associated for nearly fifty years.  Before his association with Elton, however, Nigel was plying his trade as one-fifth of Plastic Penny, a group which briefly straddled the worlds of pop, R&B, and underground psychedelia.  The band also boasted future members of UFO, Cochise, and The Troggs.  Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint has recently collected their entire output as Everything I Am: The Complete Plastic Penny.

"Everything I Am," the U.K. top ten hit which opens Disc One of Grapefruit's 3-CD box as the first track on the album Two Sides of a Penny, wasn't actually the work of Plastic Penny.  It was, in fact, a studio concoction masterminded by Page One Records' Larry Page and featuring the voice of Scottish-born singer Brian Keith.  He was brought on board for his uncanny ability to replicate the gravelly, beyond-its-years voice of Alex Chilton in his Box Tops days; Page felt that the American group's version of the song deserved a better fate than being relegated to the B-side of "Neon Rainbow."  He then set about to record a soundalike version.  But when "Everything I Am" registered with the British audience, Page sensed the need to establish a "real" Plastic Penny.  Keith recruited organist Paul Raymond and bassist Tony Murray from his onstage "showband" The Universals and enlisted guitarist Mick Grabham as well as Olsson.  The five-piece outfit took to the road and to the studio.

Two Sides of a Penny, presented in mono on Disc One and in stereo on Disc Two of the new set, featured both "Everything I Am" and its flipside, the Keith/Raymond-penned orchestral ballad "No Pleasure Without Pain My Love," along with the follow-up single "Nobody Knows It" b/w "Happy Just to Be with You" (performed by the real group) and seven more tracks.  Keith sang on the lion's share of its tracks, but vocal slots were also ceded to Raymond and Olsson.  The musical differences that would splinter Plastic Penny were already evident in the varied line-up of songs, going from slow, organ-driven ballads (including a proto-Vanilla Fudge-style take on The Association's "Never My Love") to psychedelia (the lengthy "Mrs. Grundy," a cover of "Strawberry Fields Forever"), R&B-inflected mod tracks, and even a raucous, Olsson-led version of "I Want You," originated by Denmark's garage band The Lions, complete with wild drums.  Keith was reportedly unhappy that the band was spurning the pop sound of the original Plastic Penny single, and amicably departed in May 1968, after the release of Two Sides of a Penny.  David Wells' excellent liner notes quote a band spokesman via Melody Maker at the time: "Brian is leaving because he wants to go into cabaret as a solo singer.  He is older than the other boys and they want to stay on the ballroom scene."  Disc One adds six single sides as bonus tracks including Italian-language versions of "Nobody Knows It" and "Everything I Am."

The four-piece band continued with Raymond not only taking lead vocals but assuming a leadership position as a songwriter in tandem with Tony Murray.  The July 1968 single "Your Way to Tell Me Go" b/w "Baby You're Not to Blame" reflected the group's new sound, much closer to The Who than The Association.  But Page One was never able to capitalize on the success of that initial single, and the nascent underground music scene wasn't anxious to adopt the "one-hit wonders" as their own, even if the band's musicianship - driven by Olsson's unstoppable drums - was inarguably strong.  He led a Nice-esque take on Leiber and Stoller's Elvis Presley oldie "Hound Dog" on 45 RPM before 1968 was out.  But 1969 proved key to the future of the band - and Olsson - as Elton John emerged in the Larry Page/Dick James Music stable of songwriters.  While giving "When the First Tear Shows" to the solo Brian Keith, Elton and his lyricist partner Bernie Taupin gave "Turn to Me" to Plastic Penny.  Olsson and Murray both contributed to Elton's debut LP Empty Sky - Murray on bass for the whole album and the "Lady Samantha" single, and Olsson playing on "Lady What's Tomorrow?" and numerous demos.

February 1969 saw the release of the second and final Plastic Penny album, Currency, which features on Disc 3 here in its original stereo mix.  The progressive sound had gelled, as evidenced not only by the inclusion of the two post-Keith singles but by the Move-esque "Give Me Money" and the jam session "Sour Suite."  Plastic Penny, primarily with Raymond on lead vocals, also covered The Band ("Caledonian Mission") and Richard Harris (a "heavy" take on Jimmy Webb's magnum opus "MacArthur Park").  But when the well-received album failed to make an impression on the charts, the group began to fragment.  Raymond went on to replace Christine Perfect (later McVie) in Savoy Brown before being recruited into UFO in 1976, and Tony Murray joined The Troggs.  Grabham and Olsson continued for a while until the latter departed for greener pastures including The Mirage, Uriah Heep, and finally, the Elton John Band.  Grabham pressed on with new members for the single "She Does" b/w a remake of the first LP's "Genevieve," before they renamed themselves Cochise and signed to United Artists Records.  (Grabham played with Procol Harum from 1972-1977.)  This single is appended to Disc 3 among the seven bonus tracks - six 45 sides and the Olsson-sung outtake "Celebrity Ball" (a.k.a. Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon's "Celebrate," best known in Three Dog Night's rendition) which was first released on a 1969 compilation LP.

Everything I Am: The Complete Plastic Penny is rounded out on Disc 2 with fourteen exemplary live cuts recorded for the BBC between January 1968 and February 1969, sourced from rare transcription discs.  Within the clamshell case, the three CDs are housed in paper sleeves with the original album covers and new artwork for Disc 2 reflecting the BBC Sessions.  While no mastering engineer is credited, sound is solid throughout.  Compiler David Wells' comprehensive essay featuring new quotes from Brian Keith is featured in the thick 28-page booklet.  This definitive survey of the short but fascinating career of Plastic Penny is available now from Cherry Red and Grapefruit!

Plastic Penny, Everything I Am: The Complete Plastic Penny (Grapefruit CRSEGBOX053, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Two Sides of a Penny (Mono) (Page One LP POL 005, 1968) plus bonus tracks

1. Everything I Am
2. Wake Me Up
3. Never My Love
4. Genevieve
5. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love
6. So Much Older Now
7. Mrs. Grundy
8. Take Me Back
9. I Want You
10. It's a Good Thing
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Everything I Am (Single Version) (Page One single POF 051, 1967)
13. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love (Single Version) (Page One single POF 051, 1967)
14. Nobody Knows It (Single Version) (Page One single POF 062, 1968)
15. Happy Just to Be with You (Single Version) (Page One single POF 062, 1968)
16. Guarda Nel Cielo (Nobody Knows It) (Ricordi International single SIR 20.067, 1968)
17. Tutto Quel Che Ho (Everything I Am) (Ricordi International single SIR 20.067, 1968)

CD 2: Two Sides of a Penny (Stereo) (Page One LP POLS 005, 1968) / BBC Sessions

1. Everything I Am
2. Wake Me Up
3. Never My Love
4. Genevieve
5. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love
6. So Much Older Now
7. Mrs. Grundy
8. Take Me Back
9. I Want You
10. It's a Good Thing
11. Strawberry Fields Forever

BBC Sessions

12. Turning Night Into Day
13. Everything I Am
14. Take Me Back
15. Everything I Am
16. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love
17. It's a Good Thing
18. It's a Good Thing
19. Nobody Knows It
20. So Much Older Now
21. Your Way to Tell Me Go
22. The Shelter of Your Arms
23. Give Me Money
24. Killing Floor
25. Strawberry Fields Forever

CD 3: Currency (Stereo) (Page One LP POLS 014, 1969) plus bonus tracks

1. Your Way to Tell Me Go
2. Hound Dog
3. Currency
4. Caledonian Mission
5. MacArthur Park
6. Turn to Me
7. Baby You're Not to Blame
8. Give Me Money
9. Sour Suite
10. Your Way to Tell Me Go (Single Version) (Page One single POF 079, 1968)
11. Baby You're Not to Blame (Single Version) (Page One single POF 079, 1968)
12. Hound Dog (Single Version) (Page One single POF 107, 1968)
13. Currency (Single Version) (Page One single POF 107, 1968)
14. Celebrity Ball (Celebrate) (from Heads I Win - Tails You Lose, Page One LP POS 611, 1970)
15. She Does (Non-LP Single) (Page One single POS 146, 1969)
16. Genevieve (Single Version) (Page One single POS 146, 1969)