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The Story of Simon Simopath is the debut album by British psychedelic band Nirvana, released by Island Records in 1967. Described by Melody Maker's Chris Welch as a "science fiction pantomime album", the songs are linked with a story on the back cover which details the dream of Simon Simopath to fly.[2] "Pentecost Hotel" was released as a single with the non-album b-side, "Feelin' Shattered". "Wings of Love" was the next single, also with a non-album b-side, "Requiem to John Coltrane". "Girl in the Park", from the second album, All of Us, featured the b-side, "C Side In Ocho Rios", which is an instrumental version of "In the Courtyard of the Stars".

The Story of Simon Simopath
Studio album by Nirvana
Released	October 1967 (1967-10)
Recorded	1967
Genre	Psychedelic pop[1] rock[1] baroque[1]
Length	25:28
Label	Island
Producer	Chris Blackwell
Nirvana chronology
The Story of Simon Simopath (1967) All of Us (1968)

Story

On the back cover is a text story, "The Story of Simon Simopath: A Science Fiction Pantomime", which links the song titles. It deals with a boy named Simon Simopath who dreams of having wings.[3] He is lonely,[4] and after reaching adulthood goes to work in a "computer office block".[5] He suffers a nervous breakdown and is unable to find help in a mental institution, but gets aboard a rocket and meets a centaur who will be his friend and a tiny goddess named Magdalena, who works at Pentecost Hotel. Simon and Magdalena fall in love and get married, followed by a jazzy party.

The title of the album is a possible reference to William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch, which coins the word to describe several escapees from a mental institution. In this context, the word refers to 'a citizen convinced he is an ape or other citizen'.[6]

Legacy

In a retrospective review on AllMusic, Stewart Mason feels that the "unashamedly twee early concept album", with its "deliberately childlike tone", despite being "a collection of unconnected songs forced together" in a "rather silly story", is a "uniformly solid set of well-constructed psych-pop tunes".[1]

Track listing

• All songs written by Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos

Side one

1. "Wings of Love" – 3:20
2. "Lonely Boy" – 2:31
3. "We Can Help You" – 1:57
4. "Satellite Jockey" – 2:35
5. "In the Courtyard of the Stars" – 2:36

Side two

1. "You Are Just the One" – 2:07
2. "Pentecost Hotel" – 3:06
3. "I Never Found a Love Like This" – 2:50
4. "Take This Hand" – 2:17
5. "1999" – 2:09

The 2003 Universal Island Remasters collection includes both stereo and mono versions of the album on one disc. This release contains several bonus tracks:

• 11. "I Believe in Magic" (b-side to "Tiny Goddess")
• 12. "Life Ain't Easy" (previously unreleased version)
• 13. "Feelin' Shattered" (b-side to "Pentecost Hotel")
• 14. "Requiem to John Coltrane" (b-side to "Wings of Love")

All songs composed by Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos

Personnel

• Patrick Campbell-Lyons – guitar and vocals
• Ray Singer – guitar
• Alex Spyropoulos – piano, keyboards and vocals
• Michael Coe - French horn and viola
• Brian Henderson - bass
• Peter Kester – drums
• David Preston – drums
• Patrick Shanahan – drums
• Sylvia A. Schuster – cello

Production

• Chris Blackwell – executive producer
• Brian Humphries – engineer
• Syd Dale – conductor

References

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