James Lowe, the lead singer for psychedelic rockers the Electric Prunes, has passed away. In a Facebook statement, Lowe's family reports that Lowe died of natural causes on Thursday. He was 82.
Thaddeus James Lowe was born in San Luis Obispo, and he grew up in Los Angeles. In the early '60s, he played in a folk duo and worked at the rocket engine design company Rocketdyne. In 1965, he formed a garage rock band called the Sanctions. They changed their name, first to Jim And The Lords and then to the Electric Prunes. In 1966, they signed to Reprise and released their single "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night," a wild-eyed fuzz-rocker that reached #11 on the Hot 100. In 1967, the similarly frantic "Get Me To The World On Time" reached #27, and their self-titled debut album found them pushing their sound in different adventurous directions. Their sophomore album Underground came out in the same year, but it didn't have any hits.
In 1968, the Electric Prunes worked with visionary producer David Axelrod to make Mass In F Minor, an expansive, ambitious concept album that attempted to mix Gregorian chant with rock 'n' roll. It wasn't a hit, but the band's version of "Kyrie Eleison" appeared in the movie Easy Rider. Later, Mass In F Minor became a cult favorite, and it was sampled by rap producers like Madlib and MF DOOM. James Lowe left the Electric Prunes in 1968, and he became a recording engineer, working with people like Todd Rundgren and Sparks. Later, Lowe ran a TV production company and fronted a reformed version of the Electric Prunes. Check out some of his work below.
