Bernie...

[Lew Bundles]

If you click on the “more images” tab under the picture of the acetate, you can access the label to a song called “The Painter”...Is this an Eric song?...If it is, did you ever”Santasize” it...? Or was it the B side to the Sparrow 45, which I have and don’t feel like digging out...

://www.discogs.com/Cyrus-Erie-Sparrow-The-Painter/release/11978328

[Craig Benfer]

I've never quite been able to determine if it sounds like Eric singing "The Painter". Doesn't really sound like him, but there are some moments of the song where it could be.

[mamacote]

.....to the best of my knowledge, "the painter" was one of the songs from the cyrus erie 4-track demos that included "sparrow", "wish you were here" and "cindy in the wind", (and a coupla others).....it was written by the same guy who wrote "green tambourine" for the lemon pipers...........bernie could elucidate further as to it's inclusion, but it is eric singing.......perhaps it was done at the producers request?...........

[Lew Bundles]

A story about the guy who wrote Green Tambourine, Paul Leka...He was from Connecticut and was a member of Steam...That’s the group who performed the song Kiss Him Goodbye(Na an na na), a song Leka wrote...

When my dad was in the hospital, on one of my visits to see him, I was relating to my father a story about a Dj gig I had just done and the customer was trying to beat me out of the payment...

My father tells me that in the next bed was a very famous songwriter, but didn’t know his name...I sneaked a look at a nurses chart and saw the name Leka...Knowing an awfully lot about his career, I walked in and introduced myself...

We had a 20 minute conversation about the music business and some mutual friends in the local entertainment field, i.e musicians, booking agents, etc.
 

After telling me that he had a terminal illness, he also told me that he had overheard my conversation with my dad about getting “stiffed” out of my dj paycheck...On his dying bed, he offered to make a few phone calls on my behalf to make sure I got the money from the culprit...

What a gracious man...He died a couple of weeks later...R.I.P. Paul Leka

 

[Matthew C. Clark]

Paul Leka also produced the late Harry Chapin. 

[Raspbernie]

Lew, the B-side to "Sparrow" was "Get The Message." "The Painter" was recorded but never officially released.

 Eric told the story in Marathon Man: 

"'Sparrow' was the first song I wrote for Cyrus Erie," recalls Eric. "I wrote it because we potentially needed a B-side for 'The Painter,' written by Paul Leka of 'Green Tambourine' fame, that had been presented to us by Frank Gary, who worked in the recording studio next to our rehearsal room.

"He heard us rehearsing, through the door and thought we should take a crack at 'The Painter,' so I wrote 'Sparrow,' just in case we were onto something. Then we got signed to Epic, they ditched 'The Painter' in favor of my songs."

Some snippets of the demos were played on a Cleveland radio station several decades ago—and that's where most people heard the tunes. Original Master tapes exist of the sessions, but there are currently no plans for an official release.

Bernie

[martinwilbury]

The referenced songs were all Cyrus Erie studio demos.  Only Sparrow became a released 45.

My recollection is that Sparrow and The Painter were recorded in Spring of '68.  This version of Sparrow sounds nothing like the 45 released by Epic.  Although Get the Message was played live, it was never recorded until the band got to Epic and the producers wanted a weak B-side for their version of Sparrow.

I'm pretty sure that only 3 songs ... Wish You Were Here (Wally song), Cindy In The Wind (Eric song), and I Need Your Lovin' (Eric song) ... were recorded in late-Summer or Fall of '68.

[Raspbernie]

Marty,

"I Wish You Were Here" was an Eric tune. It was a pretty ambitious composition with lots of lush harmonies and was an early peek into Eric's musical abilities.

Bernie

[martinwilbury]

I'm sure your right.  I just remember thinking it was probably the least commercial song of the 3.

[Matthew C. Clark]

The Lemon Pipers "I Need Someone (The Painter)" (from 1968 "Jungle Marmalade") (their 2nd & final album from late 1968) (audio only) 

 

[Raspbernie]

Imagine what Eric thought when they presented this piece of crap to him to record.

Bernie

[Kirk]

Here's the rest of the story from Eric:

" I think "Sparrow" was the first song I wrote for Cyrus Erie, which would make it late 1967-early 1968. As I recall, I wrote it because we potentially needed a "B-side" for a song called "The Painter", written by Paul Leka of "Green Tambourine" fame, that had been presented to us by Frank Gary, who worked in the recording studio next to our rehearsal room. He heard us rehearsing, through the door and thought we should take a crack at "The Painter," so I wrote Sparrow, just in case we were onto something. Then we got signed to Epic, they ditched "The Painter" in favor of my songs, and proceeded to blow $60,000 (in 1968 dollars!) destroying two of my songs. The "B-side" of "Sparrow" was "Get The Message" which we recorded in one take. That one, they left alone, figuring nobody would ever hear it. It took about two weeks for DJ's around the country to flip the record making "Get The Message" the "A-side."
 

[Matthew C. Clark]

Story on the late producer Paul Leka from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Leka