The Royal Guardsmen and the World-Famous Beagle: Part 2 of 3

Producer Phil Gernhard rushed The Royal Guardsmen back into Fuller Studios in January 1967, to record “The Return of the Red Baron,” which he co-wrote with brothers John Yates and James Lee McCullough. Although not quite an identical clone, this sequel had the same military cadence and delivery, and the same mid-point key change. But the “Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more” refrain gave way to a more amusing four bars that opened with “Hey, watch out, little Snoopy!” Perhaps wanting to tweak the Australian bluenoses, the last refrain concluded with:

Hey, watch out, Red Baron,

Snoopy is on your tail!

One of these days, he’s gonna make you pay,

And you’ll go straight to... 

 

...but the final word was cut off, as the refrain repeated and faded out.

 

“Return” was paired with the first album’s “Sweetmeats Slide,” and the resulting single was released in early February. It entered Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at No. 79, on February 25 ... so, for two consecutive weeks, The Royal Guardsmen had two singles and an album charting simultaneously.

 

Gernhard and the band took their time working on material to fill a second album. It was more accomplished; the band members’ performance chops clearly had improved, and Laurie Records’ execs gave Gernhard permission to bring the tracks to New York, where they were embellished with light strings, additional percussion and backing vocals.

 

But the finished product suffered from a serious identity crisis. Tasteful folk ballads — “Any Wednesday” and “I’m Not Gonna Stay” — shared space with hard rock covers of “I’m a Man” (made famous by Bo Diddly) and “Gimme Some Lovin’” (the Spencer Davis Group). Other tracks leaned toward the rising trend in acid rock, and the album also featured two instrumental tracks — “Om” and “So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star” — which were pointless filler. The latter, a recent hit by The Byrds, emerged as a last-minute “mistake” prompted by the tight production schedule; the Guardsmen never had a chance to add their vocals!

Worse yet, this new album’s second single, released in June to coincide with the LP’s debut, opened with another goofy novelty tune — “Airplane Song (My Airplane)” — paired with the weird instrumental “Om.” 

 

The first single from Return, fronted by the title song, stayed on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, peaking at No. 15 on March 25. The album never charted.

 

Meanwhile, the first album remained on its respective chart for an impressive 22 weeks, peaking at No. 44 on April 15. The “Airplane Song”/“Om” single charted for six weeks, peaking at No. 46 in mid-July, for its final two weeks.