Terence

You would never guess that the shirtless, moustachioed gunslinger on the cover of this record was once set to star alongside Elvis in a Hollywood feature. Back in the mid-’60s, Terry Black (aka Terence) was poised to be North Vancouver’s answer to Fabian. By the time Black recorded An Eye for an Ear, he had already made the Canadian top 40 charts six times. Whether this record would have scaled the charts is questionable. An Eye for an Ear is a weird mishmash of fuzzy blues, blue-eyed soul and psych rock as seen by someone who doesn’t quite seem qualified to perform any of them. Black’s voice is part crooner, part wailer, meaning his eclectic take on R&B is always a little awkward. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, the record is an interesting artefact — Terence took the road less travelled by ambitious teen idols. At most, it’s got some neat tunes. Black’s genre dabbling can be impressive — "Priscilla” is equal parts bubblegum pop, soul and prog, if you can imagine that. His attempts at genre specific performance seem unnatural much of the time but there are moments of greatness mixed into the odd stylistic hodgepodge. An interesting listen, if just for the history.