The Story Of Simon Simopath by Nirvana (UK) on Island Records, 1967, Value mono £300/ stereo£400

AT FIRST glance, fans of the American grunge rock band of the same name may look at this album cover, open it up to see images of centaurs, stars, planets including a winged goddess, notice the release date 1967 and wonder if I have made a mistake?

This is an album release by the original Nirvana, founded by Irishman Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Greek Alex Spyropoulus. It was suggested that they contact Chris Blackwell founder of Island Records. Instead of sending a demo tape they turned up in person and performed four songs that they had written themselves. Blackwell was so impressed that he signed them up immediately. Their first release was a ballad Tiny Goddess, which charted everywhere apart from the UK. They topped the charts in the Scandinavian countries but really had their thunder stolen when French singer Francoise Hardy recorded the song in four languages and had hits all over Europe with it. Her own version in French and English is well worth a listen to.

Simon Simopath is claimed to be the first concept album that sparked off a trend with other progressive bands to record albums that featured songs interlinked with others. Basically this is an episodic fairy tale fantasy relating the hero's journey from another dimension to a world of enticing sirens and other magical creatures. This album contains the haunting Pentecost Hotel still referred to as a radio-friendly hit. It too, failed to chart in the UK but again was a huge hit all over Europe, topping the charts in Australia, South Africa and Japan. The first Nirvana eventually made the UK charts the following year with Rainbow Chaser, a psychedelic powerhouse production of a recording.

They made two further albums as a duo, both extremely collectable but in 1970 disbanded. Campbell-Lyons continued as a solo performer and kept the Nirvana name but without any further success. Because of their popularity the American Nirvana brought court action to use sole rights of the name. The court decided that both bands could use the name but had to stipulate USA or UK on their recordings to avoid misunderstanding.