"Jimmy Curtiss also produced three singles and an album by the New York group The Bag, who self-described their music as 'psychedelic soul.. The band came from the same New York based blue-eyed soul scene as The (Young) Rascals or The Soul Survivors. Through his younger brother I got in touch with Dan Mahony, formerly of The Bag, in the summer of 2003. Unfortunately Dan couldn't tell anything really new. As it seems he doesn't remember things very well. After a few e-mails to and fro I didn't hear from him again. But obviously he and the other guys in The Bag were also involved in the recording of the New Hobbits album. Dan is living in Ireland now, and it seems he's still working as a musician. The Bag album Real contains several really well crafted soul pop and polished r&b songs with a touch of psychedelia. Not bad at all. And they were a working stage act, as Dan assured me."

http://www.twang-tone.de/jceng.html

"We've always wondered about this quartet (Singer Joe Di Marzo, guitarist Jay Savino, keyboardist Dan Mahony, and drummer Al Esposito). A number of reviewers have categorized the band's sound as psychedelic, but to us they sound like Young Rascal clones.

Released by Decca, 1968's "Real" teamed the quartet with producer Jim Curtiss. Showcasing a mixture of originals (Di Marzo, Mahony and Savino all contributing material) and two covers, the collection offered up an enjoyable set of blue-eyed soul. Propelled by Di Marzo's crusty voice (bearing an uncanny resemblance to Felix Cavaliere), tracks such as "I Want You By My Side", "Got Away" and "I'm Sitting By the Wayside of My Life" were melodic and highly commercial Okay, back to the psych label for a moment: admittedly "Red, Purple and Blue" had a nifty freak-out fade, while "It's All Over" benefited from a tasty lead fuzz guitar. A commercial non-entity, the set vanished without trace. Within a matter of months the band followed suit."

http://www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/BAG.htm

"This second CD contains music written and/or produced by Jimmy Curtiss or Perception Productions respectively. The Jimmie Rodgers single Child Of Clay was as far as I know the only chart success Jimmy Curtiss enjoyed as a songwriter let alone artist. It’s interesting to see that Joe Di Marzo and Jay Savino as well as Danny Mahony of The Bag appear again as songwriters – and possibly musicians – on the New Hobbits album. The New Hobbits album was probably a half-hearted affair and never officially released. Anyways, The Bag album was produced by Terry Philips again. Here as well as on the Velvet Night LP we come across the name Steve Kanyon. Steve and J.C. co-produced the Velvet Night. And Steve appears on the New Hobbits LP as well. It’s hard to tell which record came first, The Bag or the Velvet Night. Probably both were recorded and released in 1968. Here on this CD I included the 7” versions of The Bag’s I Want You By My Side and Red, Purple And Blue. At least the first one is shorter and a little different from the album version. The Jon Bartel Thing LP was recorded in New York, despite the fact that the band is said to be from California. Well, I’m not too sure about that, anyway. Producers were J.C. and Terry Philips (again). Songwriting credits go mostly to Jimmy Curtiss, Terry Philips, Steve Kanyon, and Marcia Hillman. Meanwhile they had their own publishing as well, Popdraw Music Corp. Compare the two versions of Freak Show by Velvet Night and The Jon Bartel Thing. Also Where Can I Hide (written by Curtiss / Hillman) appears again on J.C.’s solo LP of the same year."

http://www.twang-tone.de/jcplaylist.html

SOURCES OF the ALBUM

A TO Z USED RECORDS  $65

Bag, The Real (Howard Berstein Cover Art) $65. Decca USA 1968 - DL-75057 G+/NM

http://www.azusedrecords.com/pages/b_lps.html

http://members.tripod.com/lysergia_2/AcidArchives/lamaAtticBody1.htm

BADCAT RECORDS   $35

CD EXPRESS   €9.90  $46.70

eBAY   $19.19

Shipping costs: US $7.50 (discount available)  Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service Service to United States (more services)  Ships to: Worldwide Item location: Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, Canada

GENE’S HOUSE OF OLDIE RECORDS

Bag, The     "Real"  Decca 1969    available as MP3 to CD

http://mysite.verizon.net/genestump/page3.htm

LP COLLECT   €11.11

RECORDS BY MAIL

UNDERGROUND ALBUMS   $28

WAYKOOL RECORDS   $25

LISTINGS / SOURCES OF THE Singles

BAG Down And Out/Up In The Morning DECCA 32409 MINT $4.00

http://members.aol.com/circlerec/45one.htm

PSYCHE-SOUL * THE BAG on Decca - "Nickels 'N Dimes" Item number: 200023855714

http://cgi.ebay.com/PSYCHE-SOUL-THE-BAG-on-Decca-Nickels-N-Dimes_W0QQitemZ200023855714QQihZ010QQcategoryZ306QQcmdZViewItem

GEMM (Global Electronic Music Marketplace--The World's Largest Music Marketplace)   $18.15

O29 BAG Down And Out/Up In The Morning DECCA 32409 MINT 4

http://www.heilrecords.com/id34.htm

JELLYFISH RECORDS  $40

THE BAG - Real (Decca 75057) 1968 Obscure NY Psych outfit produced by Jimmy Curtiss SEALED, small coh $40

http://www.jellyfishrecords.com/sealedtext.html

MUSICSTACK Music Marketplace   $31.49   $31.32

Bag Down And Out / Up In The Morning Dj Copy Decca 32409, 1968 ex 7" 31.49 Demon's Disk USA More Info
Bag Down And Out/up In The Morning Dj/a Usa, 32409, 1/1/1968 M- 7" 31.32 ROCK READ USA More Info

http://www.musicstack.com/listings.cgi?find=bag&t=down_and_out_fsz_up_in_the_morning&media=All

THE BAG 'Nickels 'n' Dimes / Nobodys Child '(Decca 32279) 1968
'Down And Out / Up In The Morning '(Decca 32409) 1968
'I Want You By My Side / Red, Purple And Blue '(Decca 32463) 1969

http://www.jbpco.freeuk.com/USAList/USAListB.html

RECORDS BY MAIL

BAG: red, purple & blue Out-of-Stock  Rock & Pop Format: vinyl 45 add to want list  label: DECCA 32463 ID#: 195433

http://www.recordsbymail.com/static/artistSearch.php/artistFirst//artistLast/BAG