The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s bubblegum/psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song “Green Tambourine”, which reached number one in the United States in 1968.
The band was made up of singer Ivan Browne, guitarist William Bartlett(subsequently of Ram Jam), keyboardist R.G. Nave, drummer William Albaugh and bassist Steve Walmsley. Most of the group’s songs were written by Shelley Pinz and Paul Leka, though Bartlett contributed several.
Though they produced primarily bubblegum pop, the Lemon Pipers actually wanted to play more psychedelic, drug influenced music, however, their recording label threatened to fire them unless they played more mainstream, commercially viable pop. Several of the tracks on their Green Tambourine album show strong influences of folk rock, among other things, showing that the band wasn’t completely the pop outfit it appeared to be.
The band eventually did gain artistic control over their work, but by this time they had all but faded into obscurity.
