The “Golden Hits Of The 60s” 

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NEON PHILHARMONIC

“MORNING GIRL”

(Tuppy Saussy)

Warner Bros. 7261

No. 17   June 7, 1969

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The Neon Philharmonic was a two-man studio act; a project, if you will.   Tuppy Saussy, keyboardist/

arranger/conductor, had the words and music for what he called a “phonographic opera”; Don Gant had

the voice.   Both were based in Nashville, well-versed in the ways of music-making and both were under

the sway of the new psychedelic sounds and lyrical freedom of the Bea­tles and Beach Boys.

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Tupper was the product of a prominent Georgia family of lawyers, leaders, and painters. His 1962 LP

Discover Tupper Saussy featured pop piano tinkling and strings and was pronounced a critical success

by DAVE BRUBECK.   Three years later, Tuppy was in Nashville cre­ating jazzy interpretations of a Walt

Disney flick, The Swinger’s Guide to Mary Poppins.   In 1968, he arranged and conducted several sides

for MICKEY NEWBURY.

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The chronological order of Don Gant’s life is vague, but there are numerous scraps of detail.   It is known

that Don had given pop singing a try in the early ’60s; Colpix issued some solo sides.   He was also a

member for a moment, with producer/singer/songwriter Norro Wilson, of an Everly Brothers-type duo.

Nothing momentous happened, but Don Gant kept on writing songs (co-wrote “Cry Softly, Lonely One”

with Roy Orbison), worked day jobs with the Acuff-Rose and Tree International music-publishing

houses, and sang back-up for artists like JOHN D. LOUDERMILK, Don Gib­son and Mickey Newbury.

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Over the years, Gant produced recordings for Bobby “Blue” Bland, Jimmy Buffett, GENE & DEBBE,

Lefty Frizzell, Ferlin Husky, the Newbeats, and Eddie Raven.   He was director of ABC-Dunhill Records,

and served as president of the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

At the time of his death, he was the head of Don Gant Enterprises and a board member of the Country

Music Foundation.   Don was 44 when he died on March 6, 1987.

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“Morning Girl,” recorded with a chamber-sized gathering of musicians from the Nashville Symphony

Orchestra, was a surprise smash.   The tune was a melodic hodge-podge, an extract from a larger work,

The Moth Confesses: A Phonograph Opera, released as the act’s debut album.  Their label, Warner

Bros., trumped the album as the logical successor to The San Sebastian Strings/Rod McKuen opus The

Sea.

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The immediate follow-up, “No One Is Going to Hurt You,” sank like a stone.   “Heighdy-Ho Princess” did

receive a scattering of airplay (#94, 1970).   Warner Bros. released the act’s self-titled album and five

more singles, but the Neon Philharmonic’s magic moment had passed.

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Too this day, a cult following surrounds this “group” of pop-rockersw.   Over the years,m Donald and

Tuppy had returned to the studio twice to revive their Neon project:  the result was two limited-release

singles, “Annie Poor” (for the TRX label) and “So Glad You’re a Woman” (for MCA).

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According to liner note scribe Andy Zax, Tuppy left the world of music to become a playwright, ad man,

illustrator; eventually turning his energies to politics and anti-tax activism.   In 1980, he published a

mani­festo, The Miracle on Main Street: Saving Yourself and America From Financial Ruin.”   A few

years later,” writes Zax, “he fled the Feds and went underground; as of this writing [1996], he remains at

large, his whereabouts unknown.”