Nuggets II: Why Don’t You Smile Now by Downliners Sect

Credits

4/6. WHY DON’T YOU SMILE NOW – The Downliners Sect
(Terry Philips/Jerry Vance/Lou Reed/John Cale)

PERSONNEL/KEITH GRANT: lead vocals, bass * TERRY GIBSON: lead guitar * DON CRAINE: rhythm guitar, vocals * JOHN SUTTON: drums
Produced by MIKE COLLIER
Recorded in London, England
From the album The Rock Sect’s In, Columbia #33SX-6028 (1966)

The Downliners Sect

The Downliners took their name from the Jerry Lee Lewis b-side ‘Down The Line’. The original lineup folded, and the new lineup was named The Downliners Sect. They gained attention due to Don Craine’s deerstalker hat, worn to mock the aristocracy.

Steve Marriott and Rod Stewart both auditioned to join the band, but the band’s frontmen, Keith Grant and Don Craine, were unwilling to step aside.

They released a series of singles with b-sides that punned on their name:

• Be a Sect Maniac
• Sect Appeal
• Insecticide
• Leader of the Sect.

Why Don’t You Smile Now

If you read the credits above, you may notice a couple of familiar names among the songwriters. Lou Reed and John Cale wrote the song before forming The Velvet Underground. But it bears some of their future group’s hallmarks – the droning guitar and clunky rhythms.

After graduating from Syracuse University, Lou snagged a job working for a label called Pickwick Record, a very successful budget label that released “lesser quality” sound-alike recordings and bargain bin reissues.

Lou found himself working for a man named Terry Phillips who was determined to help the label “go legit” by putting together a team of writers and performers who would eventually break away from the bargain bin.

13th Floor

Originally released in 1965, ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now’ marks John Cale’s first credit as a songwriter.

The Downliners Sect had a knack for choosing unconventional outside material to suit their peculiar tastes. Such was the case with “Why Don’t You Smile Now,” a track they selected from a stack of publishers’ demo discs from America.

Mike Stax, Nuggets II liner notes

Downliners Sect’s cover of ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now’ is a fascinating record. The vocal delivery is too straitlaced to fully convey to the song’s experimental nature, but the droning guitar riff sounds great.

The Aftermath

While Lou Reed and John Cale became art-rock icons, Downliners Sect never broke through. They reportedly hurt their reputation by dabbling in country. The band’s 1967 lineup included keyboardist Matthew Fisher, who left to play the iconic organ part on Procol Harum’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’.

The band broke up in 1969, but reformed in 1976. They’re still listed as a going concern, although leader Don Craine passed away in 2022.

Read More

• Nuggets II Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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