Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera was a fleeting band that left, for the delight of future ears, their only wonderful LP from 1967, one of the most entertaining and massive of the British psychedelic scene.
The name was chosen in honor of the stage attire (cape and hat included) of singer Dave Terry, inspired by the character in Richard Brooks' 1960 film Elmer Gantry, starring Burt Lancaster. Based on a 1926 novel by Sinclair Lewis, it told of the misdeeds of a man who becomes a preacher and uses his magnetism and skillful oratory to deceive and rob the unwary.
Unlike the American band Baroques (whose T-shirts we also make!), the song Mary Jane was removed from the BBC's playlist after they realized its psychedelic connotations.