Dairymaid's Lament (single)

Dairymaid's Lament is an unreleased 1967 single by The Red Crayola.

Background

Record producer Bob Steffek approached The Red Crayola for a single when he saw them perform their early song “Mother” at a club in early 1967. Steffek brought the group to Walt Andrus's studio for their first ever recording session that February. The session produced a potential single: "Dairymaid's Lament" backed with an improvised "Free Piece". The single was likely intended for Steffek's short-lived label Steffek Records which released a handful of singles by other Houston groups in 1967.

However, when producer Lelan Rogers approached The Red Crayola in late March at the KNUZ Battle of the Bands, Steffek allowed the group to sign to International Artists to make an album instead (The Parable of Arable Land) and the single was never released.^[1] The Red Crayola recorded all of their subsequent material for International Artists at the same studio operated by Walt Andrus where they first recorded the single.

In 1968, a new recording of the song "Dairymaid's Lament" appeared on The Red Crayola's second album, God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It. The group's original drummer Frederick Barthelme had left the band by then so the album version features Tommy Smith on drums. The album also contained a new group improvisation with the title "Free Piece".

It is unknown if any material recorded for the single was preserved. The Red Krayola's 2004 Singles compilation contained a track from another unreleased single ("Woof" from 1970), but it did not include the original 1967 recording of "Dairymaid's Lament".