In the closing months of 1967, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy entered the studio with the intention of expanding their output beyond three-minute singles, and Too Many Do stands as a clear outcome of that ambition. The recording extended to six minutes and thirty-four seconds, a length uncommon for the band’s prior singles. In the opening moments of the song a sustained electric guitar chord fades into motion, followed by a stop-and-start rhythm section that establishes a groove underlined by a walking bass line and steady down-stroke rhythm guitar. The lyrics open with the lines “What’s the use of telling you my mind? You always look at me like I was lying” and proceed to confront a second-person subject with accusations of lies and coldness. It then turns to “Too many people running ’round trying to bring the others down”, outlining the speaker’s frustration with external pressures and judgement. Throughout the track the lead vocal is answered by shorter backing-vocal exclamations in a call-and-response format, which gives the vocal arrangement a conversational tension.
As the middle section unfolds the band allows the instrumentation to stretch: the lead-guitar voice, credited to Bill Wolff, takes on elongated phrases built from pentatonic runs and chromatic passing tones, layered over the core rhythm pattern. According to session credits, the band recorded at Columbia Studios in Hollywood and New York between January and September 1967, with Gary Usher producing and Roy Halee engineering. The engineering choices manifest on Too Many Do through a close-mic placement on the snare and toms that delivers a sharp attack, while the lead guitar is more prominent in the stereo field and carries reverb that contrasts with the drier rhythm parts. During the instrumental break the drums, bass, and guitar align in a punctuated stop-figure before resolving into the next vocal section; this gives the piece a suite-like structure even though the band adheres to a simple verse-chorus progression in its core.
The lyrics of Too Many Do do not describe broad themes but instead address specific behaviours: the subject is accused of casting stones, of looking as though the speaker should crawl, of wearing a frown instead of smiling. The chorus—“Too many do / Too many do”—serves as both title and lament, repeating that there are too many people taking action, many forces exerting influence. In interview, Brackett stated: “I also was able to record one of my songs, ‘Too Many Do’, and stretch it out to 6 ½ minutes. This was something very new and we got a lot of FM radio play on that song.”. While the group did not place Too Many Do as a chart-ing single on the Billboard Hot 100, retrospective commentary identifies it among the early long cuts that received FM radio airplay despite exceeding conventional single-length constraints. The album that houses it, The Great Conspiracy, is dated December 1967 and is often pointed to in band historiography as their moment of studio freedom. In its mix, the bass register is present in the lower mids, giving the walking line audible prominence under the guitar flourishes; the rhythm-guitar part uses repeated chord stabs with a clean tone, while the lead guitar alternates between overdrive-rich fills and more subdued melodic lines. During the fade-out, the looped motif persists for approximately thirty seconds after the final vocal refrain, allowing the instrumental energy to remain present as the piece concludes.
In terms of performance context the band had added Bill Wolff on lead guitar for the sessions and toured extensively in 1967, which appears to have sharpened their ensemble play and readiness for longer studio takes. The production credit to Roy Halee matches the sonic clarity present in Too Many Do, particularly in the clear separation between vocal, rhythm and lead instruments.
You might also like following song from the Psychedelic Jukebox: "[1968] Neighb'rhood Childr'n - Hobbit's Dream".
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Conspiracy_(album)
- https://www.discogs.com/release/2019844-The-Peanut-Butter-Conspiracy-The-Great-Conspiracy
- https://open.spotify.com/track/68dutymBmCsq2jVjPe4Jek
- https://www.musicvf.com/The%2BPeanut%2BButter%2BConspiracy.songs
- https://www.allmusic.com/song/too-many-do-mt0002442174
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn6J_gY9c_Q
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