Pampered Menial is an album released in 1975 by progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

/AOR band, Pavlov's Dog

Pavlov's Dog (band)

Pavlov's Dog is a 1970s progressive rock/AOR band formed in St. Louis, Missouri in 1972. Pavlov's Dog originally comprised David Surkamp, Mark Gahr on lead guitar, Mike Safron, Rick Stockton, David Hamilton, Doug Rayburn, and Siegfried Carver . Mark Gahr left the band and was replaced by Steve...

.

The album features the band's original line-up, comprising David Surkamp (vocals and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

), Steve Scorfina (lead guitar

Lead guitar

Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

), Mike Safron (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

), Rick Stockton (bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

), David Hamilton

David Hamilton

David Hamilton or Dave Hamilton or Davey Hamilton may refer to:*David Hamilton of Cadzow, 3rd Laird of Cadzow Scottish nobleman*David Hamilton Scottish architect...

 (keyboard

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

), Doug Rayburn (mellotron

Mellotron

The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...

 and flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

), and Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler) (various string instruments including the rare Vitar

Vitar violins

The Vi-tar was a musical instrument produced by the Exinde/Xinde Corporation in the early 1970s. Advertised as a cross between a violin and guitar, it was essentially a fiberglass bodied electric violin with some very advanced internal electronics for the time.-History:The Vi-Tar was designed and...

, a cross between a guitar and a violin). Carver left the band soon after the album was released. It was briefly released on ABC Records

ABC Records

ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....

 but quickly re-issued by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. The result was that both versions appeared in stores at nearly the same time, which may have confused the public.

In the Q

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 & Mojo

Mojo (magazine)

MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...

 Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #26 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".

Track listing

1. "Julia" (David Surkamp) – 3:10
2. "Late November" (David Surkamp, Steve Scorfina) – 3:13
3. "Song Dance" (Mike Safron) – 4:59
4. "Fast Gun" (David Surkamp) – 3:04
5. "Natchez Trace" (Steve Scorfina) – 3:42
6. "Theme from Subway Sue" (David Surkamp) – 4:25
7. "Episode" (David Surkamp) – 4:04
8. "Preludin" (Siegfried Carver) – 1:36
9. "Of Once and Future Kings" (David Surkamp) – 5:32

Personnel

• David Surkamp: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
  Rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
  
  
• Steve Scorfina: Lead Guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• David Hamilton: Keyboards
• Doug Rayburn: Mellotron & Flute
• Siegfried Carver: Stringed Instruments, Vitar
• Rick Stockton: Bass
• Mike Safron: Drums, Percussion