James Lowe, Electric Prunes Lead Singer, Dies at 82

An early Reprise Records publicity photo of the Electric Prunes. Lowe is second from top, sitting on stool.

James Lowe, the lead singer of the 1960s American psychedelic band the Electric Prunes, died on May 22, 2025, according to a social media post from his children on May 29. Lowe, 82, died of natural causes; the place of death was not reported. Lowe sang on the Prunes’ best-known hit, 1966’s “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night,” which peaked in Billboard at #11, and its followup, “Get Me to the World on Time,” which made it to #27 the same year.

After the group disbanded in 1968, Lowe went on to become a producer and engineer, working with such artists as Todd Rundgren and Sparks.

Born in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 1943, and raised in West Los Angeles, Thaddeus James Lowe began his music career singing and playing guitar in a folk duo in 1963, while also working at a rocket production company. He moved to Hawaii for a time but returned to L.A. in 1965, where he formed a band called the Sanctions, which included bassist Mark Tulin, lead guitarist Ken Williams and drummer Michael “Quint” Weakley. The group (which also included a keyboardist for a brief time) recorded twice in 1965 (some under the name Jim and the Lords) but it wasn’t until 1966, when they teamed up with RCA Records producer Dave Hassinger, that the group, which took on the name Electric Prunes initially as a joke, signed to Reprise Records and released its first single, “Ain’t It Hard,” in 1966.

“I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night,” written by Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, was released later that year and became the band’s first and biggest hit. Its title was a play on the phrase “I had too much to drink last night” and, with its aggressive, distorted, fuzzy sound, the song helped to define the garage-rock and psychedelic movements of the era. The personnel at that time included singer-guitarist Lowe, Williams, Tulin, rhythm guitarist James “Weasel” Spagnola and drummer Preston Ritter. The song was included on the band’s self-titled debut album, which stalled at #113 on the Billboard album chart.

“I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” was later rediscovered by future generations of garage-psych music fans when it served as the opening track on the highly influential 1972 compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, a collection of singles in the same vein assembled by Lenny Kaye, a music journalist and record store clerk who would go on to fame as the guitarist in all of Patti Smith’s bands.

In addition to several more singles, none of which enjoyed any chart success, the Electric Prunes released the album Underground in 1967, and then Mass in F Minor, an ambitious project that incorporated classical and religious elements, in early 1968. By that time the band consisted of Lowe, Williams, Tulin, Weakley and guitarist Mike Gannon but the quintet proved unable to navigate the complex arrangements of David Axelrod, who wrote the material. Although Lowe, Tulin and Williams appeared on all of the tracks, it was finished by studio musicians and a Canadian group, the Collectors, with assistance from engineer Richie Podolor.

Related: Our review of a Nuggets 50th anniversary concert

James Lowe of the Electric Prunes in his later years (Photo from his Facebook page)

Mass in F Minor scraped into the Billboard album chart at #135, but after a disastrous attempt to perform the new material in concert, the group quickly fell apart. Hassinger, who owned the name Electric Prunes, assembled a new lineup that included none of the original members. Two further albums, Release of an Oath in 1968 and Just Good Old Rock and Roll the following year, included no original Electric Prunes members. In 1970, the name Electric Prunes was retired.

In the wake of the band’s dissolution, Lowe went on to a career as a producer/engineer, notably working with Todd Rundgren on the latter’s albums with his band Nazz, and with Halfnelson, which morphed into Sparks, producing their second album, A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing. Lowe left the music business in the early ’70s and worked in television production, until 1999, along with Tulin, Williams and Weakley, when he re-formed the Electric Prunes in order to capitalize on the new interest in Nuggets and ’60s psychedelic and garage music. The group toured and recorded new material; Tulin died in 2011. Eventually, Lowe was the only remaining member of the original band involved.

Watch the reunited Electric Prunes perform live in 2017

The Electric Prunes recordings are available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.

Related: Our list of musicians who have died in 2025

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Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for more than four decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan.

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