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{{Infobox album
| name       = The World in a Sea Shell
| type       = [[Album]]
| artist     = [[Strawberry Alarm Clock]]
| cover      = The World in a Sea Shell.jpeg
| alt        =
| released   = November 1968
| recorded   = 1968
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = *[[Psychedelic pop]]
*[[sunshine pop]]
| length     = 34:09
| label      = [[Uni Records|Uni]]
| producer   = [[Frank Slay]], Bill Holmes
| prev_title = [[Wake Up...It's Tomorrow]]
| prev_year  = 1968
| next_title = [[Good Morning Starshine (Strawberry Alarm Clock album)|Good Morning Starshine]]
| next_year  = 1969
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r50363|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]</ref>
}}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->
'''''The World in a Sea Shell''''' is the third album by the American [[psychedelic rock]] band [[Strawberry Alarm Clock]], released in November 1968 on [[Uni Records]]. The album was not a chart success, and was the final LP to include the classic Strawberry Alarm Clock lineup.
==Background==
When the band's second album, ''[[Wake Up...It's Tomorrow]]'' (1968), failed to recapture the huge success of 1967's ''[[Incense and Peppermints (album)|Incense and Peppermints]]'', the band's management decided to exert more control over the recordings for the third album.<ref name=richieworld>{{cite web |url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/sac2.html |title=''The World in a Sea Shell'' liner notes |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |website=www.richieunterberger.com |author-link=Richie Unterberger}}</ref> To this end, they pressured the band to record several compositions written by outsiders, including [[Carole King]] and "[[Incense and Peppermints (song)|Incense and Peppermints]]" lyricists John Carter and Tim Gilbert. The band members bristled at this situation, but reluctantly agreed to it in the end. Thus, five of the album's 12 songs (including most of side 1 of the vinyl LP) were non-group songs.
The new direction did not pay off commercially for the band. Many of the tracks on ''The World in a Sea Shell'' featured lush orchestration and a gentle, escapist feel that stood in stark contrast to the adventurous [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]] of the band's past work. This sudden change in direction, seen as a gross miscalculation on their managers' part by the band members, helped seal Strawberry Alarm Clock's fate. This frustrated the band, as their own compositions for this album included some adventurous moments and sound collages that fans might have expected and that weren't too far removed from the style of the previous albums.<ref name=unwind>[http://www.unwindwithsac.com/i/The-World-In-A-Sea-Shell ''The World in a Sea Shell'' essay] www.unwindwithsac.com</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}
==Singles from the album==
Two singles were released: "Sea Shell" (which didn't chart in the US; No. 88 in Canada<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5889.pdf |title=RPM Top 100 Singles - December 16, 1968}}</ref>) and "Barefoot in Baltimore" (which peaked at No. 67 on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] the weeks of September 7, 14 and 21, 1968,<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1968-09-07/ ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Week of September 7, 1968 &ndash; Billboard.com.] Retrieved October 21, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1968-09-21/ ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Week of September 21, 1968 &ndash; Billboard.com.] Retrieved October 21, 2024.</ref> and No. 45 in Canada<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5836.pdf |title=RPM Top 100 Singles - September 16, 1968}}</ref>). The latter was especially popular on local radio stations in its namesake city of [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] and was used as a theme song for the city for decades afterwards.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
==Aftermath==
In the wake of the album's release, original members George Bunnell and Randy Seol departed, with the lineup on the band's final album, ''[[Good Morning Starshine (Strawberry Alarm Clock album)|Good Morning Starshine]]'' (1969), consisting of guitarists Lee Freeman and Ed King, augmented by [[The Nightcrawlers|Nightcrawlers]] singer Jimmy Pitman and previous drummer Gene Gunnels.<ref name=richiegood>{{cite web |url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/sac3.html |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |title=''Good Morning Starshine'' liner notes |website=www.richieunterberger.com |author-link=Richie Unterberger}}</ref>
==Track listing==
'''Side one'''
# "Sea Shell" (John Carter, Tim Gilbert) – 3:02
# "Blues for a Young Girl Gone" ([[Carole King]], Toni Stern) – 2:31
# "An Angry Young Man" (Bob Stone) – 2:28
# "A Million Smiles Away" ([[Lee Freeman (musician)|Lee Freeman]], [[Ed King]]) – 2:37
# "Home Sweet Home" (Carter, Gilbert) – 2:39
# "Lady of the Lake" (King, Stern) – 3:00
'''Side two'''
# "Barefoot in Baltimore" (Roy Freeman, King, [[Mark Weitz]]) – 2:23
# "Wooden Woman" (L. Freeman) – 2:07
# "Heated Love" (George Bunnell, Randy Seol) – 1:58
# "Love Me Again" (L. Freeman, King) – 3:31
# "Eulogy" (Bunnell, Roy Freeman, Seol) – 1:48
# "Shallow Impressions" (Weitz) – 3:22
==Personnel==
'''Strawberry Alarm Clock'''
*George Bunnell – bass guitar, vocals
*Randy Seol – drums, keyboards, percussion, vocals
*[[Lee Freeman (musician)|Lee Freeman]] – rhythm guitar, sitar, vocals
*[[Ed King]] – guitar, vocals
*[[Mark Weitz]] – keyboards, vocals
'''Additional personnel'''
*[[George Tipton]] – arrangements
*Howard Davis – vocal arrangements
'''Technical'''
*Paul Buff – engineer
*Don Weller – cover illustration
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Strawberry Alarm Clock}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:World in a Sea Shell}}
[[Category:1968 albums]]
[[Category:Strawberry Alarm Clock albums]]
[[Category:Uni Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums arranged by George Tipton]]