Archive for the ‘ Psych ’ Category

Moby Grape “20 Granite Creek”

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Folk,Pop,Psych

20 Granite Creek

20 Granite Creek was another comeback disc that Moby Grape issued in 1971 (Reprise). Just like other comeback efforts 69 and Melvilles, this one delivers the goods in a more subdued, laidback country-rock fashion.

The five original members who played on the 1967 debut are all present though Skip Spence only contributes one fascinating original, the instrumental Chinese Song. Chinese Song is incredible, completely unlike anything the Grape would record again and more proof of Skip Spence’s genius. While Spence provided the Grape with an undefinable magic, Mosley, Lewis, Stevenson, and Miller’s contributions were just as important and really an underrated facet.

My first initial reaction to 20 Granite Creek was disappointment. The record’s production reminds me of the Doors’ LA Woman, slicker than their 60s records, making the band sound like a ghost of its former self. That being said, 20 Granite Creek is a much better album than their unfocused 1969 lp, Truly Fine Citizen, which was more or less contractual filler. Each track has something new to offer and as a whole this is one of Moby Grape’s very best offerings. Songs like Gypsy Wedding and Wild Oats Moan show off the group’s loose, bluesy hard rock side and would fit in well with classic rock radio as both these songs are full of great guitar riffs and busy arrangements. Goin Down To Texas is another excellent driving roots rocker with some great guitar hooks and a vibe that’s similar to Fall On You or Omaha. Other surprising highlights are the moody oblique psychedelia of Horse Out In The Rain and the boogie rocker I’m The Kinda Man, That Baby You Can – which bears a passing similarity to prime era Little Feat.

My picks off the album are Apocalypse and About Time, two reflective gems off the first side of the original lp. Apocalypse is more of a country-rocker that comes on like the calm after a storm and highlighted by fiddle and a rock steady beat. About Time is a complex production and notable for its unique tin drum section which gives it a distinct island influence. All in all this is a great guitar oriented roots rock lp that shows Moby Grape trying different ideas in the studio while keeping things fresh and simple. The original lp is fairly easy to find and was reissued on cd (but now out of print) by San Fransisco Sound in the 90’s albeit with shitty cover art though.

“About Time”

:) Original Vinyl | 1971 | Reprise | search ebay ]

Cold Sun “Dark Shadows”

| Psych

Dark Shadows

Never seeing an actual release until 1989, Cold Sun is a devastating slab of Texas psych and the sickest of lost gems. I can’t say I’ve ever been so moved by feedback and noise in my life. The long awaited reissue from World In Sound sheds some long due light on this beauty and is one of the best we’ve seen in 2008.

The record is sometimes referred to as just Cold Sun; years later the band was unofficially renamed Dark Shadows which was printed on the sleeve as a pseudo album title. Interestingly, both names are derived from the same mythology that inspired the band Mu. Many of the details to the Cold Sun story have been lost in the cracks but Patrick the Lama’s (Acid Archives) essay is a noble piece of research and comes highly recommended for those interested in the history of this band.

I never thought hard psych could sound gorgeous. The magic of the record, for me, is in Billy Miller’s (who wrote most of the material and spearheaded the band) electrified autoharp. This instrument sounds like no other, but I initially mistook it for a distorted Fender Rhodes. The instrument is rarely strummed in the traditional autoharp style but finger-picked like a real harp, the sound full of sustain and grit. Add Tom McGarrigle’s stabbing guitar leads, Mike Waugh’s deep, dark, progressive bass lines, and Hugh Patton’s energy behind the kit and you’re hearing everything the third Elevators album needed to be. It’s clamorous and peyote-drenched and hard but also tender and beautiful.

The World In Sound reissue has great sound, excellent liners (in which Jello Biafra calls Dark Shadows “the best psychedelic album I know of”) and two badass live cuts from 1972. I found the CD available at Heyday Mail Order, but for the LP version you’ll have to wait til the end of the month (and fight for it).

Cold Sun fans? Come and testify!

“Here In The Year”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | World In Sound | buy from heyday ]
:) Vinyl Reissue | Coming Soon | go to world in sound ]

Bohemian Vendetta “Enough”

| Garage,Pop,Psych

Bohemian Vendetta

A melee of clangy guitars, screeching Vox Contintental, thick fuzz, angst, acid, and pure energy make Bohemeian Vendetta’s album one of the best garage finds ever reissued. It’s maybe no masterpiece, waiting to change your life or blow your mind, but it is the essence of rock music, and too powerful to miss out on.

After a series of ripping beat demos and a single for United Artists, even scoring a tv spot on Dick Clark’s Rate-A-Record, the Long Island bred Bohemians got a shot at a full LP on the legendary Mainstream label in 1968. Given the chance, this small group of teenage acid punks let loose with their monster, penning some excellent original numbers and warping a couple of very popular covers. The label delayed their album and hardly promoted it, relegating Enough to the cracks in the floor, but it screams.

While the album’s lead-off, Riddles & Fairytales is a little too good for words, songs like I Wanna Touch Your Heart combine a healthy Rnb feel with psychedelic interludes, and suprisingly well played vocal backups. Love Can Make Your Mind Go Wild shows the band could write and sing tunes on par with The Remains, adding their own touch with the fuzz lead breakdowns. And narrated segments and operatic interludes in numbers like Deaf Dumb & Blind and Paradox City reveal the band’s psychedelic tendencies. The two non-originals are daring and disturbingly drawn-out cover versions of Satisfaction and House of the Rising Sun. It makes you wonder why modern groups fear the notion to cover songs of their contemporaries – it’s part of the tradition of rock and roll, and so many rediscovered garage bands make that exceedingly clear.

After their album went nowhere, members of Bohemian Vendetta formed the backing band for Faine Jade. Today the record is available on an anthology put out by Distortions Records, including all the singles leading up to the album and unreleased acetates. There are also several fairly recent LP reissues. Enough is strange, but a record to reaffirm your love of garage rock.

“Riddles & Fairytales”

:D CD Reissue | Distortions | buy from amazon ]
:) Vinyl Reissue | 2006 | Tapestry | search ebay ]

Touch “Touch”

| Art,Prog,Psych

Touch

Touch’s sole album was released in early 1969. Prior to that, the band’s leader, Don Gallucci, had been in the Kingsmen and later on with Don and the Good Times. With the Kingsmen ,he co-wrote and played electric piano on Louie Louie, the most legendary of junk rock classics. Don and the Good Times were a Portland based rock & roll/pop-rock group who had a few small local hits in the mid 60’s. In 1967 the band’s old school style of pop had become passe, a change was needed, and in a fit of inspiration Gallucci wrote Seventy Five. This track would prove to be the centerpiece on Touch’s only album.

The lineup that recorded Touch was Don Gallucci (vocals, keyboards), Jeff Hawks (vocals), Bruce Hauser (vocals, bass), Joey Newman (vocals, guitars) and John Bordonaro (vocals, percussion). The group rented a castle in the Hollywood Hills in which they would rehearse and invite interested record company executives who would see them play live. With numerous record companies competing for a contract, Coliseum/London Records finally won the bid with a record breaking $25,000 advance. The band began recording at Sunset Sounds but sessions were soon plagued with hype and out of control partying. Word quickly spread about the mind blowing music Touch had been recording at Sunset Sounds. Grace Slick, Mick Jagger, and the great Jimi Hendrix stopped by the studio to witness Touch in action. What they heard on those sessions was thankfully put down to wax and released at the tail end of the decade.

The Touch album is graced with the adventurous spirit of the 60s, a record overflowing with ideas, killer musicianship, and great performances. It’s one of America’s first progressive rock albums albeit one that still has a strong psychedelic hangover. The above mentioned track, the nearly 12 minute Seventy Five is one of the great early progressive rockers with a fabulous guitar solo and a wonderful, atmospheric vocal performance from Jeff Hawks. Seventy Five is often described as a theatre-of-the-mind epic but is by no means an overblown ELP keyboard extravaganza. Two straight ahead rockers, We Feel Fine and Miss Teach, are really good and distinctive too, with confident vocals, great guitar work, and well written lyrics. Other songs are more psychedelic like the piano dominated Friendly Birds, the classically influenced ballad Alesha and Others, and the experimental Down At Circe’s Place. Down At Circe’s Place is an underrated psychedelic classic with flanged vocals, a great spaced out guitar solo, powerful drum work, trippy sound fx ,and noisy keyboard work – it’s got everything you’d want from an album like this.

Touch hangs together as an album quite well and never succumbs to endless jamming or unfinished ideas. This is a great album and one that deserves its classic status. Gallucci would go on to produce the Stooges’ Funhouse but Touch is probably his finest hour as a musician. Touch has been repressed numerous times but the best reissues in recent years have been by Wild Places and Eclectic.

“Alesha And Others”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Rock Candy | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1969 | London | search ebay ]

Mu “Mu”

| Pop,Prog,Psych,RnB

Recognize those licks? Fans of Antenna Jimmy (Jeff Cotton’s) unmistakable slide guitar work will hear it off the bat. And this may be the record to clue the skills behind the Magic Band to those who ever thought Captain Beefheart’s troupe were overrated hacks. But Mu is really a Merrell Fankhauser project, the man behind a string of awesome albums including Fapardokly and HMS Bounty’s Things.

The band happened across a copy of James Churchward’s The Lost Continent of Mu, a book about the mythical “Hawaiian Atlantis.” This provided the band name and a set of ideals (the bands’ matching those of the lost civilization) for inspiration. The fascination grew to a point that the group moved to Maui to try and find the lost city themselves.

The sound of Mu is a wholly unique mix of psychedelic rock and rhythm and blues. The interlocking rhythms and primal pulse of the Captain’s music shows its influence, but Mu is a more radio-friendly affair, think the Magic Band Lite. The tunes are largely instrumental and mildly progressive suites, with just enough structure and restraint to entice more conventional listeners. Mu benefits from this, the rare even blend of experimental with consonant songcraft. Cotton turns in some excellent slide, but also bass clarinet, and contributes a good deal of the songwriting. The rhythms are undeniably good, the songs sound better and better, and the drum break on the 9 minute Eternal Thirst (the longest track by a while) nudges the album into the realm of the hypnotic.

After an unissued follow up record recorded in Maui (included on the Sundazed 2CD set). Jeff Cotton, along with Randy Wimmer, left Mu in 1975 to study the Christian Ministry. Merrell grew increasingly fascinated with the lost continent of Mu, recording more albums based on the Mu theme and continuing to play music in the Hawaiian islands. The record they created in 1971 is remarkably fresh, out-there, and absolutely one-of-a-kind. Recommended.

“Ain’t No Blues”

:D CD Reissue | Sundazed | buy from sundazed ]
:) Original Vinyl | Lemurian | search ebay ]

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Euphoria “A Gift From Euphoria”

| Baroque,Country Rock,Folk,Pop,Psych

A Gift From Euphoria

A Gift From Euphoria is a well-funded album loaded with symphonic arrangements, excellent studio musicianship, psychedelic audio collage, and sound effects. It’s probably near to the apex of experimental rock from this era, and of the melding and juxtaposition of different styles of music.

The first two tracks on the record demonstrate the pace. Lisa an expansive and string laden orchestral number gives way to a legit bluegrass-country tune with banjo and pedal steel. Wait a little longer and you’ll get some fuzz guitar brain melters. Euphoria is all over the place on this album, which was recorded in Hollywood, London, and Bradley’s Barn. Some of the best session men in town put this one together, and it shows. Nary an unprofessional sound is on this record and some of the arrangements are stunning. They could use this album to replace the orchestra at the Boston Pops.

This is the only album released by the short lived Euphoria. The liner notes imply that the members disappeared, but parts of the liners are as out there as the sounds. Get this one for a supreme example of country and rock gone suicidally psychedelic, sounding remarkably fresh today.

For more from the Euphoria guys, be sure to check out the Bernie Schwartz record, The Wheel.

“Did You Get The Letter”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | Revola | buy from amazon |
:) Original Vinyl | 1969 | Capitol | search ebay ]
reposted from June 6, 2007

The Rascals “Once Upon A Dream”

| Concept Albums,Pop,Psych,RnB,Sunshine

Once Upon A Dream

After releasing three classic garage blue-eyed soul records, the Rascals felt a need to expand their sound, become a bit more ornate, and take in the influence of psychedelia. In early 1968 they released Once Upon A Dream, a vague concept lp inspired by recent albums Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper’s. The concept is a bit unclear to me but I believe each track is supposed to represent a different dream. The group’s vocal arrangements were some of their most ambitious to date and where the previous three albums had been excellent collections of album tracks and singles, Once Upon A Dream hangs together quite well as an album – a finished product if you will.

Once Upon A Dream opens up with a fairly well known track, Easy Rollin’. Easy Rollin’ is one of the mini classics on this album and stands out from previous Rascal outings in that it’s more roots influenced with edgy acoustic guitars, harmonica, and B-3. The production on this song is remarkable: one can hear birds chirping in the background and the band itself seems to have more space and breathing room. Other tracks like the dreamy Silly Girl and zany Rainy Day are psychedelic pop songs that have strings and horns in the mix. These sweet, confectionery treats give way to harder edged psych rockers Please Love Me and It’s Wonderful. Please Love Me harks back to the band’s mid 60s garage soul period but has wonderful flute and swirling fuzz guitar effects. Other great songs are the soul-blues of Singin’ The Blues Too Long which has a clear Ray Charles influence, and the great, overlooked blue-eyed soul classic, My World. My World is notable for including female backup singers as well as the Rascals’ own excellent vocal arrangement.

The Rascals would release other good albums after Once Upon A Dream but few pop records from the time are as instantly memorable and sophisticated as this. At the time, the album’s production and sound were considered a triumph. This is a true classic and should be part of any serious rock n roll collection. There are a few cd reissues of Once Upon A Dream currently available while the original Atlantic lp is fairly easy to find.

“My World”

:D CD Reissue | 2007 | Collector’s Choice | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1968 | Atlantic | search ebay ]

Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Fredericks & The Clamtones “Have Moicy!”

| Folk,Psych

Have Moicy!

This is a special record. If you can’t figure that from the amount of online chatter, user reviews and critical reviews declaring Have Moicy to be one of the best records of all time, or at least proclaiming some kind of undying allegiance (Moicy made the New York Times’ top 20 LPs of 1976), you’ll get it falling in love after just a couple spins. Count me in on the converted! Sometimes I fall so deep for a record that listening to the music isn’t enough, I wish I could touch or hold the sound itself. If it were possible, Have Moicy would get a hug.

A collaborative and joyous meeting of out-there minds, the founders of freak-folk hadn’t lost a touch of steam by 1976. Michael Hurley, known by fans as Snocko (see his official homepage), was a Folkways recording artist while Peter Stampfel was one half of the Holy Modal Rounders, Steve Weber absent from these sessions. This would be Jeffrey Fredericks and the Clamtones’ first official recording but all were essentially part of the Rounders family, and best of all, Have Moicy! is merely a gateway into the fine solo recordings of all the artists involved.

Stampfel’s numbers drive with clawhammer banjo, washboard and ratchety percussion, an unconcerned fiddle and mandolin leads. Half the songs are electrified with pre-Meat Puppets unaffected treble licks in interlocking rhythms. The players never fill too much space, giving each instrument enough breathing room to act as genuine ear candy. The band somehow converges to create a clean renegade folk constantly teetering on the edge of chaos. Some undefinable bit of magic holds it all together. The tunes have unserious and silly lyrics but are never overtly comical or embarrassing, just fun, unpretentious, and honest folk music.

It’s impossible to pick two standout tracks from such a solid lineup. If you like what you hear, don’t delay in grabbing the 1992 reissue or the mp3 download, you won’t be disappointed. Every tune is positively great, and for the initiated, few other records will bring as much cheer.

“What Made My Hamburger Disappear”

:D CD Reissue | 1992 | Rounder | buy from rounder | amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1976 | Rounder | search ebay ]
;) MP3 Album | download from amazon ]

Al Kooper “I Stand Alone”

| Art,Garage,Pop,Prog,Psych

I Stand Alone

Al Kooper’s debut should really be heard by more people. This record was released by Columbia in 1968, sometime after Kooper had left the original Blood, Sweat and Tears. Casual listeners know Kooper as a mid-60’s Bob Dylan sideman, sometimes Mike Bloomfield/Shuggie Otis collaborator, respected record producer and keyboard player in the legendary underground New York City group, the Blues Project. Kooper left behind many fine solo records in the late 60’s and 70’s but I Stand Alone is something special, a disc that captures it’s place and time very well.

I Stand Alone is one of those records that’s inventive in a post Sgt. Pepper way, ambitious in its wide array of styles, experimental within a pop context and bound to confuse at least a few listeners. It’s amazing that Kooper’s solo work and the first Blood, Sweat and Tears record have never been reassessed for the great records they are. I Stand Alone is a strong listen all the way through, divided evenly between originals and well chosen covers. The disc opens with the title track, which was recorded in Nashville and is one of Kooper’s signature tunes. Had this strange but wonderful Nashville blue-eyed soul hybrid been released as a single it may have had a chance at reaching the charts. About half the tracks are in a pop sike vein. Kooper does a nice job covering Nilsson’s One and stretches out with the Kooperfone on an excellent reading of Traffic’s Coloured Rain. Song and Dance for the Unborn, Frightened Child is somewhat similar to one of the more arty, psychedelic cuts on Blood, Sweat and Tears debut, it’s an excellent, elaborate production though and proof that strings and horns can work well in the rock n roll format. Other tracks see Kooper cover classics by Sam & Dave (Toe Hold), Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (Hey, Western Union Man) and Bill Monroe (Blue Moon of Kentucky). Blue Moon of Kentucky, which Elvis also covered in 1969, is a wild bluegrass rockabilly take on the classic that was clearly a homage to the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

All the covers are great and Kooper gives his own individual stamp on each song but of course it’s the originals that grab your attention. The Stonesy swagger of Camille and the dreamy Impressions-like I Can’t Love A Woman are killer soul songs and two of Al Kooper’s best in this particular style. Another classic on the album, Right Now For You, sounds like a really good British psychedelic track with very trippy Kooperfone which sounds well ahead of it’s time. This is an undeniably great album by an artist who should really be looked at with the same esteem as say a John Cale, Captain Beefheart or Frank Zappa. Al Kooper is one of New York’s great musicians and his contributions to rock music have been tremendous. In 2008, Raven reissued I Stand Alone with Kooper’s 1969 followup lp, You Never Know Who Your Friends Are on compact disc. Both lps are a must.

“I Can Love A Woman”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Raven | buy from Raven | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1968 | Columbia | search ebay ]

Funkadelic “Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow”

| Psych,RnB

Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow

It really doesn’t get any better than this, Funkadelic’s 1970 sophomore release off the Westbound label. Formed in 1968, Funkadelic was one of two bands on two different record labels fronted by George Clinton (the other group being Parliament, of course).

Some years back George Clinton had this to say about his two pioneering funk groups, “Parliament was more orchestrated with horns and complicated vocal arrangements while Funkadelic was more a straight up rock band with a heavy rhythm section.” He also added, what we knew from Motown and what we’d seen with Sly, and everybody else¦ We were able to take that and make a real classy jazz funk and then be as silly as we were. The early Funkadelic sound was more rock oriented with lots of insane guitar soloing and creative keyboard work coming from both Eddie Hazel and Bernie Worrell. George Clinton produced and provided vocals on this fine psychedelic masterwork which many feel is Funkadelic’s most “out there” recording. There are all kinds of zany production tricks at work here from the stereo panning on I Wanna Know If It’s Good For You to super phased vocals that smear Some More. Some More may be the album’s most conventional cut though it’s still a great experimental soul number with lots of reefer madness and a nice bluesy arrangement.

Clinton’s lyrics are pretty sharp and humorous throughout the album and there is no doubt that Hazel’s guitar playing was heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. For example, songs like I Wanna Know If It’s Good For You and Friday Night, August 14th have tons of feedback and wah-wah that recall late period Hendrix, specifically the Band of Gypsies. Hazel was surely one of the great guitarists of his generation and one can also hear a little Curtis Mayfield in his playing. But Funkadelic were first and foremost orginal artists and legend has it that George Clinton and the group engulfed an enormous amount of drugs during the album’s recording sessions. Other fine tracks like Funky Dollar Bill represent the group’s funky, good time side, a sound they would develop with great success on future releases.

Funkadelic were one of the great Detroit groups and nothing in the rock n roll or soul cannon resembles their early catalog. The song arrangements and performances on this lp are much looser and less pop oriented than other psychedelic soul masterpieces like Psychedelic Shack by the Temptations or Sly Stone’s Stand! Easy to find on cd or vinyl, this is truly an inspirational recording and one of the greatest psychedelic releases ever.

mp3: Friday Night, August 14th

:D CD Reissue | 2005 | Westbound | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1970 | Westbound | search ebay ]