Shiva's Headband - Psychedelic Yesterday (1977 us, hard texas psych, 2004 Akarma digipak book-style sleeve)

Storming into the growing Austin music scene in 1967, the group became the house band at the Vulcan Gas Co. and the first group to perform at the renowned Armadillo World Headquarters. Shiva’s Headband ’s quickly rose to a leading position in the new Austin music scene and built a large following of loyal fans all over Texas—from Dallas to San Antonio and the Valley, to Corpus Christi, to Houston and Nacogdoches! As the Headband’s reputation grew, both locally and world-wide, its appearance became a must on shows featuring national acts.

They played with such luminaries as Spirit, Steppenwolf, ZZ Top, Janice Joplin, Canned Heat and Steve Miller. Contract offers arrived from RCA, CBS, Electra, Fillmore and others. Finally, they signed with Capitol and released the first LP from the Austin scene (Take Me To The Mountains, produced by Spencer Perskin with Fred Catero ). The Headband has had a number of subsequent releases over the years and now offers their first CD- Shiva’s Headband Classics, Vol. 1, Down in Texas (Produced by Spencer Perskin for Moontower).

The often imitated but never duplicated sound of leader and founder, Spencer Perskin, is undoubtedly the backbone of Shiva’s Headband. Perskin began his career at age 8, and by age 9 was accepted as a special music student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas where he studied for eight year. During his high school years, he played with the Hillcrest High Orchestra, the Hillcrest Band and the Dal-Hi Orchestra. Following high school, Perskin attended North Texas State University where he, along with fellow classmates Michael Murphy and Steve Fromholz, was a member of the school’s Folk Music Club. Perskin also played with the N.T.S.U. Orchestra.

Three years later, in Austin, he and his wife, Susan, and friends founded the soon-to-be- famous Shiva’s Headband. In 1969 Perskin released the Shiva’s second single on his new Armadillo Record label, after the Capitol release in 1970 he founded, with a lot of help from his friends, the now-legendary Armadillo World Headquarters—the institution most responsible for placing Austin, Texas firmly on the World Music Map! Leading the group for almost three decades today Perskin fronts a rejuvenated Shiva’s that is as much a part of the new millennium as it was the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

"Psychedelic Yesterday" was recorded live in studio in Austin, Texas, March 1977 and originally released in 1978.

by Adamus67

Tracks
1. Ryder Blues - 3:34
2. Easy Street - 4:17
3. Stone City - 3:50
4. Up-Downhearted Blues - 5:02
5. Lightnin' - 5:07
6. Undermine - 6:11
7. Waiting Game - 4:18
8. Vortex - 8:16
9. Mr.  Butts - 3:14
10.Insanity - 4:24

All compositions by Spencer Perskin

Bonus Tracks 9-10

Shiva's Headband
*Suzy Perskin - Vocals, Organ
*Spencer Perskin - Vocals, Violin, Guitar
*Brian Red Moore - Bass
*Jerry Bazil - Drums
*Robert Flynn Jr. - Guitar
with
*Georgina Van Ris - Bass
*Steve Whitfield - Drums
*Greg Lowry - Bass
*Mike Kearney - Guitar
*Sativa Perskin Esper - Vocals

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Mouse - Lady Killer (1973 uk, wild creative fuzzy prog with glam shades, Angel Air bonus tracks reissue)

Angel Air continues to sweep up the furthest flung crumbs of the Ray Russell canon for reissue, and now they've finally swatted the Mouse onto CD. This quartet, comprising Russell, drummer Alan Rushton, keyboardist Jeff Watts, and singer Alan Greed released their sole album on EMI in 1973. 

Russell jokes in the booklet that "attempts to make a single were forgotten about an hour into the first session," but even so the compulsive "Electric Lady," a throbbing rocker or alternately, the bouncy pop-flecked "We Can Make It" both fit that bill. And even if "Going Out Tonight" was a little too quirky for singledom, it was still the perfect set opener on-stage or on record. 

Given free rein, however, the band were all to free to explore the byways of their own obsessions. "All the Fallen Teen Angels," for example, is proof positive that you really can put a reggae beat to any kind of music, even pompous, synth-driven pop/rock and it certainly is startling, but would you really want to hear it twice? "Asher Besher," in contrast, delves deep into Black Sabbath territory, "The Happening to Me and You" dips into psychedelia, while "Just Came Back" returns from Delta blues. 

But even with all its musical meanderings, this is a more commercial album than Russell lets on, and if only producer John Acock had exerted a bit more control, squashing the occasional over-long intro and more tightly focused the songs, Lady Killer would have made a killing in the charts. As is, it's still a fine set of '70s rock in a supple and subtle experimental mode. 

by Jo-Ann Greene

Tracks
1. Going Out Tonight - 4:45
2. You Don't Know - 2:41
3. Electric Lady - 2:38
4. All The Fallen Teen Angels (J. Fidler, P. Hope Evans) - 3:32
5. Ashen Besher - 5:30
6. We Can Make It - 3:32
7. East Of The Sun - 4:34
8. It's Happening To Me And You - 2:49
9. Sunday - 2:49
10.Just Came Back - 5:18
11.Lost In The City (R. Russell) - 3:55
12.Timothy Leary's Ride Home (R. Russell) - 0:45
13.Jamie (R. Russell) - 2:42
14.Hit And Run (R. Russell) - 5:25
All songs by Mouse unless as else written.
Bonus tracks 11-14

Mouse
*Alan Clare - Keyboards, Vocals
*Alan Rushton - Drums
*Ray Russell - Guitar
*Jeff "Tain" Watts - Bass

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