"Alone on the Shore" opens the third album by Keith, the one name handle for James Barry Keefer. The shimmering pop that was created by Bobby Hebb producer Jerry Ross and arranger Joe Renzetti on the first two Mercury discs is replaced by original compositions and the arrangement of the meticulous Larry Fallon. Fallon is credited for arranging The Looking Glass hit "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl," however, he is the actual producer on that disc. He is one of the industry's underrated talents, and he allows Keith's band of David Jiminez (guitar), Joe Coyle (ryhthm guitar), Dave Fiebert (bass), and Rick Fox (drums) to experiment in ways that are admirable. This LP plays more like latter day Donovan, another one-name pop maestro.
"Alone on the Shore" and "Trixon's Election" are heady pop tunes, maybe too deep for Top 40 at the time. Even Buffalo Springfield knew enough to temper their politics with radio friendly music. The sounds here are an intriguing mixture of '60s garage rock with British pop, flavors of The Beatles, The Small Faces, Kaleidoscope UK, and other psychedelic rockers. The production by Ted Daryll allows this group to stretch out. "Waiting to Be" is five minutes and thirty eight seconds of psychedelic jam. Keith wrote only one song on his second album, none on his first, so RCA Records showed some kind of faith in the artist allowing him to compose/co-write all ten titles on The Adventures of Keith.
These are adventurous tunes, and worth listening to. It's a natural progression from the second album's Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner's (yes, the one and the same from Tommy James & the Shondells sessions), arrangement of the Spanky & Our Gang hit "Making Every Minute Count" to the short one minute and fifty six second "Melody," which begins like a track from one of the first two Keith albums, diving into the progressive nature of this recording, and back to the pop sensibilities of the first two LPs. "The Problem," which is the last song on side one, was issued as a single with the excellent "Marstrand," the first track of side two. "Elea-Elea" is another five minute plus track, and one of the album's standouts.
Great melody and all the indications that Keith should have been a major, major pop star. Where Donovan had Led Zeppelin performing on "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and the Jeff Beck Group behind him on "Goo Goo Barabajagal" helping churn out the hits, Keith and his band crafted an album perfect for FM radio, perhaps a bit ahead of its time for an artist known for covering the Hollies. But Keith's musical direction here is impressive and reiterates how clever his three Top 40 hits prior to this release really were.
by Joe Viglione
Tracks
1. Alone on the Shore (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez) - 3:41
2. Trixon's Election (Joe Coyle, James Barry Keefer) - 3:16
3. Waiting to Be (James Barry Keefer) - 5:41
4. Melody (Joe Coyle, James Barry Keefer) - 1:58
5. The Problem (Joe Coyle, James Barry Keefer, Jim Cunningham) - 2:58
6. Marstand (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez) - 2:59
7. Mr Hyde (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez) - 3:25
8. China Clipper (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez, Jim Cunningham) - 2:39
9. Elea Elea (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez, Jim Cunningham) - 5:09
10.Charley Cinders (James Barry Keefer, David Jimenez, Jim Cunningham) - 4:10
Part time farmhand, spare time guitarist and lull time Robert Johnson enthusiast Oliver recorded Standing Stone in early 1974 on a portable tour track Teat machine on his parents' farm in a particularly remote area of Wales. Aside from a few unscheduled interventions from farmyard creatures(inspiring the adlibbed line 'What's this chicken doing in my way?' on 'freezing Cold Like An Iceberg'), all sounds contained on the album are the sole* work of Oliver. His brother Chris, a BBC sound engineer who had worked on I he Corporation's legendary Hendrix sessions as well as countless other projects, subsequently mixed and engineered the raw material to give Standing Stone a sound quality and running time (in excess of fifty minutes) that even that ultimate studio whizzkid Todd Rundgren would have envied 250 copies were pressed, initially in a plain blue cover with black lettering. However, when the sleeves were returned from the printer it was discovered that the shade of blue utilized was so deep that the liner notes were barely legible. A garish olive green version, easier to read but not recommended to migraine sufferers, was quickly substituted.
Copies of Standing Stone were given to family and friends, but Chris passed a few to colleagues at the BBC including Radio One disc jockeys Brian Matthew and Alan Black, who at the time was co-hosting 'Sounds Of The Seventies' with Anne Nightingale. Black was keen to feature the album on his show but felt unable to do so without any product being available in the shops. A distribution deal with Virgin (at that stage principally a record shop rather than a label) was therefore mooted, but a combination of inhouse reorganisation at the BBC and Oliver's reluctance to lose control of his creation ensured that the proposed agreement did not get beyond the planning stage.
Standing Stone also brought Oliver to the attention of guitarist and songwriter J. J. Cale, and he was invited to jam with Cale during one or the American's infrequent visits to England. Despite similar sessions with prominent underground figures of the era, Oliver remained deeply suspicious of the music industry and unimpressed by the life-styles of the musicians he encountered. Instead of capitalizing on the interest show?) in Standing Stone, he decided to leave Wales and travel around Europe. By the time he returned, the album had been largely forgotten.
Most collectors will be familiar with the rest of the story. Standing Stone remained strictly personal until the late 1980s when a slightly battered copy surfaced at a car boot fair and was swiftly transferred to the burgeoning collectors circuit. Such was the demand created by the appearance of this single copy that Oliver was contacted and found to have a handful of originals still in his possession. These rapidly changed hands for ever-increasing sums as word got around that here was one of the great lost albums, a stunning cacophonous sound occasionally evoking Captain Beefheart and the aforementioned Robert Johnson, but boasting such a startling blend of originality, dexterity, wit and downright weirdness that influences were not merely transcended but rendered completely irrelevant (in fact Oliver claims not to have purchased his first record until 1991, nearly two decades after Standing Stone had been recorded).
Following the rapturous reviews which greeted the appearance of a limited edition vinyl reissue in 1992, Standing Stone is finally available in CD format in order to appease those unfortunate souls unable to locate either an original or second pressing. A series of equally astonishing outtakes will hopefully appear in the near future; meanwhile, proof of Oliver's maverick genius is now widely available for the first time as the newly formed Wooden Hill label proudly presents Standing Stone — not so much a missing link as a dropped stitch in time.
by David Wells, June 1995
Tracks
1. Of On A Trek - 1:34
2. Trance - 3:57
3. Flowers On A Hill - 2:21
4. Freezing Cold Like An Icberg - 4:28
5. Royal Flush - 2:52
6. Cat And The Rat - 5:54
7. Instamatic - 2:18
8. Telephone - 3:39
9. Getting Fruity - 2:18
10.Tricycle - 1:16
11.Motorway - 3:27
12.Primrose - 2:43
13.In Vain - 2:16
14.Multiplex - 1:15
15.Orbit Your Factory - 4:53
16.Tok Tic - 6:31
17.Where’s My Motorbike - 1:32
All Words and Music by Oliver Chaplin
Reissue specialists Raven Records (Australia) -- co-founded by Oz Rock's human encyclopedia Glenn A. Baker -- have done a sterling job over the years of resurrecting great music from the past. This two-CD set (two and a half hours of playing time) is a proverbial cornucopia of intriguing, and largely forgotten, prog rock from some fine antipodean exponents of the genre. Actually, many of these artists found success in the mainstream Down Under, but Golden Miles showcases them in their more adventurous moments.
The stylistic range across the album's 30 tracks is quite stunning, but certainly this is progressive rock -- just don't expect everything to sound like King Crimson. Ear-catching tracks include the jazz-slanted "Make Your Stash" by legendary Aussie rockers Daddy Cool (best known for their rock & roll anthem "Eagle Rock"), the Zappa-ish "Make It Begin" by Sons of the Vegetal Mother (also fronted by Daddy Cool singer Ross Wilson), and the quaking "'Til My Death" by avant-garde metallurgists Buffalo (from their landmark 1973 album, Volcanic Rock). But the curio of curios is "Seasons of Change" by Fraternity, a tuneful, psychedelic folk-rock number sung by none other than a pre-AC/DC Bon Scott.
Excellent liner notes include a capsule bio (written by Ian McFarlane) on each band and an overview of the period (from Baker). Probably of most interest to collectors, aficionados, and those who personally remember this musical chapter of yore, many casual listeners will also find Golden Miles very entertaining fare.
by Adrian Zupp
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Bakery - No Dying In The Dark (Bakery) - 3:11
2. Carson - Travelling South (Greg 'Sleepy' Lawrie) - 3:10
3. Lotus - Lotus I (Lotus) - 3:45
4. Healing Force - Golden Miles (Lindsay Wells) - 3:19
5. Bulldog - Inner Spring (Mick Rodgers, Peter Miles) - 2:47
6. The Master's Apprentices - Melodies Of St. Kilda / Southern Cross (Doug Ford, Jim Keays) - 7:54
7. Galadriel - Girl Of 17 (Spider Scholten) - 4:39
8. Tamam Shud - Lady Sunshine (Lindsay Bjerre) - 4:35
9. Tully - You Realise You ReaIise (Richard Lockwood) - 2:56
10.The Wild Cherries - I Am The Sea (Lobby Loyde) - 3:27
11.Jeff St John Copperwine - Fanciful Flights Of Mind (Jeff St. John, Peter Figures) - 3:23
12.Melissa - Getting Through (Joe Creighton) - 4:08
13.Pirana - Here It Comes Again (Tony Hamilton) - 2:44
Quincy Indiana's contributions to mid-1970s' progressive rock ... Printed in miniscule quantities (reportedly 1,000 copies were originally pressed), this one's attracted a cult following and some glistening reviews.
The line up consisted of singer/guitarist Steven Jay Morris, bass player Ben Russell and drummer George Jake Tutko, with an assist from keyboardist/lyricist David Leon Felts. Morris was apparently the brainchild behind the enterprise. In addition to producing the trio's 1973 debut "Documents of Captivity", he handled most of the vocals and wrote the majority of the material (Felt was credited with lyrics on two selections).
Divided into a series of "six documents" the album was apparently intended as a concept piece, though the sci-fi-ish plotline was largely lost on me. Musically tracks like 'Document of Enigma / Scream Inside' and 'Document of Extrinsic Value / Lucifer' were best described as conventional (if very good) hard rock.
Morris had a nice voice and, in spite of the cumbersome plotline tracks such as 'Document of Security / Moonlite Ladies' and 'Document of Latent Summation / In the Forest' offered up strong and surprisingly conventional melodies that stood up separately and apart from the overarching concept. Bassist Russell was particularly good.
Tracks
1. Document Of Enigma (I. Scream Inside II. Instrumentation / Eden To Now) (co-Lyrics by David Leon Felts)- 6:39
2. Document Of Validation (I. Observation Of Us II. Instrumentation / The Slave And The Duke) - 7:32
3. Document Of Extrinsic Value (I. Lucifer II. Instrumentation / The Battle) - 5:00
4. Document Of Inquiry (I. To Be Real II. Instrumentation / The Curious Child) - 4:43
5. Document Of Security (I. Moonlight Ladies II. Instrumentation / The Pursuit) (co-Lyrics by David Leon Felts) - 5:33
6. Document Of Latent Summation (I. In The Forest II. Instrumentation / The Then) - 7:40
7. Warriors (Live Bonus Track) - 6:59
8. Stone Free (Live Bonus Track) (Jimi Hendrix) - 3:51
9. Lucifer (Live Bonus Track) - 6:15
10.Eleanor Rigby (Live Bonus Track) (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 11:47
All songs written by Steven Jay Morris except where indicated
Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, "That's The Way We Are" (Talking Elephant)- The British blues boom of the mid sixties had already become a dim and distant memory by the time that demon guitarist Stan Webb ventured into the studio to record "That's The Way We Are," but this highly sought after 1978 album certainly provides an appealing vehicle for the great man's instrumental prowess and should be required listening for Chicken Shack devotees everywhere.
The finished product is a muscular blues rock package of the highest order, blending some gritty self-penned material with re-vamps of Elmore James' "Shake Your Money Maker" and Albert King's "High Cost Of Love."
by Kevin Bryan
Tracks
1. The End (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 3:51
2. High Cost Of Love (Albert King) - 4:06
3. Doesn't Matter About Your Size (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 3:26
4. It Wasn't Me (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 4:22
5. You'll Be Mine (Trad., Arr. Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt, Dave Winthrop) - 3:58
6. Sillyness (Robbie Blunt) - 2:12
7. Little Bird (Stan Webb) - 4:10
8. Rich Man's Blues (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 2:40
9. Emily (Stan Webb, Robbie Blunt) - 4:59
10.Let Me Love (Willie Dixon, Arr. Stan Webb) - 3:23
11.Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James) - 3:04
When "Te John, Grease And Wolfman" debuted, the label released “Great Big Bunches of Love” as a single. It failed to make a dent on the national charts. Drummer Jeffrey Meyer departed, and was replaced by Buddy Davis and Freddie Edwards, who provided the dual-drummer lineup that the Allman Brothers Band had popularized in Southern rock circles.
Charlie and his band soon returned to the studio to record the Honey in the Rock album, released in May of 1973. The group then spent nearly a year on the road promoting the LP. Their efforts paid off when “Uneasy Rider” climbed to #9 on the Billboard pop chart. While touring that year, the Charlie Daniels Band often shared the bill with other up-and-coming Southern rock performers with whom they formed lasting friendships.
Originally titled “Honey In The Rock” and later renamed for its hit song (Daniels's first chart entry), “Uneasy Rider” is the third for Charlie Daniels, the album includes a significant R’n’B influence, making for an intriguing country-funk style. The title track's talking blues is particularly significant for espousing a hippie/counterculture perspective on the part of a man who'd later become known for championing more conservative values.
by Scott B. Bomar and Jim Allen
Tracks
1. Funky Junky - 3:14
2. Big Man - 6:12
3. Why Can't People - 5:49
4. Revelations - 7:37
5. Uneasy Rider - 5:17
6. Midnight Lady - 4:39
7. Somebody Loves You - 3:44
8. No Place To Go - 10:08
All Songs written by Charlie Daniels
Recorded in 1972 by teenage Englishman-in-exile (re: British art student in Italy) Mark Fry, Dreaming With Alice has long been a Grail to vintage psych-folk enthusiasts. That’s hardly a unique distinction; it seems like anything tracked between 1966 and ’75 by hirsute dreamers with acoustic guitars inspires big bidding among collectors.
Sunbeam Records is known for their loving reissues of the lost sides of yesteryear, but not all of them deserve such royal treatment. That isn’t the case with Dreaming With Alice, which is a thoroughly enjoyable slice of pastoral psych. Yet the disc’s most attractive quality is also it’s chief flaw — namely, Fry’s cloying credulity in matters metaphysical.
Through all the will o’ the wisp poetics and the fluttery arrangements, Fry maintains an honest likeability, which makes you wonder why he never managed to hitch his Glimmering Chariot to a Morning Star. (The answer to that query is revealed in the voluminous liner notes, which were penned by Fry himself).
The record rests somewhere between Donovan’s erotic mysticism and the woodsy romps of Comus. At the time of the album’s recording, there was a renewed interest in surrealism in Italy, and this influence can be felt throughout the record. Although it pretty much stays within the conventions of psych-folk, trace elements of prog can also be discerned. In fact, it’s not difficult to picture Goblin finding inspiration in Dreaming.
Fry was a handsome and talented lad, and it’s no wonder the Italian art cognoscenti took a shine to him. His boyish croon goes a long way towards selling the fantastical twaddle that makes up his lyrics. It’s gotta be tough to sound earnest while crooning about an albino albatross, but Fry somehow manages.
The finest song on the album comes early. “The Witch” covers all of the psych bases, employing flute, sitar, hand percussion and a minor key modality. “The witch is looking through my window / Her cold breath on the window pane,” Fry sings in what sounds like a hushed invocation to a summer’s eve succubus.
The esoteric musings continue apace. “Did you ever stumble on Satan’s smile or a Catholic saint’s confession / And life is like walking on an endless mile, each step another lesson,” he sings on the title track, which is split into eight sections and spread across the entire album. Each return is framed by gentle fingerpicking that sounds appropriately phantasmal.
It’s debatable whether or not the world needed another psych-folk reissue, but if so, Dreaming With Alice might as well be it. Rumor has it that Fry — who currently lives a painter’s life in rural France — will be recording again soon. Must be the season of the witch.
by Casey Rae-Hunter
Tracks
1. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 1) - 0:38
2. Witch - 6:43
3. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 2) - 0:32
4. Song For Wilde - 2:33
5. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 3) - 0:33
6. Roses For Columbus - 5:18
7. Norman Soldier - 2:22
8. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 4) - 0:36
9. Dreaming With Alice (Verse 5) - 0:34
10.Lute And Flute - 3:56
11.Dreaming With Alice (Verse 6) - 0:31
12.Down Narrow Streets - 2:58
13.Dreaming With Alice (Verse 7) - 0:32
14.Mandolin Man - 8:18
15.Dreaming With Alice (Verses 8-9) - 1:35
16.Rehtorb Ym No Hcram - 2:25
17.You Make It Easy - 2:15
18.Doesn't Matter To Me If It Rains - 3:39
All songs by Mark Fry
On this, Charlie Daniels' second release, there are obvious signs of a bright future for the guitar- and fiddle-playing hillbilly rocker. Along for the ride is Joel "Taz" DiGregoria, Charlie's longtime bandmate and keyboard wizard. Taz even takes lead vocal duties on one song, "Billy Joe Young," and his ivory tickling is a highlight of this historical Southern rock document.
Daniels rocks with the intensity of a downbound train on "Great Big Bunches of Love," and on his cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis chestnut "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee." A true Southern poet, Charlie Daniels is seen here in the infancy of his artistic development, but even at this early stage, the poet is alive and well.
by Michael B. Smith
Tracks
1. Great Big Bunches Of Love - 3:44
2. I'll Try Again Tomorrow (Charlie Daniels, Joel DiGregorio) - 4:19
3. Parchmont Farm (Mose Allison) - 2:20
4. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day - 2:30
5. Black Autumn (Charlie Daniels, Earl Grigsby) - 5:15
6. In The City - 3:50
7. New York City, King Size Rosewood Bed - 4:19
8. Evil - 2:33
9. Billy Joe Young - 3:19
10.Drinkin' Wine, Spodee Odee (J. Mayo Williams, Granville "Stick" McGhee) - 5:03
All songs by Charlie Daniels except where noted
Somewhere betweem The Moody Blues, Marmalade and Crosby Stills and Nash, for a moment Parrish and Gurvitz may have been something, if perhaps with the involvement of George Martin as producer, they had not been unreasonably hailed as the new Beatles. Still, this classic song is completely forgotten, off every list, it’s not cool, hip, Prog, Psych, Psychedelic, Garage, sixties Pop, seventies underground and has no recognised virtuosos.
Having said that the line-up of the band is impressive. Paul Gurvitz was in The Gun with his brother Adrian, remember their 1968 hit Race With The Devil. The Gurvitz brothers went on to form Three Man Army and then teamed up with Ginger Baker for Baker Gurvitz Army in the seventies. Brian Parrish played with various small sixties bands (with Gurvitz), later joining Badger. Mike Kellie was with Spooky Tooth and other seventies luminaries before joining one of my favourite bands of the new wave era, The Only Ones, Rick Wills played with countless groups including Cochise, Roxy Music, Foreigner, latter Day Small Faces and Dave Gilmour. Micky Gallagher had played with Skip Bifferty and would eventually join Ian Dury as one of the Blockheads.
With George Martin choosing, producing and arranging Parrish And Gurvitz’s material, it’s not surprising that this opening track(s) from their one and only album is so good. Unfortunately The Beatles connection hindered their progress with that overpowering legend producing mild hysteria from the press. They were never able to live up to their producer’s previous affiliations but you might ask why were they called Parrish and Gurvitz instead of Gasoline Toothbrush or Camouflaged Meadow or Sadness In The Trees – anything but Parrish and Gurvitz – they sounded like they were solicitors. I imagine it’s because this wasn’t their first band – they’d played together before in various incarnations and as the two main members had got the support to make a record and then hired the band to play it live. Unfortunately the band was much heavier than the record and the US label lost interest as the band they signed was not the band they saw live. Brian Parrish then quit on the eve of a US tour due to personal problems and shortly thereafter they were gone.
by Marty Willson-Piper
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Rainy Day Man (Brian Parrish) - 5:20
2. Living Out of a Suitcase (Paul Gurvitz) - 4:15
3. One Way Street (Brian Parrish) - 3:58
4. Birmingham (Brian Parrish) - 3:48
5. Give It All Up (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:59
6. When Evening Comes (Brian Parrish) - 5:56
7. The Preacher (Brian Parrish) - 4:30
8. On My Way (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:46
9. Can We Do It (Paul Gurvitz) - 2:37
10.Brown Eyed Woman (Brian Parrish) - 3:22
Disc 2
1. Another Time Another Day (Paul Gurvitz) - 4:40
2. It's A Shame (Brian Parrish) - 3:21
3. Libra (Brian Parrish) - 4:00
4. I've Got Time (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:53
5. Janine (Brian Parrish) - 3:44
6. Dozy Gwen (Paul Gurvitz) - 2:13
7. Why (Brian Parrish) - 4:23
8. As If I Were Blind (Paul Gurvitz) - 3:51
9. More Than Life (Brian Parrish) - 3:45
10.Loving You (Brian Parrish) - 7:17
Where were you 48 years ago today? If you happened to be passing by 105 Second Avenue in New York City’s East Village, you would likely have seen a fantastic group of names displayed on the marquee at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East. On Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, 1968, Iron Butterfly shared an explosive bill with Traffic and Blue Cheer. The Fillmore East itself is now just a memory, of course. Its exterior and entrance now welcomes you to a bank, and the storied auditorium has been demolished. But the music recorded at the venue lives on. Artists as diverse as The Allman Brothers Band, Laura Nyro, Miles Davis and The Mothers of Invention have all released live albums from the Fillmore East. Recently, Rhino Handmade unveiled another live set from the legendary New York spot with Iron Butterfly’s Fillmore East 1968 (RHM2 526745, 2011).
The sets focus mainly on material from Iron Butterfly’s first album Heavy, and predate the official commercial release of the band’s most famous song, the sprawling “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” In fact, it hadn’t been recorded yet at the time of these concerts, so there’s no recognition applause for the song. One wonders, what did the audiences make of the epic song, hearing it for the first time? Two versions of it are on Fillmore East, the band having saved it for the late shows. One workout runs 17 minutes, similar to the running time of the studio original; the other take is a comparatively brisk 15 minutes! Still perhaps the the apotheosis of psychedelic hard-rock excess, “In-A-Gadda” is introduced in the late Saturday set with “This is called ‘In Our Gadda Da Vida…which doesn’t mean a damn thing!” In addition to the title track, two more songs were previewed from the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album (“My Mirage,” “Are You Happy”). “Her Favorite Style,” played at Saturday’s late show, wouldn’t arrive on vinyl until 1969’s Ball.
Iron Butterfly can boast one of the most frequently altered line-ups in rock history, with over 50 line-ups having played under the band’s name over the years. Three of the group’s original five members departed after studio debut Heavy, so Fillmore East offers a chance to hear new members Lee Dorman (bass) and Erik Brann (guitar) joining Doug Ingle (organ/lead vocals) and Ron Bushy (drums) on songs from that album. Though they hadn’t been playing together for very long, these four members were attuned to each other intimately. This album makes for a stronger overall collection than the somewhat-maligned 1970 Live album from this same quartet (on which “In-A-Gadda” took up the entire second side!) recorded over a year later, in May 1969.
All of the material on Fillmore East 1968 is entirely self-composed by the band, with no covers in the set. (Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life, Woman” appeared on Heavy but wasn’t reprised live at the Fillmore.) The band’s acid, proto-metal sound found full expression in a live setting, but there aren’t many improvisational surprises here. In many cases, these renditions are similar to the studio originals, but with more bite and the energy that can only come from a band performing to an appreciative audience at a high-profile venue. Having toured with other psychedelic rock bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, the members of Iron Butterfly had experience under their belt and played up their role as a kind of sinister answer to the buoyant sounds post-Summer of Love.
Impassioned, mannered vocals mark the spooky “Fields of Sun,” and Ingle is positively malevolent on “Possession,” with wild laughter: “When a man has a woman and he doesn’t really love her why does he burn inside when she starts to love another/It’s possession!” (“Possession” is one of the two songs missing from Friday’s late set, along with “You Can’t Win,” but both songs are heard from the other sets.)
The band’s calling card “Iron Butterfly Theme” shows up four times, though each version runs just 4-5 minutes. With its scorching guitar and ominous tone, it’s a glacially-paced noise attack. Friday’s late show performance sounds even more amped up than the early show, with the band giving its fiery all. “Theme,”, however brief, does encapsulate the band’s strengths without pesky lyrics getting in the way! As dirge-like as “Theme” is, the blazing “Unconscious Power” is quite the opposite, with its breakneck tempo and plentiful attitude. Another potent sonic assault is “Are You Happy,” and the emphasis here is on the band’s fine musicianship, rather than on the songs themselves. Many of the melodies are more extensions of riffs than fully developed pieces of songcraft. The sounds can be diverse, though, such as the twisted circus atmosphere that the band creates on “Her Favorite Style.”
The groove gets a bit mellower on the hypnotic “So-Lo,” played at all four shows. The song’s very few lyrics are repeated over a baroque-style organ and a confident, bluesy bass line with a woozy lead vocal asking in song, “Have you heard about the word that’s going round? Have you heard about the girl who put me down? Well, she became aware of the fact that I was running round. And consequently my behavior put me down…”
The lyrics are somewhat less unorthodox on “Stamped Ideas,” which grafts a counterculture sensibility on top of what’s more or less a traditional love song: “You stay away from people made from plastic in a mold/And keep your stamped ideas inside your head untold/Because, I, baby, am protecting you against/The kinds of things that other people do now/I, baby, am protecting you ‘cause I’m in love with you.” The simple lyrics never detract from the heavy backing.
Rhino Handmade hasn’t cut any corners on this release, handsomely housed in a sturdy, oversized digipak. As recorded at the Fillmore East by Lee Osborne, sound is stellar for a live recording circa 1968, and in the set’s well-designed booklet, there are a couple pages of notes about the sound and recording technology. Wyn Davis has mixed and mastered the tapes for this set produced by Steve Woolard. David Fricke offers an informative essay placing this album in the band’s chronology. In addition to small photos of the band, there’s a double-page spread of a far-out Fillmore East poster from artist David Byrd (also responsible for the iconic Broadway logos of the original Follies and Godspell).
The embryonic sounds of hard rock are sometimes ignored as we look back with rose-colored glasses at late-1960s psychedelia. To recall just how potent a forceful rock quartet could be, look no further than Iron Butterfly’s Fillmore East 1968.
by Joe Marchese
Tracks
Disc 1 Friday, April 26, 1968
1. Fields Of Sun (Darryl DeLoach, Doug Ingle) - 4:01
2. You Can't Win (Danny Weis, Darryl DeLoach) - 3:17
3. Unconscious Power (Danny Weis, Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy) - 3:10
