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01 September 2014
You will love this Triangle
1 of 1 found this helpful The Beau Brummels and Moby Grape are two San Francisco era bands unfairly dismissed at the time. Both groups are more popular now than then, and deservedly so. If all you know about the faux British Invasion band Beau Brummels is that they put out two very Beatlesque singles "Laugh Laugh" and "Just a Little", you definitely need to take another look and "Triangle" is where you want to start. You hear the term "lost classic" a lot when it comes to psychedelic albums that didn't sell at all at the time. In the Brummels case this is absolutely true. "Triangle" is an almost perfect fusion of folk, country, rock, and psych. No true fan of the 60's should be without a copy of this album and their equally ignored follow up "Bradley's Barn". Good luck finding them though as both of the CDs are rare (ie expensive). "Triangle" is worth it. The songwriting team of Elliott and Valentino were among the best of their era. The single off of this album, "Magic Hollow" is quite simply one of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded. That the record company totally fumbled the ball on promoting this lost gem is a crime that still should be investigated. This is where Americana music gets it's start. Along with Moby Grape and The Youngbloods, these supposedly second tier San Francisco acts smoothly show the natural progression from folk to rock to psych and back to country roots without missing a step. Not just a great period piece, "Triangle" is an essential psychedelic masterpiece. I would give it 6 stars if I could!
20 September 2014
WHO KNOWS WHAT IS REALLY THE BEST CONCEPT ALBUM !
2 of 3 found this helpful Let's dispense with The Who blasphemy to start things off: "Quadrophenia" is, in all things, a superior concept album to "Tommy" (and I worshipped Tommy, ha, ha). Seriously though, if it wasn't for muddied production and unfortunate time period instrumentation (ie synthesizers up the wazoo), this would be The Who's masterpiece. Unfortunately, that honor goes to "Who's Next" which itself is mostly the remnants of the abandoned "Lifehouse" project that, like Brian Wilson's "Smile", achieved legendary status as unreleased masterpieces. "Quadrophenia" is intended to display the four distinct personalities of the band members themselves combined and conflicting within our protagonist Jimmy. Jimmy is a Mod during the Brighton Mod vs. Rockers riots (already a total disconnect for most of us Yanks). Jimmy has to come to grips with his mates, his culture, his family, his present predicament, future plans, and ultimately...his own conflicted self...whew ! Fortunately, this all sounds a lot better than it sounds (ha, ha). This concept album storyline actually makes some sense (not saying a blind, deaf, and dumb pinball wizard turned messiah requires too much suspension of disbelief, I'm just sayin'...). The proof is that even other blind, deaf, and dumb kids don't listen to "Tommy"! Jimmy is actually a teen in angst more of us could identify with and demonstrated some capacity for abstract thought even acknowledging the falsity and phoniness of his own sacred Mod lifestyle identity. Honestly, your time would be better spent giving this album a listen instead of attempting to get some feel for music by reading about it instead of actually hearing it. But, what do I know, I'm schizophrenic and tri-sexual (will try anything at least once - kind of like Jimmy and Tommy).
15 December 2008
The Yougbloods: Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods are almost exclusively (and unfairly) remembered, if at all, for their top ten hit "Get Together". This group, however, was far more than your run of the mill "one hit wonder". Elephant Mountain is, quite simply put, their masterpiece.
The third album released by the Youngbloods is a smorgasbord of late Sixties Americana. This album reflects an almost perfect blend of folk-rock and psychedelia, with touches of country, blues, and jazz to boot. Because RCA had so poorly managed and promoted this group from 1967 until the release of this "could of been a contender" clasic in 1969, it was less than well-received, to say the least. By the time The Youngbloods released Elephant Mounain, original co-founder Jesse Colin Young was pretty much on his own and all alone to write and arrange the tracks on this album.
Originally an East-Coast folkie, Young had relocated what was left of his band to Northern California's Hippie haven. A demonstration of the lack of his major label support, even the "one hit" they were famous for was a complete accident. "Get Together" was originally released in 1967 (Jefferson Airplane also did a version of this Dino Valenti composition). Its debut appearance made a less than spectacular splash on the charts, peaking (?) at #67. Only after the song was used in a TV commercial in 1969, having been adopted as the theme song of The American Council of Christians and Jews (!) did it become a top ten hit.
Similar lackluster support was provided by RCA for Elephant Mountain. Produced by Charlie Daniels (yes, that Charlie Daniels!), more copies of this album were returned by record stores than actually sold. A full year after its release, RCA decided to half-heartedly promote "Darkness, Darkness" as a single. Of course it went nowhere and the single, the album and, indeed, the group itself were quickly forgotten. Actually, "forgotten" is probably not entirely accurate since virtually nobody knew about it to begin with. And that's a shame!
To sum it up, "Darkness, Darkness" is one of the most elegant songs recorded in the psychedelic heydey of the Sixties. And, it may not even be the best song on this album! "Sunlight" and the ironically entitled "Smug" are also worthy contenders. As opposed to some other more well-known psychedelic classics, Elephant Mountain has aged well and bears repeated listening.
Almost a "concept album" (whatever the that too-oft repeated phrase actually means), the songs flow seamlessly from track to track. Admittedly the studio banter splicing the songs together fairly quickly loses its charm, but, that's a minor complaint since some of it is actually amusing and, more importantly, doesn't last long.
Check it out. Think Jefferson Airplane somewhere between "Takes Off" and "Surrealistic Pillow". The only other album comparable for both beauty and obscurity is "Moby Grape". A crime and a shame that someone has to write a favorable review of this gem almost 40 years after it's release, this is a Sixties treasure not to be missed! Thanks to eBay you can still find a beautifully enhanced and remastered CD that captures this magical moment in time.
Your faithful "true believer" correspondent,
The Dawn Coyote aka Robert A. Goodwin
Goodwin51@yahoo.com