Pride – Pride (1970)
Artist: Pride
Title: Pride
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Warner Brothers
This is perhaps the most unknown and most unusual album produced by David Axelrod – and in my view the best. Like “Mass in F-Minor” it is quite short and little information about it can be found.
The lyrics are from David’s son Michael, singing is by Noony Ricketts who played with Love for a short time and the cast of the session musicians includes Don Randi.
The music is typical Westcoast Psych with spanish influences. If you like Love’s “Forever Changes” (who does not???) it will appeal to you. Nice record! (acidvisions)
Track Listing
- Proud Sorrow
- A Hope
- The Death Of Juan Diaz
- The Truth
- In The Wilderness
- Worthless Pleasures
- Returning Home
- Song Of The Pirate
David Axelrod – Song Of Innocence (1968)
Artist: David Axelrod
Title: Song Of Innocence
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Capitol
Trying to put a tag on the music of legendary producer David Axelrod is almost impossible as his music,especially early offerings such as this,straddles so many genres.You get funk,jazz,classical and rock all thrown into the melting pot to create a rather unique sound that has had a large influence on many people.
Nowhere has this been more apparent than in hip hop and trip hop where this LP has been heavily sampled.If you are a fan of those two genres prepare to hear a lot of familiar breaks when you hear this record for the first time.
The LP itself was heavily influenced by the poetry of William Blake hence there is a dark brooding feel throughout and Axelrod uses layers of strings playing minor keys to obtain this mood.The drums and percussion drive the music on and there are some fantastic guitar breaks. (bruklover RYM)
Track Listing
- Urizen
- Holy Thursday
- The Smile
- A Dream
- Song Of Innocence
- Merlin’s Prophecy
- The Mental Traveller
Tommy James – My Head, My Bed & My Guitar (1972)
Artist: Tommy James
Title: My Head, My Bed & My Red Guitar
Year: 1972
Format: LP
Label: Roulette
For his third solo album Tommy James decided to shake things up a bit. Co-produced by James, long standing partner Bob King and guitarist Pete Drake,1972′s My Head, My Bead and My Red Guitar was recorded in Nashville with the cream of the city’s sessions players including Elvis sidemen D.J. Fontana and Scotty Moore.
On the surface that background might have led to the conclusion this was going to be a country album a-la Dylan’s Nashville Skyline. Not to worry, while James was more than willing to soak up the city’s atmosphere and while tracks like “Tell ‘Em Willie Boy’s A-Comin”, “White Horses” \, and “Walk A Country Mile” reflected distinctive country touches, the overall sound remained firmly rooted in James patented brand of top-40 pop.
True, with the possible exception of ”Rosalee” and “Forty Days and Forty Nights” there was nothing as instantly memorable as “Draggin’ the Line”, but on a song-for-song basis the result was one of James most consistent and enjoyable collections.
James actually seemed to enjoy the opportunity to work with the all-star cast of Nashville players, taking the opportunity to turn in some of his best work – which bounced all over the musical spectrum ranging from true country (“Walk a Country Mile”) to light psych-pop (“Paper Flowers”). (Bad Cat)
Track Listing
- Nothing To Hide
- Tell ‘em Willie Boy’s A-Comin’
- White Horses
- The Last One To Know
- Rosalee
- Paper Flowers
- Walk A Country Mile
- Who’s Gonna Cry
- Forty Days And Forty Nights
- Kingston Highway
- I Live To Love A Woman
- Fortunada
- Dark Is The Night
Timber – Part Of What You Hear (1970)
Artist: Timber
Title: Part Of What You Hear
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Kapp
This album provides a mix of country rock: Judy Wayne’s and George Clinton’s vocals are timeless. It is a testament of the times, the early 70′s. I own two copies of this album, and I want to own it on CD. The lyrics and melodies of the songs are some of the best. (mikhaila RYM)
Track Listing
- Tip Top
- All But Gone
- Good Intentions
- Part Of What You Hear
- Boat Ride
- In It
- She Is My Lady
- Go On Alone
- A Sad Song
- Country Blue/Don’t Hide Tonight
Stu Nunnery – Stu Nunnery (1973)
Artist: Stu Nunnery
Title: Stu Nunnery
Year: 1973
Format: LP
Label: Evolution
f you’ve never heard of Stu Nunnery, you’re probably not alone, but it would be your loss. Nunnery is a singer/songwriter who released one self-titled album on the short-lived Evolution label in 1973. The nine-song LP showcased a heady talent, playing a mix of folk-rock that fans of Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot and Jackson Browne should connect with immediately. (TW)
Track Listing
- The Isle Of Debris
- And That’s Fine With Me
- Sally From Syracuse
- Madelaine
- Lady It’s Time To Go
- Your Rise
- Diminished Love
- The Lady In Waiting
- Roads
The Challengers – Vanilla Funk (1970)
Artist: The Challengers
Title: Vanilla Funk
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: GNP Crescendo
The Challengers released this oddity in 1970, their last LP, and is quite a departure from the surf sound they were famous for. The album contains mostly soulful, funky covers of the hits of the late sixties including tunes such as “Mercy Mercy”, “Soul Deep” and “For What It’s Worth” complete with horn arrangements and soulful female background vocals.
For those listeners from the West Coast old enough to remember, the track “Camel Back” was the theme song to KHJ-Channel 9 television Go Go show “Groovy” when it moved indoors and had Robert W. Morgan as its host in 1969. (Max Collodie)
Track Listing
- Soulful Strut
- Games People Play
- For What It’s Worth
- Soul Deep
- I’m Gonna Make You Love Me
- Vanilla Funk
- Mercy Mercy
- The Weight
- We’ll All Get By
- Wheels (Keep On Turning)
- Camel Back
The Soul Society – Satisfaction (1968)
Artist: The Soul Society
Title: Satisfaction
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Dot
One of those “studio groups play instrumental versions of soul hits” albums that were so popular at the time. Produced by George Cates and Jack Pleis, most of the stuff’s fairly standard soul with an undercurrent of Latin rhythms, instrumental cover material such as “Soul Man”, “Sidewinder”, “Pata Pata”, “Boogaloo Down Broadway” and “Cold Sweat”, but there’s a very cool original called “Afro-Desia”, which has a nice groove to it! (J.J. Hildreth)
Track Listing
- Soul Man
- Sidewinder
- Boogaloo Down Broadway
- Pata Pata
- I Second That Emotion
- Afro-Desia
- (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
- Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
- Respect
- Cold Sweat
- Drive-In (From “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?”)
The Mind Expanders – What’s Happening! (1967)
Artist: The Mind Expanders
Title: What’s Happening!
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Dot
The most wonderfully weird, creative & experimental of all the psychploitation LPs. Produced by Charles Grean, composer of “Quentin’s Theme” from the TV series “Dark Shadows” Beautiful (and short) little piece of psychedelic obscurity.
Offers a great (and again, short) trip that leaves the listener wondering why “The Mind Expanders” stopped making music .All original exploitation instrumentals in an attempt to cash in on the “psychedelic sound” by taming it for the older generation. It’s really not bad music, and features great period flavor. (lukelukas/tymeshifter RYM)
Track Listing
- Love Syndrome
- Theme From…
- Pictures At A Psychedelic Art Exhibition
- Cul De Sac
- Downtown Trip
- Pulsation
- A Night On Bald Mountain
- Sensory Overload
- Euphoria
- Mandala
Arthur Blessitt & The Eternal Rush – Soul Session At ‘His Place’ [Vinyl] (1968)
Artist: Arthur Blessitt & The Eternal Rush
Title: Soul Session At ‘His Place’
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Creative Sound
Can you say hippie? Hollywood street preacher Arthur Blessitt could as well as a host of other late-60′s slang terms. Blessitt was known for hosting the all-night psychedelic nightclub His Place in the center of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, attracting “acid heads, speed freaks, bikers, prostitutes, hippies, pushers, Hell’s Angels, Black Panthers…’, etc.
Though Blessitt’s nightclub (with it’s logo of a fused cross and a peace sign!) is long gone, those of us who missed this era can get a taste of what it was like via this little vinyl encapsulation. The album breaks down into three parts: The Sermon – Blessitt’s 16 minute message doesn’t bear up for repeated listening, but is worth hearing once to catch him encouraging his audience to not drop downers, but to “drop a little Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John”.
The Music: three songs of low-tech garage rock by The Eternal Rush – a band of converted drug addicts including Charles McPheeters’ brother Jim.The Soul Session: this is the highlight, a hilarious 14 minute combination of song, sermon, and comedy, recorded live at His Place.
Blessitt’s pouting-televangelist preaching style (punctuated with phrases of “Can You Dig It”, “Take A Trip With Me”, “Bummer”, “He’ll Give You A High…”, etc. is backed with a slow country gospel piano and chintzy organ, with the band singing “Jesus” (more accurately moaning) through the whole thing, coming off as a strange “Red-Sovine Turns Hippie Jesus Freak” tearjerker ballad and making for a most unusual listening experience.
Hear Blessitt’s half-tongue-in-cheek “visions” of a transformed Hollywood where the Whiskey-A-Go-Go becomes the Jesus-A- Go-Go, the Classy Cat becomes the Saved Cat, the crap tables are cut down to make prayer altars, and the sheriffs carry Bibles in their gun holsters.
But beneath Blessitt’s apocalyptic lunacy there’s a seriousness that goes beyond the “Jesus Is Cool’ attitude prevalent in the Superstar era. Oddball relic from another time. (Ken Scott)
Track Listing
- Glory Hallelujah [The Eternal Rush vocal - O.J. Peterson]
- White Slavery, Black Panthers And The Hell’s Angels [Arthur tells it like it is]
- God’s Love [The Eternal Rush vocal - Jim McPheeters]
- Tell It To Jesus [The Eternal Rush]
- Soul Session [Arthur Blessitt and The Eternal Rush]
Arthur Blessitt – The Jesus Witness (1972)
Artist: Arthur Blessitt
Title: The Jesus Witness
Year: 1972
Format: LP
Label: Word
Classic bizarro stuff by Hollywood hippie street preacher Arthur Blessitt, ministering to drug addicts and other lost souls. Explains how to spread Gods love by such methods as sneaking into adult bookstores and slipping scripture between magazine pages. Hmmmm. And get this hes credited with saving none other than George W. Bush (no kidding, i couldnt make that up).
And this is extra-funny: ever see the movie Starman, where Jeff Bridges plays an alien, and he learns human mannerisms really quickly? Well, if you remember the scene where he gets picked up by Bubba the truck driver, and he mimics Bubba’s facial expression? Blessitt looks exactly like that here! hilarious! (black gem records)
Track Listing
- The Jesus Witness (Part One)
- The Jesus Witness (Part Two)
- The Jesus Witness (Part Three)
