This bizarre,
Alan Lorber
-produced
psychedelic
album appeared originally in 1969 on
Boston Sound
.
Bobby Callendar
was an incredibly gifted poet and lyricist whose complex texts could only be compared to
Scott Walker
; the concepts of a U.K. artist of Indian heritage
post-psychedelia
were augmented by the lush arrangements of
Paul Harris
and
Bob Gallo
. The cast of musicians on this album included some of the highest-caliber sidemen of the time, most notably
Richard Davis
, the master bassist of
Van Morrison
's
Astral weeks
fame (not to mention a
jazz
musician in his own right), the guitars of
Eric Gale
Hugh McCracken
, and the astonishingly subtle
Burnard Purdie
on drums. The album is a rich and complex exploration of Eastern-inspired
psychedelic rock
folk
centered on the incredibly complex texts and vocals of
. When reading the lyric sheet, it is most astonishing how such elaborate poetic evocations were somehow made to fit popular song forms. Sure, at these highly conscious times of the late '60s it was not uncommon for deeply poetic, socially conscious, or hallucinogenic themes to appear in the lyrics of
pop
music, yet this is album is absolutely brilliant for being one of the most ostentatious animations of the written word, yet absolutely vital and musical throughout. Fans of
's solo material,
Colin Blundstone
, and
Duncan Browne
should give this album a few hours -- if not a week -- of their attention. This excellent Italian reissue from
Akarma
is packaged and remastered exquisitely. ~ Skip Jansen