So I substitute taught a class for my friend the other day on music of San Francisco in the 1960s. Given all the self-reflexive "am I rockist" mania I've gone through since realizing I had the most trad album for Marooned, I was a little freaked about getting up and extolling the virtues of the acid rock commune in front of a bunch of precious young minds. So...I opted for Surrealist Pillow's folkier moments, Blue Cheer at its loudest, Sly superfunk, and Dead jams and yes, I made them read Howl. I watched Monterey Pop to prep and I have to say that it actually made me cry - to see Janis backed by such a shit bar band, to see Otis get FOUR backspins to his "I've Been Loving You Too Long" climax, to see 300,000 people sitting quietly in chairs grooving to Ravi...It was...my first time seeing the film. I had conciously avoided it like the severe post-77 baby I thought I was. But I'm glad I saw it and want to watch again. And, although the band is tinged with sadness for me, I definitely want to go on a Mamas and Papas kick after watching John amble around organizing the thing.
BUT...
The real reason I'm writing this is to EXTOLL the virtues of a weird album I bought at Kim's the other day: The Ghost When You're Dead/One Second. Originally released in the early 70s, the album reissue is kind of mysterious (on Mellotron Recs) and the band, a Birmingham psych collector's fav, is something of a Jefferson Airplane tribute but with heavier textures and intense, careening Hammond solos that remind me of the ricketiest heavy moments of classic era Pearls Before Swine. The band trades off vocals and although I like Terry Guy's psych frontman routine, the real strong point for me is Shirley Kent's voice on the song "Hearts and Flowers," a sort of more professional prog folk version of Damon and Naomi, with great AM radio-worthy mixing. I'm excited by this album just as much as I am totally convinced that I've heard it a million times before, maybe when I was going through my British psych phase in college. Still it's fresh to me as Kent's voice has so much strength and even when they're singing insane psych faubles she is in complete control. Great!
