The Folklords - Release The Sunshine (1969)

Firstly, upon embarking on this blogpost, I would like to apologise profusely for my lack of blogging, I have been exceptionally busy with a whole heap of things i.e. life, work, pleasure and pain.

I am going to try and blog about music more frequently and get back into a rhythm of things again.

Ok let the blog post begin...

The date is 1969, the place is Canada and the product, is possibly the finest Acid-Folk psych LP ever released; The Folklords' 'Release The Sunshine' album is one of those fine gem's which seemed to have gone astray in the corridors of time and is a work which is quite unlike anything that has been created.

This album has most definitely been a huge influence to me of late, not only has it become the soundtrack to my Autumn and Winter of 2011, it has also inspired my own new sounds even down to the style of the front cover, which I will be ripping off and borrowing heavily from when I shoot my own sleeve.

The Folklords were -

Paul Seip - Vocals and Guitar

Martha Johnson - Vocals and Autoharp

Tom Waschkowski - Bass and Vocals

With Craig Boswell - Drums

The resulting album is a product of beauty, down to the last note, mystical lyricism, psychedelic ambience, mind altering chiming via the sounds of Autoharp, tripped-out melancholy, blurry visioned hope and a wonderful array of rich and textured harmonies, complemented entirely by Martha Johnson who anchors the whole thing.

The album is one of my finds of 2011 and this album has been engrained into my emotional D.N.A and whenever I listen to it, it will remind me of this period of my life.

Please find below three of my favourite songs on the LP.

Jennifer Lee

Forty Second River

Unspoken Love (single version)

Enjoy

Paul Messis

The Bachs - Out Of The Bachs (1968)

The original post of this article was featured in Optical Sounds Fanzine and written by me originally sometime earlier this year, please support the fanzine by visiting their website here... http://opticalsoundsfanzine.bigcartel.com

In the year 1968, five teenagers got together and created what to me is the finest moment in psychedelic garage band history, the band; The Bachs. the album; the groups only recorded output. the aptly titled 'Out Of The Bachs'.

During the year 1968, the hippy era was thankfully dead, the teen-beat era was just a distant memory. 1968 was a musical wasteland and in this mystical of years five teenagers based in Illinois got together and crafted one of the finest albums of their generation.

The band formed in 1966 in the Chicago suburbs of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, the group were together for 3 years, mostly playing school dances and various other shows in their local area. In 1968 they self financed and put-out their LP privately, they managed to put their 'Out Of The Bachs' album out and pressed around 100-150 copies (exact amount is unknown to me and is debatable amongst collectors), this means original copies of this album are exceptionally rare and extremely expensive too.

The album was released as a means for the band to say 'goodbye' to their fans and also to document their time together as a band.

'Out of The Bachs' features twelve stunning, original penned tracks (which during the time was rare, as most albums usually featured a bunch of covers) written by band members Blake Allison and John Peterman.

The Bachs were -

Blake Allison - Bass Guitar and Lead Vocals.

John Peterman - Guitar and Lead Vocals

John Babicz - Drums and Percussion

Mike De Have - Rhythm Guitar

Ben Harrison - Lead Guitar

'Out of The Bachs' is one of if not, my all time favourite album within the garage genre, the songs fit the zeitgeist of the times and for me are a perfect insight into the mindset of a group of young men in 60s America.

The album opens with the triumphant and angst-ridden 'You're Mine', this is a song I totally relate to, the song opens with the desperate plea "You Better Listen To My Advice, He Don't Treat You Very Nice"... the song continues in a frantic manner akin to Arthur Lee and Love's debut; killer jangle and punk attitude.

Following on from this initial teen-punk explosion, the mood takes a turn and what proceeds is the wonderful moody monster which is the track 'Pleasure Of Your Company' which features haunting harmonies, mood altering melodies and heartfelt desperation in the lyrics, Innocent love torn confusion commited to tape.

The album then tail spins into a psychedelic summer vibe with the stoned hay-fever like evocations of 'Free-Fall; which sends the mind into a dizzy ecstasy that makes the listener comfortably happy and numb at the same time.

'I See Her' turns the speed up a notch of which The Bachs turn the jangle button up and sing a track about one of those 'girls' that tend to ignore guy's like us (me and the Bachs), amazing guitar riffs and yet again harmonies which take the breath away.

Side 1 of the LP finishes on what can only be described as the best ending to a vinyl side ever!!!, side one ends with two amazing moody garage classics. 'My Independence Day' which is my favourite song on the album, features an amazing chord progression, fantastic instrumentation and an amazing dual vocal shared between Peterman and Allison, to top it off there is interweaving harmonies about finding and losing love. the song is so full of teen confusion and subsequently is one of my personal favourite songs recorded.

The final track on Side 2 is 'Minister To A Mind Disease', which breaks into the paranoia of psychedelia, here we have a track so rooted in being 'freaked out' that just by listening to it you'll suffer some anxiety induced panic attack, You only need to hear the ear-piercing fuzztone guitar solo to know that, that will clear any cobwebs that your mind holds within..."It's 6 o'Clock now and it's time to eat and rest your feet, of course you're hungry cos you eat to live or is it live to eat??"... mind boggling yet strangely wise??

Just before I begin to talk about Side 2, I want to remind the reader that this album was recorded by teenagers, yep!!! that's correct - young kids.

Their album during it's release was criminally unknown and I guess even to this day it is still considered an 'unknown' release even amongst garage and psych heads and collectors - which in my opinion is a real crying shame.

Side 2 kicks off with the total folk-psych dreaminess of 'Tables of Grass Fields' which sends the listener into more happy stoned vibes, imagine scenes of cornfields and walking hand in hand with that special girl (or guy) that you love in the summer sunshine is shining down and the world is perfect, well then this is the song for you, if you have that mindset currently going around your brain.

The next track 'Show Me That You Want To Go Home' is strangely contemporary sounding, again the lyrics point at love lost and the confusion of young love. Proceeding is the morbid 'Sitting' which instantly kicks in with minor chord 12 string jangle, this song is the tale of isolation, yearning and teenaged confusion and questioning.

This type of songwriting and subject matter and the total conviction with which The Bachs relay the message is a huge influence to me and my own music and well my life too. With regards to The Bachs you can't help but believe they lived the life they sung about - they were truly Outcasts amongst their peers and society, this is something I relate to, cos it's how I feel too.

After the misery-fest of the song above we drift back into hazy psychedelia with the track 'Nevermore' which is one of the stand-out tracks on the album for me, What I love is the call and response  in the vocals and I totally dig the desperation in the lyrics... The song moves along like a snake, amazing 12 string guitar jangle and extravagant songwriting craft and to top it off a ferocious fuzztone guitar solo that would have blown any of the guitar gods away!

The theme of teenage innocence continues on the next track 'Answer to Yesterday' which is a mournful heartbreak of a song and acts almost like an apology in record format, song such as this act as an anecdote to anyone who has lost someone in their lives.... these Guys REALLY understood the deal with things.

The album ends on a momentous high with the proto-grunge track 'I'm A Little Boy', the song is fantastically psychedelic and also highly mesmerising, I would classify this one of the finest endings to an album ever (just like side 1 ended hip too) and is a great swan-song for the band to end their short-lived career's on.

The Bach's were a tremendous group, their stand alone album is one of the hallmarks of 60s music for me and is also in my opinion one of the BEST albums out there.

Blake Allison and John Peterman were genius songwriters who wrote fantastic music and lyrics, the created the sound track soundtrack to my early to mid twenties and I still completely adore this album.

There have been many reissues of this album which sadly since the 80s have all been mastered wrongly at the wrong speed, Time-Lag records have recently reissued the album properly and it is almost as good as  original copies (apparently???, however it sounds great on my Hi-Fi).

Please find below 5 tracks from the album posted below - Enjoy!!!

You're Mine

My Independence Day

Minister To A Mind Disease

Nevermore

I'm A Little Boy

Cheers

Paul Messis

The Calico Wall - I'm A Living Sickness b/w Flight Reaction (Dove - 1967)

The great thing about music is that there are often moments when certain records can portray how one internally feels, such is the case in regards to the record I am posting about today.

I struggle with life as much as the next guy, but at times I personally feel I am loosing the plot, the rest of the world and the universe which is exterior to me is pretty pointless a great deal mindless and whole means stupid, it's depressing and insulting to anyone with a grain of intelligence in their souls.

Here is where great existential psychedelic numbers come into play -

The Calico Wall, a small unknown psychedelic group from Minnesota cut what today could be called 'THE GREATEST' outsider/outcast recording released and cut possibly  the most out-there 45rpm single during the 60s.

Not much is known about 'The Calico Wall' as their sole legacy is found on this 45rpm record, however what a legacy it is, songs like this piss all over the 'world of people' as the band so eloquently put in their lyric.

If you are a member of this group or knew the band during 1967 please contact me, I'd love to make additions to this post and let people know more about the band.

SO without further a do, please find both killer sides of this 1967 psychedelic masterpiece.

I'm A Living Sickness

This track is like entering my mental state, these are my thoughts and feelings and the almost horror backlash with which resonates in the pits of my heart, soul and mind.... this song is full of self-pity, angst, disdain, annihilation, confusion and paints the world with a not so pretty brush compared to the way the hippies saw it, these guys were realists and confronted the raw honest truth in this their pinnacle release, things were not HIP at all in society during 1967 and neither is it now, records like this one cut through the bullshit and tell it how it is, the song is an existential masterpiece of the highest order and as I said above, relates heavily with me and my current mindset.

Flight Reaction

If you want psychedelic surrealism, look no further than here!! the track 'Flight Reaction' sends the listener into a mad dash tailspin akin to a plane crash, this is true psychedelic music, there is no 18 minute long guitar solos or a drum solo in sight, this is music which hits the nerve centre and confronts the optic cavities of the brain without stopping for a second!!! The actual likelihood too, is these cats being from Minnesota in 1967 had probably never done LSD, let alone smoked a joint, so the fact that they created a psychedelic masterstroke like this is way more cooler and much more better for it... these guys were naturally crazed and psychedelic and this neurotic madness is what created a killer two-sided slab of plastic.

Enjoy 

Paul Messis

Spectrum - How You Satisfy Me (Silvertone - 1991)

During my teen years, I was the biggest Spacemen 3 fan going, I purchased every record the band released and followed the band members' efforts post-Spacemen 3, I was even fortunate to become friends with a couple of the members over the years.

Spectrum was formed by Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember during the demise of Spacemen 3 in around 1990, after releasing a solo album as 'Sonic Boom', the Spectrum project began as a means for Pete Kember to continue his 'drone' minimalism and take music to new and spaced out heights and highs.

After a handful of one-off releases plus his debut solo effort, the first official release for Pete Kember's new band Spectrum was a great introduction to a band if there ever was one and was the first offering from the bands debut album 'Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) released the proceeding year in 1992. 'How You Satisfy Me' is in my mind possibly the best single of the 90s, it is one of the only songs I know which fuses many different genres of music into one song, there is German Krautrock a'la Neu! influence, 60s Garage influence, Punk influence, Psychedelic influence not to mention the main organ riff was nicely ripped off from an Evie Sands track called 'I Can't Let Go' (originally by The Hollies).

Spectrum 7" and LP packaging was always pretty cool, the 'How You Satisfy Me' single came in clear vinyl with a really hip clear plastic op-art sleeve featuring a cool image of the band, I think this sort of packaging is pretty cool and more bands today should put more imagination into their record sleeves... If I ever do another 45 myself, I am gonna look into doing a sleeve like the one above (top pic).

Below are sound clips of the 7" - I have included the vocal version of 'Don't Go (Please Stay)' originally on the US version of the bands  'True Love Will Find You In The End' single as the versions featured on the 'How You Satisfy Me' single were two instrumental takes of the song.

Dig the single...

How You Satisfy Me

Neo-Psychedelic drone fest with Krautrock leanings, you can't get any cooler than this during the 90s, seriously!!!

My Life Spins Round Your Every Smile

A truly wonderful piece of experimental soundscape mind tripping music, this piece of music is a great interlude between songs, Sonic Boom is a genius when it comes to making soundscapes such as the one above. What I love about this is the way it ebbs and flows not too mention I love the title of the song, it evokes a wealth of thoughts when listening to the music.

Don't Go (Please Stay) - vocal version

A hypnotic and chilled out track with a great vocal line (even though it was taken from The Cryin' Shames' Please Stay)... how great is the lyric "Be Different, Please Stay, Don't Go).... What I have always loved about this is the use of the words "Be Different"... I will likely do a post about the Joe Meek produced 'Please Stay' by The Cryin Shames at another date.

Enjoy

Paul 

The Rising Storm - Calm Before (1967)

Currently one of my favourite albums which is constantly spinning on my record deck and also on cd in my car is the album pictured above; The Rising Storm's delightful and landmark release in 1967 'Calm Before...'

The album is possibly one of the highlight LP's in the garage genre in my opinion and is to me ranked equally alongside other great lost albums within the genre such as Illinois' The Bachs' - Out of The Bachs or Florida's The Nightcrawlers with their cult classic album 'Little Black Egg' LP.... The Rising Storms' album is a classic and a totally unique gem full of genius song writing craft and original material (which was pretty uncommon for a band like this in 1967) and a couple of really cool cover versions

'Calm Before' played a huge influence on my own album and was sort of was the mold of which inspired the concept of my own album, the album has twelve songs (so does mine), the album has a couple of cover versions of the groups favourite tunes of the day (so does mine - however I only have two), the album is pretty melancholic and moody yet has a strong sense of song-writing style and flare (so does mine) and I guess it was one of the most unique albums of it's kind at it's time (just like mine hehehe)

The Rising Storm formed at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and were active between the years 1965 -1967, the band would essentially have been the Universities house group and would probably have played local frat parties playing the usual standards of the day to rowdy teenage boys and girls, however as is the case with the bands sole release 'Calm Before...' you know that there was much more depth to this band and the album is a first hand experience of this.

The Rising Storm were (in order of the pic above) Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Tony Thompson, Richard Weinberg & Charlie Rockwell.

The album is a great insight into a 60s group, in particular one who were a 'university/school group', the album is like a time capsule to a time-gone-by and I am sure the LP acts as a great momento to the memories of each band member.

Likewise with my own LP, I have it as a document to my own life now and hold the memories dear to me, mainly as a reminder of the people in my life who shared the period of creating the album within and I am sure The Rising Storm have a similar thing going on with their release.

When I first purchased The Rising Storm's album I didn't get it if truth be told, but after repeated listens the genius of the album consumes the listener and you slowly enter the innocent and dreamy psychedelic world of a band who were young and clearly had great minds on their shoulders.

There is a moodiness and melancholy all over 'Calm Before..' and this is what I really dig and relate too, especially as I have been absorbing this album almost every day for two weeks now, it  seems to fit my mood perfectly, the album is folk-tinged and beautifully psychedelic in it's presentations.

'Calm Before...' has a bunch of really cool cover versions of tracks by other New England Garage bands such as The Remains, The Rockin'Ramrods amongst a host of other hits of the day, However it is the bands moody and sombre originals that make this album a masterpiece, the cover versions of other band's songs are genius and The Rising Storm totally make them their own but there is something truly mystical about the band's original tracks.

See below a few links of the tracks off the album, please take a listen

The Cover of the Remains' - Don't Look Back, The Rockin' Ramrods' - Mr Wind and a few of the band's own magical original tracks.

The song above; 'Frozen Laughter' influenced the track called 'Why?' on my own LP, as a homage to 'The Rising Storm' I too placed my song as track 6 to end side 1 of the vinyl.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM, I REALLY DO!!!

Mr Wind, don't laugh as I begin to cry.... GENIUS!!!

Enjoy

Paul Messis

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains (1984)

Yesterday I went to London with a friend and we were wandering around Soho, I went to a record shop and was looking at the records through the window when all of a sudden Robyn Hitchcock comes up beside me to also have a look at the records in the shop window, I was a little surprised and caught off guard, but I did stop and say "hi" and tell him I was a fan of his music. 

The reason I was a little shocked was, during this week, I've been listening constantly to Robyn Hitchcock's seminal solo album 'I Often Dream Of Trains' from 1984.

'I Often Dream of Train's' is a pretty important album to me, it was one of the LP's which I listened to a great deal during my formative years. I particularly listened to this album when I was briefly doing a college course in Guildford way back in 2003. I spent a number of moments wandering around the Guildford area (still do to this day) trying to go into the past via my imagination. It is great and was a fab time doing all of that in my mid-teens however all I can remember of that time in 2003 was how it was bitterly cold all the time and how it was constantly raining and grey.

I also remember I used to listen to a bunch of albums over and over back then, such albums include Love's  'Forever Changes', The Kaleidoscope's 'Tangerine Dream' and this album, 'I Often Dream Of Trains' by Robyn Hitchcock.

As someone who has been a huge fan of Syd Barrett, British History and the British Sense of Humour, not too mention being a slightly Melancholic, Eccentric and Strange kinda guy myself, 'I Often Dream Of Trains' was sure to make some sense to me as a slightly psychedelic 16 year old suburbanite.

As mentioned during the time I was heavily influenced by this LP, I was based in Guildford and spending a great deal of time there, alone and socially, this album seems to make even more sense as there is reference to nearby things including a 'Cathedral', which in Guildford overshadows the town and is constantly there as a kind of weird pain-in-the-arse, it's both beautiful and ugly. Also on the title track of the album there is reference to catching a train to Basingstoke or Reading, Guildford being in between these two towns.... It kinda all seemed very apt to me and my life at that moment in time.

The Album is a great continuous piece and is honest and brilliant, the album has a strange trippy melancholic feel throughout and this is extenuated by Hitchcock's tender vocal and a lovely array of acoustic guitars, electric guitar and piano, it's a minimal album but is genius because of the song writing.

Please dig my 3 favourite tracks from the album below...

Cathedral - As mentioned above, whilst I was in Guildford, the prominance of the town's Cathedral leaves you with a static feeling that it's always there and consuming your energy, I actually feel it's a bit of an albatross around the town's neck. For people who live in Guildford, it's part of the furniture so to speak, but for me it's a great energetic and mental annoyance. So I used to always listen to this song whilst walking up the Town's Cobbled Street and think to myself "I can barely understand myself, what the hell is the meaning of this world and why is it such a messy place??? and when I got to the top of 'The Cobbled Street', I would look out over the valley and there it was, the bloody Cathedral making a mockery of me and my head space... "Cathedral Of The Mind'... I think Robyn Hitchcock kinda got what I was feeling.

Trams Of Old London - I just love this song because it is a wonderful song and I love the song writing.  I am also a history nerd and am interested in historical things especially things in London and the Tram system of Victorian -1920s London does interest me. Such a song is a good example of the true essence of 'Folk-Music' and I dig that about Robyn Hitchcock's song writing.

I Often Dream Of Trains - This track is simply sublime, it's a great piece of lyrical and song writing genius, I have always loved this song, it resonates highly with me and my mindset. It's totally psychedelic and I guess I have a trippy head space, I love the ironic sense of humour in this song and the weirdly melancholic feel of the song. Once again this song reminds me a great deal of Guildford and my time spent there.

Go and buy some Robyn Hitchcock albums or even go and check out his band prior to becoming a solo recording artist, 'The Soft Boys' (who pretty much invented the neo-Psychedelic Paisley Underground scene here in the UK)

Enjoy folks.

Paul 

The Jacks - Vacant World (1968)

Sometimes in the world of music there are bands that just exude cool without even trying, they simply are just beyond what might be deemed cool and be pioneers of what they do... Japan's The Jacks are one such group.

Recently I have been totally obsessed with Japanese music and culture, I have been getting heavily into the 'Group Sounds' scene which came out of Japan during the mid to late 60s.

There was a number of groups who were really fantastic which came forth from the typically Anglo influence of popular culture, however for me The Jacks were the most interesting band from this scene who remained totally Japanese in their songs and personality as a band.

Their debut long-player 'Vacant World' arrived on my doorstep on the weekend and has been continuously getting spun on my record player, it's just a far out album which is totally blowing my mind even though I can't understand a word which is sung, the album powerfully gives off the vibe that the cats who recorded the album were fed-up, frustrated and moody guys.

The band were -

Yoshio Hayakawa - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar

Haruo Mizuhashi - Lead Guitar/Vocals

Hiroshi Tanino - Electric and Upright Bass

Takasuke Kida - Drums, Flute and Percussion.

'Vacant World' is a cult classic album, although ignored totally by the rest of the world, it is considered one of the great albums of the 6os in Japan, the album was highly political and the band themselves were true outcasts of their society and were nothing like their contemporaries in the "Group Sounds' scene.

The band were totally non conformist, they were totally true to their music and themselves, they hardly engaged in the social spectre of the times by doing interviews and not playing shows which they ultimately had a great deal of control over. They played their own original songs and didn't play any covers which all the other Group Sounds band's did and the band also wrote highly political songs, the title track off 'Vacant World' was banned in Japan for overly critical lyrics towards the Japanese culture, the main insult being the song was so goddamn nihilistic that it offended the system.

The album as a whole has a real nihilistic vibe to it, it is scary doom-laden folk rock throughout.

In the various times the ultra hip ray-banned figure of Jack's leader Yoshio Hayakawa gave interviews, what he'd have to say was often controversial and snotty -

"We are not Underground, that's just an idea created by the media. We became outsiders from the folk jamboree as we don't have the goal to be famous, so it's difficult for people to understand and define us.. it's a dirty world, you gotta go in there yourself and find out" ..... Taken from Julian Cope's book Japrocksampler.

Saying such a thing back in 1968 was a really big thing to do.... to openly turn your back on such a thing was criminal.... you'd never have seen people like The Troggs or even The Beatles say such things in public, yet a real hip Japanese guy in the coolest group in the world was screaming it, yet his group was not known as much as they should have been.... Imagine if they did sing in English, what a war they would have created, I actually feel had they sung this album in English it would be more known to the whole world, it pisses on a great deal of other psychedelic albums of the time.... Lyrically too it is considered to be way out there and pointing out the darkness in the world, once again not many bands were doing this in 1968.... The Jacks however were telling it straight!!!

Even in it's native Japanese this album is killer and for me it makes it that bit more potent and real, I suggest anyone who consider's themselves a fan of 60s psychedelic music to go and buy this album immediately.... it's a real moody killer LP.

Youtube doesn't have much Jacks on it, but here are a couple of tracks to become acquainted...

Their free-jazz styled folk rock freak out Marianne, is a piece of crazy psychedelic madness about a strange female creature who comes from the storm ridden seas to consume the protagonist.

It's a mad fuzzy punk track.

I also love the moodiness in this following song 'In The Broken Mirror'....I love the mad moody vibe, I'm not gonna lie I really dig the savagery in this song, in fact the whole album is erratic and downtrodden, it's such a great album. The vocals are desperate and you can hear that Yoshio Hayakawa means every word he is singing.

Enjoy

Paul 

The Vejtables - Anything b/w I Still Love You (Autumn - 1965)

Recently I purchased the wonderful 4-cd/book boxset - Love is The Song We Sing; The San Francisco music scene 1965 - 1970 on Rhino Records and have thus far thoroughly enjoyed the set, it is well packaged and is a great compilation full of facts and cool pictures.

The Vejitables are a group I've overlooked in the past, I dunno why??? but I guess I've always assumed they had no real songs that I'd dig, I was proven wrong. I've been into 60s underground music since I was a teenager, so almost ten years of intense research into the genre and I missed the boat with The Vejtables, until very recently, I guess that is the good thing about music, it continuously surprises.

The track 'Anything' blew me away when I heard it and  has since become one of my favourite songs of the moment.

The track was recorded and released in mid 1965, which is amazing as it sounds like it belongs  a couple of years later in 1967, it easily sounds like it influenced what the Mama and The Papa's went on to later do, the rich harmonies, the strange chord progressions and general summer time vibe.

The Vejitables consisted of -

Bob Bailey - lead vocals, percussion

Ned Hollis - lead guitar, organ and backing vocals

Reese Sheets - rhythm guitar and backing vocals

Rick Dey - bass and backing vocals 

and the ever so gorgeous and talented Jan Errico - drums and backing vocals.

Jan was one of the first ever female drummers and she was highly talented, not only was she pretty but she was also a phenomenal songwriter, musician and later went on to be in the Mojo Men.

The Vejtables were a short lived group but I feel in their short time were pretty important if only for their initial influence via their harmony style.

They had four 45rpm singles ranging from Folk-Rock, Beatles-esque Garage pop, and Psychedelia, they disbanded in late 1967.

For me the highlight of their recording output is 'Anything', have a listen to it below.

Pics taken by Jim Marshall and photographed from the 'Love Is The Song We Sing' cd/book set on Rhino Records

Thanks

Paul Messis

Jake Holmes - The Above Ground Sound (1967)

Some day's when the rain is pouring down, the feelings of emptiness fill the soul, the sadness of other people's ways hurt you and cause you pain, there seems to be no-one else on the planet who seems to understand what is going down in the dark recesses inside your head. However there are, on these strange and desperate days the odd album which seems to fit that very moment and seems to alleviate the pain and make things a little less worse than it is.... I guess you can call these albums 'Rainy Day Albums'.

Today after being asked if I liked Led Zeppelin, it got me thinking about the musician I am writing about in today's blog-post; Jake Holmes. 

Jake Holmes is a really cool singer-songwriter who came from the Greenwich Village Folk scene during the mid to late 60s.

In response to the question of if I liked Led Zeppelin, I did answer NO!!! I have never understood Led Zeppelin and what they were about and I think what they did was all too grandiose, over-the-top and up its own arse for my own liking, plus I feel their songs have no real emotional basis and don't impress  me at all aside from the fact that they may be good from a technical standpoint. I also hold a huge disdain towards Led Zeppelin purely as they stole 'Dazed and Confused' from the aforementioned Jake Holmes and claimed it to be their own??? they didn't originally give Holmes any credit and took the song and claimed it was written by them.... For that alone I kind of hate them, how low can you get?? 

Jake Holmes released two LP's during the 60s, 'The Above Ground Sound' (1967) and 'A Letter to Katherine December' (1968) both of which at the time received no critical or public acclaim, in fact both albums were totally ignored and faded into obscurity as soon as they were released, which I guess is why philistines like Jimmy Page took songs from it and claimed it as his own.

Jake Holmes' song-writing greatly influences me, I guess how it does so, is because his songs are very personal to him and his life.

Jake Holmes also suffered with depression, I can relate to this, as I do too, Holmes' mental state can be heard throughout in the lyrics and feel within his songs on both of his albums, I really enjoy that fragility and tenderness in Jake Holmes, it is most apparent on his debut long-player, his second long-player is similar to Syd Barrett's albums in that it makes for difficult listening as you are actually hearing the soul of a man, breaking down slightly.

I can really relate to his mind-set and can understand where he is/was coming from, often I find that my best friends come from my record and book collection (sad hey?) , Jake Holmes is one of those friends who seems to be kindred to me and who only comes to hang out with me every so often when my mind and soul need his songs and words, I have found, it always seems to be raining when we meet each other??

There is a lot of pain in 'The Above Ground Sound' album, you can hear it all throughout... there is a lot of pain inside of me also and I guess this album helps me through a great deal of things, especially on day's like this when the sky is grey and the rain falls heavy to the ground.

'The Above Ground Sound' has ten great songs each with their own individual personalities, of these ten, one is the infamous 'Dazed and Confused'.

The LP sleeve has a real cool picture of Holmes, plus a bunch of fantastic and personal liner notes for each of the songs (I will put a few examples below in italics under the songs I choose to play)

I will now post a few videos/clips of songs which I really dig from the album and a short explanation why I like the songs.

LONELY  - "Explaining the lyric is fairly simple. When you spend time at anything you can grow to like it. People must have something to hold on to and if there is nothing, they hold on to nothing...."

The liner notes above pretty much say it all about this song.... I guess when I first heard this song, my mind flipped-out, mainly because the music is so mad, it is the sound of confusion in music, it is anger, it is frustration, it is sadness and it makes real sense to me, then to top it off you get a really killer lyric to end the song "I have a friend his name is lonely, he's always by my side, he borrows all my confidence and steals all my pride!!!"..... no other lyric can express manic depression as well as that, especially when it is sung by Jake Holmes in the most gut wrenching and venomous of manners.

 She Belonged To Me - "Almost everybody has owned a car they shouldn't have sold. A Ford '49, '53 Chevy, '55 Plymouth an occasional Crosley... I had a girl like that once."

This track is possibly the most upbeat track on the album, I really like it for it's cleverness, I like the fact the title is written in the past tense 'She BELONGED to me', it's rare for a song of this nature to be like that, I think it's pretty cool and a smart idea. I think I understand what Holmes is on about in this song, when you get a 'special' girl come into your life, you become spellbound, I guess this song is a magical ode to such girl's from the point of view from guy's like me and Jake Holmes.... I don't even know if that makes sense???? 

I also like the humour used in the lyricism throughout the song especially at the end.

Genuine Imitation Life - "I don't like talking about this song. It's an accident that took a long time to write. I wish I didn't feel that way about life"

This track is a magical piece of beatnik styled folk music, I love the pure poetry in this song, it's wonderful, the first time I listened to this song I cried, because it made so much sense to me, this track is a pioneering protest song against all the things in society I hate and despise. Jake Holmes puts to music one of the hardest things to complain about in this world and that is people and their faults. It's an amazing song... Listen out halfway through for the chord change which will make you feel very funny inside.... check out the venom sung in the lyric "People worship crosses, fingers crossed behind their back"... GENIUS.

Dazed and Confused - "This song is a combination of colors, a place I understand but cannot stay too long in. I get empty. I like it most because it makes sense by being unreasonable"

This is the song that Led Zeppelin had the cheek to claim as their own.... this version, the original is more raw and schizophrenic and that is why I much prefer this than the Wayne's World styled mockery which was the Led Zeppelin version.

Signs of Age - "Policeman, athletes and schoolteachers are all supposed to be older than me... they're not. Suddenly I'm not a child, I won't trade what I've got though"

This song is quite fantastic, I guess Jake Holmes was the same age as me when he wrote this, twenty-five and he is asking the same questions and having the same doubts... I think it is one of the few songs ever written which openly questions that weird age of the mid-twenties in such an honest way... it's kinda cool and a fitting ending to both the album and this blog post.

Enjoy the rain if you can?

Paul Messis