the unicorn

this morning for some reason i decided to cement my fascination with all things peter grudzien, and transcribe the raw poetry and religious torment that is "The Unicorn" (not the whole album, jsut that song). alot of different meanings could be implied or taken from Peter's privately pressed psychedelic country ode to homosexuality, jesus, america, and mythical beasts. people think of peter as an "outsider artist" or "real people" (as collector's often dub personal visions set to tape in utter sincerity), but i think what distinguishes peter from a lot of these wackos whose appeal lies mostly in their utter dementedness, is that his soul is totally bared on these recordings in a way that is almost as big, and accessible as brian wilson's pet sounds, and through the catharsis of these musical creations we see the strange twinklings of a divine light, the true shimmerings which if we follow the deeper undertones of the scripture, never let anyone go absolutely blind. like the best work of johnny cash, you get the feeling that this is a man who has walked with the lord, and without him, but knows that realm well. oh, and the music is good too. he played all the instruments himself, and could actually write songs that swing in a really otherwordly POP kind of way. so without further ado, the unicorn.


The spring is in the streets again,
and too many seasons gone by.
We move to cruise, and stare at ourselves,
hoping to find, someone half blind,
somebody who, will make us new,
to hold in the night, guard us from fright,
change all that's gone for the new.

While in our fairest(very?) city there lives a unicorn of old.
The queen that holds the unicorn,
will be reborn, his mighty horn,
calls on the day, storms pass away,
night turns to day, the whole world is gay.
Angels descend from the sky.

The trucks are cold and barren again, and the numbers have all turned to jade.
I search for a way to tear out my eyes,
so I won't see, the dying tree,
fall to its knees, and as it must,
with fragments of lust, return to dust,
then we are gone in the night!

While in our very city there lives a real live unicorn.
The queen who captures the unicorn,
is virgin again, just touching its skin,
wisdom is heard, focus from blurs,
possessing the key, brings life to the tree,
and makes it grow taller again.

The sanctuary's crowded again,
the poisons are all passed around.
Each star walks in, return to the door,
our eyes leave our head, the zombies are dead,
just walking around, held to the ground,
our feet are bound, obeying each sound.
Waiting to meet god knows who.

While in our very city, there lives a unicorn of old.
The queen who holds the unicorn, will be reborn,
his mighty horn, calls on that day,
storms pass away, night turns to day,
the whole world is gay.
Angels descend from the sky-y-y-y.

so there you have it folks. figured for everyone's general edification i should put this up. it is certainly a confirmed work of mid twentieth century poetic sing song if ya dig that... his other song "Kentucky Candy" has some great lyrics that again mix amazing surreal imagery with religious torment/question, and pretty much raw sexual material. few grade-a poets are able to pull off that kind of mix.

here's a record i'd love to hear:

SMACK (KS)

"Smack" 1968 (Audio House 14468) [blank back]
"Smack" 1992 (Audio House) [bootleg; insert; 300p]

Surprisingly enjoyable guitarpsych top 40 cover LP with tunnelvision galore as these highschool kids blow through 4 Hendrix and 3 Cream numbers, making the additional Kinks and Buffalo Springfield tunes seem downright exotic. Somewhat mysteriously the guitarplayer achieves some of the best fuzz-tone I have ever heard, and isn't afraid to use it. The full band has the right power-trio directness, and are given an additional hand by an excellent in-yer-face recording. Vocalists do credible Jimi & Jack Bruce imitations and as a whole any sarcastic jokes aimed at this LP come flying back like a cream pie in the face of the listener. Only moment of stupidity is some funny incorrect lyrics in "For What It's Worth"; other than that this is the Rolls Royce of "Purple Haze" copy band LPs. The band met at a summer camp in Kansas but the four members came from all over the US and only rehearsed for a few weeks before releasing this LP on request of the other camp kids, even though their "acid rock" performance had been aborted by camp management! [PL]
from the acid archives, www.lysergia.com

would love to get my hands on that chinese supper! hey check back for more lyrical interests in the future. i plan on transcribing some of the Cold Sun - Dark Shadows lyrics which are probably some of the better psychedelic lyrics hands down period. fare thee well...

one juicy mo fungin' playlist

ok, so i blew smoke bout a bunch of LPs down below and must give ye a samplin'... sorry but m4a almost all the way round cept the link wray stuff.... dude, i try.

Homer - Grown in the U.S.A. (1970, URA, San Antonio Texas)
this is a really great all round hard-ass texas longhair outfit notchin' country prog-raveups all over the fuggin place makin pupils dilate and careening through dusty roads of texan pot smoking suburbia... yeah aint no deep drippin psych fungus, but imagine a band the kids in dazed and confused might totally dig on should they open for some arena act (which they actually did, kind of hitting a stride as a hot local band)... this has been reished by akarma, so i'm only gonna dish a few tracks. the whole thing is worth it though... and these guys ALMOST made it. really west coasty despite obvious country traces... been described as a prog version of New riders of the purple sage!
circles in the north
taking me home
survivor
love's coming


Stone Harbour - Emerges (1974, Stone Harbour [label], Youngstown, Ohio)
private press psychosis! thrashing electro-stomping weirdos... primitive synth freakouts, kind of nerdy-teary eyed vocals, rock'n'roll worship-themes despite being so fuggin strange, kind of in a todd tamanend clark zone, but without his totally over the top personality-complex. the songs morph and flex beautifully, like oozing tendrils that grapple for a place on your spine, pulling you to the floor like in those truly zonked times you all surely have encountered... this record is absolutely a contact high. been reished by void records, so again, only a few choice cuts. inspired by uriah heep! go figure...
you'll be star
grains of sand
thanitos
dying to love you


Klubs - Midnight Love Cycle
really great '68 freak beat by a band who never got their due like a thousand others. if ya dig tomorrow, who, and pretty things, loud psychedelic melodic THUD then you will have fun with these three songs. been reished. band was apparently quite violent, and wouldn't change their name to "revolution"... swept under the carpet by shady a&r men, and other thugs. bummer. fans of chocolate soup-ian crud will be smitten.
read the story here.
can't ebenezer see my mind #1
indian dreams
the stripper


Insect Trust - Hoboken Saturday Night (1970, NY)
i just can't get enough of this album. no particular reason why, its just a real good time. if any of you grew up rural, like me, or just close enough to get there by bike or hitch hike to a reasonably small city for friday night just to sneak some beers at a grocery store, smoke the stubs of cigarettes you find in ash trays and watch the people mingle on the main drag, then this is a record you will GET. even doubly so, if that small burg for weekend action was full of hippies and washed up human detritus. the lyric, "we might as well get down, as long as we're down here" sums it up perfectly. it could be said this record is a bit too all over the place, but i think that adds to its wildness. it's about as american as they come, but america filtered through the sixties love of folk music, jazz, backwoods culture, and generally painting pictures more related to myth than reality. its a beautiful thing, really: the idea of america as this wild and untamed land of so many odd backwaters and timewarps it makes the mind spin. but the intelligentsia's awareness, and idolatry of it, certainly was a sign of its unraveling at the core, which could be argued to have come all the way back in the 30s. not to say this is some geographical survey or anything.... it has as much to do with tin pan alley schmaltz and good times reefer blues as it does with america as myth vs. substance. generally loveable, way better and weirder than alot of other roots-ian late sixties hacks (canned heat, nitty gritty dirt band, anybody?) and ya dont need much whiskey to turn this thing way up.
also recently reished... seek 'er out!
hoboken saturday night
the eyes of a new york woman
ragtime millionaire
somedays
reciprocity
reincarnations


Sandy Bull - Inventions for Guitar and Banjo (1964, Vanguard)
i've become a big fan of this instrumental string buster. bull was way ahead of maestros like bill frisell and ry cooder, who albeit have their moments (won't catch me listening to many of them though...), but bull nails the openended mostly acoustic flowing genre-ically trance like nature on this record. middle eastern, honky tonk, brazilian, medieval, and even a wee bit of rock and roll. i like how spaced out some of it sounds, and other bits entirely cohesive and focused, all very beautiful. the limited use of electricity is done in a totally hip way, listen and find out. functions as an album as well, doesn't seem tacked together. definitely has crossover appeal for fans of psychedelia (if you ever dug the trancey oud side of the american kaleidoscope) as it keys in on a floating realm of sound some people can get to, while others stay pretty firmly footed on earth. dig these... both are great, the chuck berry cover is a revelation!
memphis, tennessee
blend


Link Wray - Wray's Three Track Shack
SOOO GOOOOOD!!! i thought i had heard all link had to offer. RIP. these homemade 70s tunes from a shack in maryland are pure soul. if ya love link, if ya love backporch american weirdness, if ya love that godforsaken snarl he could get out of a stringed instrument, please get a hold of this! WHAT THE ALLMAN BROTHERS SHOULD SOUND LIKE! as far as southern/roots rock ideology goes.... no wanky jams here! but good 70s vibe!!! take the spaced out country of that sandy bull-covering-chuck berry above, and give it a plain nasty edge. god. what a force. the mindblowing thing about these records, is that it is an example of a totally mind blowing artistic personality who had already had his stint in the pop culture limelight, but allowed to do whatever he wanted on his own terms. the DIY aesthetic lent to a BIG NAME, to whom almost no one was paying attention. so very badass... i would love a 70s artifact record like this from elvis if he had ever gone the way of truly forgotten. elvis deserved a back to the country 70s record made in a trailerpark... maybe in an alternate universe. until then, this is some of the most enjoyable kak i've picked up in a while. link, ye can do no wrong. (let it be said i aint as big of a fan of the other vocalist on some of this stuff... link's voice is better than most when he gets round to using it)
i'm so glad, i'm so proud
in the pines
la de da
days before custer
on the run


"Wray's Shack Three Tracks" started when Link's father started building a chicken coop and a porch on the house and then a room on the porch and then another room until it was all connected. So Link's brother Vernon Wray, who is called Ray Vernon, moved his three track recorder into one of the rooms and they were in business. For a while Link didn't have a drum kit installed and says he just had to "stomp real hard" on the floor. "It was no problem because all we wanted was time," says Link.
Admits Link: "It's different working in the Shack. We just sit down, start the tape and play what we want. If it's good it's good and if it's bad it's bad. But there's no electronics - just the real nitty gritty. Honest music. When I'd be working in the studios in New York it'd be like working in a cathedral."
read more here.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Teaser...

Time Will Tell - Justen O'Brien and Jake
been salivating over this of late... the acid archives description got me bent to hear it: "One of the more recent finds to be introduced to a wider audience, this is an atmospheric 1970s psych/loungerock trip from the depths of Middle America. Somewhat reminiscent of the loungier side of D R Hooker, with idiosynchratic vocals and a glitzy mid-70s production with keyboards upfront and fairly professional playing. The total effect is like driving around in late-night Minneapolis looking for some action but ending up alone in an airport hotel lounge; a desolate 2 drink-minimum neon light trip of creeping originality." sound good, uh? anybody heard it?


getting tired, so i'll end here. look forward to a full posting of the first Cosmic Michael lp!

eat your heart out

i didn't really do an official v-day blab, so i figure i'd toss something up in the name of love. this may be a farely well known (relatively speaking) LP, but it is one of the rarer privates from the UK, and though it shares some things in common with the complex lp i posted below, its not quite as good. basically forever amber's "A LOVE CYCLE" is a real good stab at early 60s mersey beat seeing double love dribble done via a late sixties (1969) bittersweet climate of heavy psychedelia going prog and back to roots folk shit that was abundant in britania at the time. yeah its got some psych and prog moments but the real idea here is hands holding beatles pop, and every once in a while you need some of that. not totally weird enough to be great, but damn fine anyways. besides, valentines day is a load of pap anyhow so dig on into the sugar dust.

The Meeting:
1. Me oh My
2. Silly Sunshine
The Talking:
3. Bits of Your Life, Bits of My Life
4. For a Very Special Person
5. The Dreamer Flies Back
6. Misunderstood
7. Better Things Are Bound To Come
The Walk Home:
8. On a Night In Winter
The Joy:
9. On Top of My Own Special Mountain
10. Mary (the Painter)
11. All the Colours of My Book
The Doubt:
12. Going Away Again
The Sorrow:
13. A Chance to Be Free
The Scorn:
14. I See You As You Used to Be
The Grief:
15. Letters From Her
16. My Friend

released on hi-note.
sorry to be a downer, but these are in m4a format associated with itunes... this computer can't rip mp3s, so sorry to those without itunes. i'm pretty all over the place these days, and rarely with my own equipment, so dig it if you can.

i dont know exactly who i'm pitching to here, but one of my faves is "the dreamer flies back in time", definitely one of the only psych cuts on this baby. if you dig getting your penis/vagina wet and feeling cheery and full of life about it, the rest will probably appeal to you. BUT, forgot one for the dark brooding sexually deprived acid heads, who probably outnumber the pedestrian clientele on this blab-orama: "on top of my own special mountain" is a kool proggy trip out... very fun. for the pop songs, i like "mary (the painter)" cause the background singers say "married to you, i wanna get" cause its like how many rock songs are about getting married? "silly sunshine" is pure fluff, and i like it, don't get me wrong. as the album's story moves into the heartbreak stuff on side two, i think it improves in kind of a hollies direction. you tell me, MAN.

live at the stardust hotel!!!

the last thing you need is another exotica record you don't listen to. am i right? another 99 cent bingo platter ya got from the salvation army for the parrots and trpoical shit on the cover? ok, i'm not gonna lay another one of those on you. this shouldn't be obscure for any reason, as esquivel is a pantry shelf name at this point. but i've rarely come across people talking about this live disc recorded at the stardust in vegas circa 1969 with a totally swingin' female vocal section, often doing wordless scat singing, an organ sunk in the pool out by the patio, a rhythm section with real chops, esquivel himself narrating odd little bits, and doing usual banter with the singers and crowd. cocktail noise in between songs, totally sunshine lounge pop with alot of soul. if you're in a wintry climate right now, which i'm not, but i'm sure this will bring a large delight. what i like here is that they really rock these mothers out! just like all vegas club acts should! yeah, most of these aren't esquivel originals, but you see if it matters. i dont think so...

here's the singers names for full credit: Toni Sherry, Maria Caruso, Bonnie Adams and
Nana Sumi. couldn't find an available re-release online...

1. intro-sunny
2. a man and a woman
3. guantanamera
4. chihuahua
5. introducing the ladies
6. ode to billy joe
7. the impossible dream
8. those groovy kids of today - uptight
9. gonna build a mountain
10. love me with all your heart
11. esquivel says goodnight

seeing as how i've been posting whole albums, i've decided to always add at the bottom my personal reccomendation for a song or two to give you a flavor, and usually they're the standout track on the album too, in my humble opinion, of course. so for this one i'm gonna say try "Chihuahua" on for size. total high-ball lunacy. dig those tempo shifts...

---------------------------------------
after thought:
wanted to post links here for the charlie tweddle/todd tamanend clark reissue stuff. you can catch mp3 samples on these pages, and as these are seriously nice folks to even consider reissuing this bizarre gack on what i am assuming is probably their own bank, i'm not gonna steal their thunder by posting mp3s, as much as i would like to share the music. just take my word for it. seek these out. if serious brain damage is your kind of thing, of course.

companion records
-home of eilrahc elddewt! tod dockstader! abner jay! kenneth higney! (they've put out some good weird christian shit too, bought the new creation but need more time for it to sink in) and perhaps my all time favorite private press record, well, that's a tough shot to call, but maybe closest to my heart PETER GRUDZIEN.

and in the same goddam city of good fortune! anopheles records!

TODD TAMANEND CLARK!!! george brigman!!! homestead and wolfe! (not heard this one yet) TWINKEYZ!!! DEBRIS!!! quite a roster for both these fine pressers of distorted kak. and with mp3 samples to boot, so in the wee hours of boredom check these suckers out.

purple image!

here's a platter just begging to be heard during this full moon weirdness. full-blown ghetto-blasting funk-tonk acid wha wha jams. just crank it.

oh, and first time i posted this i forgot to give information. these fellas were out of cleveland oHIo circa 1970. the record is on the "Map City" label, for whatever thats worth. i think there mighta been a reissue on radioactive records. but you're gonna have to check...

1. living in the ghetto
2. why
3. lady
4. we got to pull together
5. why you do me
6. marching to a different drummer

i think the closer/blowout is my fave.