LISTENING USA 1968 PSYCHEDELIC ROCK AKARMA 180g LP lim 300
$
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Description
LISTENING USA 1968 PSYCHEDELIC ROCK AKARMA 180g LP lim 300
"There is no doubt about it that Listening's sole album from 1968 is a great, overlooked gem of psychedelia. When it comes for the Bosstown Sound of the late '60s, this leaves Ultimate Spinach in the dust (I should know, as I own Behold and See, considered their finest, and it really is a mixed bag). There's no getting around that keyboardist Michael Tschudin is the creative heart of the band, and that only proves it with his next band, Cynara, who released one album (self-entitled) on Capitol in 1970 (which included three remakes of Listening songs). Here you get psych that's certainly very creative, and is very much proto-prog. There's even some nice jazzy arrangements on "9/8 Song", as well as Latin rock, pre-Santana on "Cuando". "So Happy" is a rather lively and upbeat number. Not a bad song in the bunch, which isn't something I could say of Ultimate Spinach. There's also the super-cool "Stoned Is" that Cynara did a version of on their sole album. The band did release a promo-only single the next year (1969) on Vanguard with "Hello You" and "Life Stories". If you're familiar with the Cynara album, you already know these songs, but these are the original versions, so while still totally recognizable, the vocals sound different, and the occasional arragement differs, but not enough to really take notice. It's a total tragedy that Akarma did not include these two songs from the 1969 promo single as bonus cuts, because they deserve it. I am certain that whole "Bosstown hype" was the big reason Listening was buried. While the MGM acts like Ultimate Spinach, Orpheus, and Beacon Street Union suffered the most (since it was Alan Lorber who was pushed that "Boston Sound" the most and it was the MGM acts he promoted, or "hyped" depending on point of view), it didn't help Listening, even if they did record for Vanguard. Regardless, perhaps the finest thing I've heard of out Boston, and well worth having!"
LABEL: AKARMA
Serial Number : AK050
Cover : New Old Stock
Record : New Old Stock
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