Robb Kunkel - Abyss

Label: Tumbleweed Records Catalog#: TWS 111
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: USA
Released: 1973 Genre: Rock/Psych / Folk
Style: Soft Psych
Notes: Last record pressed by Tumbleweed records. Only 500 copies made.
 

Tracklisting:

A1   You Were The Morning
A2   Whispermuse A3   Country Blues
A4   O Light
A5   Abyss
B1   Monterey Parable
B2   Ten Summers
B3   Airhammer Eddie
B4   Playa de Bada
B5   Turn Of The Century

Here's a great, hard-to-find, folk psych LP by Robb Kunkel. Only 500 were pressed just before Tumbleweed went under. This is an original pressing (and there has been no reissue made as of yet). Here is some info about Tumbleweed records and this LP pulled from LYSERGIA.COM

As the excitement of the 1960s psychedelic explosion faded away and the once-magic streets of SF and LA were crowded with crazies and hard drugs, many westcoast heads felt an urge to retreat into quieter surroundings. This rural exodus led to Sierra Nevada communes, artist colonies in Marin County, expensive hideaways in Laurel Canyon, primitive farms out in the California desert, and, in several cases, to the high mountain air of distant Colorado. For a few years Denver and the nearby jet-set ski resorts attracted hippie musicians from all across the USA. A significant nexus in this early 1970s scene was the newly founded record label TUMBLEWEED. Despite having a few chart hits, a number of high quality LP releases, and providing a springboard for 1970s star Michael Stanley, Tumbleweed's name has remained obscure.
 

ROBB KUNKEL - "Abyss" 1973 (Tumbleweed 111)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Sounds best on: westcoast weed & fresh mountain air

Availability: Obscurity

Robb's LP is what originally sparked my interest in Tumbleweed. Pressed in a small run as the operation was already running on fumes, it is by far the rarest thing the label released, and to many perhaps also the best. I've written a detailed review of this rather irresistable westcoast-influenced melodic psych/rock LP, which can be found here.

ROBB: "I am glad to hear some folks enjoy Abyss. It was a blast to be 21 at the Village Recorder, high as a kite, doing it in Quadraphonic. 'You were the morning' was written by Thomas Stockwell and I learned the song near Chicago in 1964. When session guitar master Howard Roberts was doing the banjo part at the end of 'You were the morning' he had done many lines and glasses of Remy Martin and had to keep doing re-takes. He looked up at the window to the control room and said, 'I will get this right if it takes all the money Tumbleweed has got'. 'Whispermuse' was based on the writing of Baudelaire who I was reading at the time. My upstairs 4 rooms had leaded glass round windows which I put in the lyrics: 'times magic sunlight dances through a round window'. I think 500 copies of 'Abyss' were pressed but it could be more. The company went under just at the time of it's release."

 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A SOUND SAMPLE OF THIS RECORD (low quality - 64kbps bit rate MP3)

 

VINYL CONDITION: VG+/EX (no scratches; plays excellent; very glossy vinyl)

SLEEVE CONDITION: VG/VG+ (clean sleeve; some ring wear; some edge wear and minor creases; drill hole)

To see my grading scale please CLICK HERE

 

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