The Psychedelicatessen Owner

I discovered Terry Riley much after his musical experimental/explorations of 1961,
'Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders'. This was my introduction to 'Minimalist Music' and I unknowingly discovered Riley's music had had a profound effect on some of the Contemporary Rock I had been listening to; primarily The Soft Machine.

The Soft Machine (the title taken from a William S. Burrough's novel) original members included Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen, Mike Rattledge and Kevin Ayers, they were produced along with the Jimi Hendrix Experience by Chas Chandler of the Animals in Britain's Psychedelic peak of '67.
As the Soft Machine continued with Rattledge and new coming members, their style leaned more into experimental jazz, whereas the original other members continued experimenting as before in their solo efforts and collaborations with tape looping and minimal notation inspired by Riley.
Sorry, I digress,
1973
At Santa Barbara Art Institute I was introduced to the music of Terry Riley by one of my mentors from the Santa Barbara 'Mountain Drive Tribe', Frank Goad.

Frank was both an inspirational Visual Artist as well as a 'Sound Sculptor' who mixed tracks of his field recordings and dialogue into a musical cadence and rhythm.

Riley's '69 release, 'A Rainbow in Curved Air' cycled in my head
as I peddled to my studio from Frank's flat.

written on the Album cover 'Rainbow in Curved Air'





'Psychedelicatessen Owner'  by Bruce Conner
'Mountain Drive' Santa Barbara's Pioneer Bohemian Community by Elias Chiacos

The Texas Freak Out n' the Familiar Ugly

My older cousins George n' Phil had the record collection I envied as a kid of no income in '66. My Sunday visits with the relatives were mostly spent spinning new records that leaned stacked, lining the baseboards of their room. 'The 13th Floor Elevators' wobbling organ sound lifted me off the carpet... 'Yea, they're from Texas', George said, as his brother danced, cupping his mouth to create the elevating keyboard sound.
Later, a familiar feral harmonica wormed into my ear out of my friend Wally's family stereo console. He played me The Red Crayola's 'Parable of Arable Land'.

 Another psychedelic band from Texas who's 'Free Form Freak Out' tracks were joined by 'The Familiar Ugly';  friends and followers including Roky Erickson, singer, harmonica, guitar of The 13th Floor.
These 'free form' tracks were with layers of instrument and vocals atop electronic tape loops inspired I'm sure by the American minimalist composer, Terry Riley (who I much later discovered). It seemed many were inspired and experimenting with looping, from The Beatles and The Soft Machine in the UK to Zappa in L.A.

I was happy to see that Mayo Thompson, the leader of The Red Crayola (now Red Krayola) was still active and continuing his 'Familiar Ugly' collaborations with the likes of Jim O'Rourke to John McEntire of Chicago's 'Tortoise'. The Newer releases of RK can be found on the Drag City label in the good company of The Sun City Girls, another 'non conforming' favorite of mine.

There have been many bands covering the early work of The Red Krayola.

From their first '66 release, 'Parable of Arable'...

                              so nice to hear 'Transparent Radiation' done densely by Spaceman3.

The '69 Gumbo Variation

I was taken off guard when I first heard the Mothers of Invention.
L.A.'s  '66 soundscape was expanding far from the Beach Boys' pleasant harmonies and scenery.
Bands like Love and the Doors were surfacing and painting with a much different palette as the psychedelic era rolled in.
The sixties' album cover art was getting more adventurous as well; Cream's 'Disraeli Gears', The Jimi Hendrix Experience's 'Axis Bold as Love'... but 'Freak Out' by the Mothers of Invention was one that stared at me from the record store wall saying, 'Hey kid, we're some real crazy Mothers'.
And upon listening they were.
Lead by Frank Zappa, the music covered a spectrum from fifties' Do-wop to do-acid. Sometimes with a tongue firmly planted in cheek, these guys showed talent and had something to say 'bout the present situation. Zappa became a new found hero for me.
The Mothers soon disbanded (for the time being) and Zappa released his first solo album, 'Hot Rats'. This was a record that spent a good amount of time spinning in my room during my high school years and became my inspirational drawing/painting soundtrack. This was the record where I recognized Zappa as truly a new American composer and guitarist to follow... and it 'Jams like a Mother'.

A remix of 1969 Hot Rat's 'Gumbo Variation' can be found on FZ's 'The Lost Episodes', a release of basement tapes and remixes with artwork by Gabor Csupo.

Preparin' for Blast-off...

Lambertland

Perhaps it was of one the most innovative year in Rock... or, I was just a hungrier brain in '72.
That summer I spent most of my money n' time on Saturdays with friends searching the bins of Moby Disc, the closest import record store from Thousand Oaks, CA.
The imported releases were more expensive than their domestic late counterparts (there was also the chance they wouldn't even get on a US label), but along with a better vinyl pressing and thick protective sleeve for their jacket, they were well worth the equal price of a good oz.
After our vinyl purchases were made, our next stop was an Italian eatery the size of a walk-in closet called, 'Santoro's'. There we'd sit eating these massive sausage n' pepper sandwiches over our well protected sleeved imports and anticipate who discovered the most advanced, progressive, NEW band out of our 'Prog Rock' finds.
Gentle Giant's latest was always a thrill, but to be the first to uncover a new group... that was an honor.

 It was our friend Rick's turn at the turntable, it was my turn to roll. The thick outer sleeve dropped off the record jacket, an inner plastic sleeve dropped from the shiny record and finally the needle dropped.
'Lambertland' was the New World we were looking for.
A band called, 'Tasavallan Presidentti' from Finland of all places. Prog rock, jazz, folk fusion with vocals in english that were nearly incomprehensible, which I always liked.
The guitarist, Jukka Tolonen ripped. A Wa-wa user I could tell influenced by Frank Zappa, had a presto plectrum style that still sounds fresh to me.

At Aaron's Records in L.A. thirty years later, I saw Dana (who used to work at Moby Disc)
stocking the 'Progressive' bins and leaning on his cane.
"Anything new?'' I asked, weeding through their import section.
'New', usually meant, 'Did ya order any ol' prog shit that I don't have the vinyl to anymore 'cause of a past apartment flooding?'
Dana pointed with his cane to the T's.
Tasavallan's 'Milky Way Moses' parted the sea of CD's.

 On re-listening, I'm reunited with friends, good memories and wonderin' if Santoro's still there.

Come fry with me...

I knew nothing of the Japanese music scene 'til I heard ' The Sadistic Mika Band' on Guy Guden's 'Space Pirate Radio' show. His Sunday into Monday morning shows (midnight to 6) during the Seventies introduced me to contemporary music from around the globe... a welcoming venture from America's 70's rock-pop stalemate.
Learning of new music for me was like a sports fanatic knowing a player's stats and team trades,  I'd retain their foreign names and future collaborations.
Kazuhiko Kato and wife (Sadistic) Mika introduced me to drummer Yukihiro Takahashi, who later formed 'Yellow Magic Orchestra' with Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto, a techno band with a sense of style and humor beyond.
Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose film scores and collaborations (from Iggy Pop to David Sylvian) were well worth following.

Moving from 'Dawn, Day, Sunset to Night', Sakamoto's piano and electronics of
'Comica' is a new ambient favorite of mine.

'76 LIVE!

It was 1976, the bicentennial year for America, my phone # at the time was 976-7676 by coincidence.
I couldn't hear the phone ring or the neighbor kids' firecrackers that 4th, I was listening to '801 Live' as live as it could be.

Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera (Ol' Roxy Music mates), along with an incredible crew of friends in '76 put out this gem.
Manzanera's 'Lagrima' guitar echoes and feeds into a cover of The Beatles, 'TNK' (Tomorrow Never Knows)...
it still rings in my ears as one of the best live recordings and versions ever... sorry I missed the call.