The Rising Sons "Rising Sons" 1965-66(rec)****

One might consider the Rising Sons as the first blues rock supergroup... except that they were formed the opposite way than how supergroups usually do: None of the members was famous before or during their time with the group, but they went on to become famous later: Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder as solo artists (they've released around 40 albums - each!), initial drummer Ed Cassidy played in psych rockers Spirit (along with his stepson, Randy California) and his replacement Kevin Kelley in The Byrds. According to the liner notes Cassidy can be heard in some of these tracks, but that's probably false as he left early in 1965. The band also included the (lesser known) Jesse Lee Kincaid (rhythm guitar & vocals) and Gary Marker (bass). They came together in 1964 when Cooder was only 17 years old and Mahal (née Fredericks) 22, fresh out of agricultural college. Both were students of traditional folk blues at a time when that genre was almost forgotten: black audiences were listening to R&B soul, white ones were about to discover the electric blues via the British invasion bands or "purists" like Eric Clapton and Paul Butterfield, but the downhome sound of the Delta was something that belonged in the Library of Congress. Cooder and Mahal, though, took those old Skip James and Sleepy John Estes songs and gave them life, playing constantly around L.A. They only released one 7' single (Candyman/The Devil's Got My Woman, 1965) but seem to have had a pretty big influence in what was later called the San Francisco sound (Grateful Dead, Quicksilver M.S., Charlatans etc) with their mix of electric and acoustic instruments, folk, blues and rock. Another aspect that was before of its time was the integrated nature of the band. Arthur Lee's Love and the Butterfield Blues Band would follow soon, but mixed race bands remained contentious till the late 60's. They recorded a bunch of songs that remained unreleased until 1992 - or almost: there were already some bootlegs around for a time. The source for this (by a label called Israphon, probably Israeli) CD must have been this vinyl bootleg, seeing as the the titles coincide (the songs were given different titles later). It found its way into my collection before the official release, also at a time before file sharing, so I can brag I've heard these songs before 99% of the rest of the world. 

Label logo for this (bootleg) reissue

Also, apparently the official release contains some contemporary overdubs by Taj Mahal, so the original raw recordings are still difficult to find. Now when I say raw, that doesn't mean that the performance of sound quality is sub par; these are not demos, it's a finished album produced in a real studio by the producer of The Byrds, Terry Melcher. It just stayed on the shelf for almost 3 decades. Rev. Gary Davis' "Candy Man" is a jaunty sped-up country rock tune, and Skip James' "Devil's Got My Woman" is notable for Cooder's superb slide guitar. Both songs are included  in two (quite similar) versions, apparently one of them is from the 7' single while the other comes from the aborted LP. Jesse Lee Kincaid has written a few tracks here, all quite good: "32-20" is a blues rocker with cool harmonica and electric guitar, "She Don't Love Me No More" sounds like a pop-fied Elmore James. The folky "Spanish Lace Blues" is reminiscent of Dylan, "Sunny Street" of Donovan, and "Sorry To Tell You" of The Beatles. Another pop song is The Monkeys' "Step Outside Your Mind" (AKA "Take A Giant Step") played here as garage blues. Taj Mahal would later record a slow acoustic blues version - similar to what he does here with "Corrina" and "2:10 Train". "Walking Down The Line" and "Down To Mexico" are jangly folk rock ala Byrds, "By And By" is a slow blues dominated by Cooder's slide guitar, while Estes' "Diving Duck Blues" and Howling Wolf's ''Got My .44" is the closer they get to electric Chicago Blues. Had the album been released in its time it might not have been a hit but it'd be considered a classic seeing as it moves slightly ahead of the times. Still very much worth discovering, a veritable "Buried Treasure" album in any time.

***** for Candyman, The Devil's Got My Woman, Step Outside Your Mind (AKA "Take A Giant Step")

**** for Diving Duck Blues, Untitled 1 (AKA Spanish Lace Blues), Got My .44, Sorry To Tell You (AKA Flying High), Down To Mexico (AKA Tulsa County), Untitled 2 (AKA 2:10 Train), She Don't Love Me No More, 32-20 (AKA I Got A Little), By And By, Sunny Street, Walking Down The Line, Candyman v.02, The Devils Got My Woman v.02, Corrina

*** for Sorry To Tell You (Reprise)