The Freak Scene "Psychedelic Psoul" 1967*** & Devil's Anvil "Hard Rock from the Middle East" 1967****

Strange idea, to couple two unconnected bands in one CD, but why complain if you get two rare psychedelic albums for the price of one? And it's not as if the compilers have put together Mozart and Lady Gaga. These two albums have many similarities: both were recorded in New York in 1967, both display a tendency for experimentation and utilize "exotic" influences and instruments and, finally, both bands' career was very short. In the case of Freak Scene, in particular, the band never even existed in the first place. I don't know who these guys are on the cover (inside the eye), but the album was created in the studio by producer Rusty Evans. Not an uncommon practice in the mid-60's, as there were tons of producers churning out psychsploitation albums, trying to cash in on the latest youth craze. Evans, though, had a head start on them. Although I doubt he'd even taken a hit of LSD, he pioneered the use of studio effects to recreate the lysergic effect in music. He started as early as 1966 with The Deep and "Psychedelic Moods", one of the first albums to feature the word "psychedelic" in its title. With "Psychedelic Psoul" he added a strong world music element, as The Beatles had recently popularized Indian music by experimenting with the use of sitar in "Revolver". His weakest point was the lyrics, a really embarrassing attempt to tap in 60's counterculture by blending silly pseudo-surrealistic "poetry" and ridiculous "revolutionary" sloganeering. He opens his album with a bang, though: "A Million Grains of Sand" is a garage/psych monster on a par with the best Electric Prunes singles. The same combination of exotic percussion, fuzz guitar and tape effects is employed for tracks like the psych/pop "Behind the Mind" and folk/psych (think Buffalo Springfield, only weirder) "The Center of My Soul". "Mind Bender" is another garage rocker, with a fast military beat, surf guitars and a female voice singing an oriental melody on the background while the lead singer keeps reciting nonsensical stream-of-consciousness lyrics. "Watered Down Soul" would be a typical psych rocker, if the oriental surf licks weren't drowned by bubbling liquid noises. "Red Roses Will Weep" is an ominous baroque ballad while "My Rainbow Life" is the best of the raga-like tracks. Not sure why, but it reminds me of Floyd's "Set the Controls...". Other tracks with a strong Indian influence include  the slow and stoned "Rose of Smiling Faces" and the instrumental "Grok!" while "When In Course Of Human Events" (Draft Beer, Not Students) and "The Subway Ride Thru Inner Space" feature spoken word over an insistent percussive beat. All in all, an interesting slice of "experimental" psychedelic rock. Even all the silliness has some period charm when you're sufficiently detached chronologically.

***** for A Million Grains of Sand

**** for My Rainbow Life, Mind Bender

*** for Rose of Smiling Faces,Behind the Mind, The Subway Ride Thru Inner Space, Butterfly Dream, The Center of My Soul,Watered Down Soul, Red Roses Will Weep 

** for When In Course Of Human Events/Draft Beer, Not Students, Grok!

If for Rusty Evans the world music elements were a concession to a passing fad, for Devil's Anvil they were the very basis of their sound. Instead of a rock album employing oriental melodies and instruments for a bit of exotic flavour, it's actually oriental folk played with a rock sensibility. The majority of the musicians were of Middle-Eastern origin and quite proficient at their instruments. These were Jerry Satpir on lead guitar and vocals, Elierzer Adoram on accordion, and Kareem Issaq on oud and vocals. They played the ethnic clubs of New York and even sang in various languages. For example, they sing two songs (competently) in Greek, obviously part of their repertory because of the large Greek community of New York. The other members of the group, who'd soon join hard rockers Mountain, were Steve Knight (guitar, bass, bouzouki) and Felix Pappalardi (production, percussion, bass, and lead vocals on "Misirlou"). Most of the songs are based on traditional melodies and sung in Arabic. That fact alone would be enough to dissuade DJ's from playing their record, but Devil's Anvil were unlucky enough to release their record just as the Arab-Israeli conflict escalated into a full-blown war. Under the circumstances, nobody would go near an album featuring an Arab dressed in full desert attire on the cover. Opener "Wala Dai" may be a traditional Arab tune, but it does justify the hard rock of the album title with its relentless tempo, fuzzed-out surf guitar, rockin' drums and farfisa organ. Two more tracks ("Karkadon" and the Turkish traditional tune "Shisheler") take the middle road between Anatolian folk and contemporary garage/psych, while "Besaha" and "Selim Alai" are sped-up, fuzzed-out bellydance music."Teyul Leili" is acoustic dreamy psychedelia. "Nahna Ou Diab", "Isme" and "Hala Laya" are closer to world music and probably of less interest to rock fans. What impressed me here is the authenticity of them - unlike George Harrison whom you could never mistake for an Indian sitar player. these guys really know their instruments and how they're supposed to sound. Above all the singer manages to convey emotion the right way - on "Isme" he reminds me of the celebrated Greek Anatolian singer Kazantzidis and, despite his flawed accent, he manages to pull off "Kley" - maybe not that difficult a song on a technical level, but when you sing lyrics like "my mother weeps upon the grave" you'd better be able to convey pain convincingly. He's equally good in the other Greek song "Treea Pethya", a jaunty tune sure to get people dancing in any Greek village wedding. Kudos also to Steve Knight for his bouzouki playing - I can't imagine he's had that much practice but his playing here is quite good. The last of the Greek tunes is "Misirlou", already famous from Dick Dale's surf version and sung here in English by Papalardi. The tempo is, of course, slower although still not as slow as the original. It's a very good version, perfectly balancing between rock and traditional folk with alternating bouzouki and electric guitar solos. Unfortunately Devil's Anvil fail to  maintain that balance throughout all of the album, as the ethnic element mostly gets the upper hand - a pity, as the rockier tracks are really the most interesting here. I don't see many world music fans getting worked up by their versions of traditional material - well played yes, but still not "authentic" enough for their taste...

**** for Wala Dai, Karkadon, Shisheler, Misirlou, Teyul Leili

*** for Nahna Ou Diabtrad, Selim Alaie, Besaha, Kley, Treea Pethya

** for Isme, Hala Laya