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BIG LOST RAINBOW

Prog Folk • United States


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Big Lost Rainbow biography
BIG LOST RAINBOW was an progressive folk group founded from Pomfret, Connecticut and which was active during the early 70's. The members that consisted of Ridley PEARSON, the main songwriter and singer, Robin PFOUTZ, Adam BERENSON, Otis READ, Tony MORSE and J.P. BAILHE made up the basic line-up which originated from jam sessions at a local school which they attended around 1970. At some point they were joined by Steve PATT and Charlie READ helping with more guitars and backing vocals; the group composed music without drums in mind though. In 1971 the group started playing publicly and recorded a demo in Los Angeles but postponed the band endeavors because of educational obligations. In 1973 the group gathered again in Cape Cod and recorded another demo which eventually become wanted enough to warrant a private pressing and resulted in their only recorded album. For next two years the band toured New England and supported similar folk and bluegrass artists but didn't find enough label interest to continue on.

The band did reunite for a short while in 1992 which created some recordings that would eventually end up on a re-release in 1998 and on samplers of psychedelic music. The members as a whole didn't seem to work in other similar rock bands endeavor besides production and arrangement throughout the years, though the songwriter Ridley PEARSON became an accomplished novelist and was in a rock and roll band of published writers called ROCK BOTTOM REMAINDERS which featured the likes of Matt GROENING and Stephen KING.

Bio written by George (Historian 9)

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3.50 | 8 ratings
Big Lost rainbow
1973

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BIG LOST RAINBOW Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Big Lost rainbow by BIG LOST RAINBOW album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.50 | 8 ratings

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Big Lost rainbow
Big Lost Rainbow Prog Folk

Review by BigDaddyAEL1964

2 stars Not prog, not great, I don't see where the 4 stars come from. Here is my track-by-track opinion:

Sail: A sweet folk rock song with just a pinch of prog elements to make it more interesting. Nothing special.

I Go Alone: A heartwarming folk ballad with beautiful flute parts, it reminds me of Jethro Tull songs like "We Used to Know", but acoustic. Not prog, but very nice music!

Lady Love: Another ballad, in a style which reminds me of Peter Hammil. Still not many prog elements in this album, but the melodies are wonderful!

Brothers of The Future: A soft folk song reminding me of Simon and Garfunkel. Rather irrelevant for my ears.

Ocean: If Jethro Tull and Peter Hammil ever collaborated, the result would probably sound close to that; I don't think this would be their best song, though.

Oh! Idaho: Folk influenced by the feelgood style of the Beatles, a short uplifting song with nothing significant.

It's Over Now: Another acoustic ballad, but I feel like I've listened to songs like that a thousand times.

Morning Sunshine: Right out of the CSN&Y book, a simple, happy song.

Lady of Music: Ohhh, that's why the album is labeled as prog! This is a 13-minutes Jazz piece, where each instrument plays solos, one after the other, while bass keeps the tempo. I never got the point of pieces like that; I don't know who else has fun listening to them besides the band members themselves. This piece is not so boring because the members of the band play various instruments, so it's not overly repetitive. 3 minutes before the end, they also decide to sing for a minute or so, and then the flutist plays solo again. Meh?

Rating: I don't get the supposed greatness of that album. To my ears, it's a good folk rock album, and nothing more. It's also not prog, only "Lady of Music" is prog-ish, but that's how every single jazz piece I have ever listened to sounds like, at least structure-wise. 2 stars.

 Big Lost rainbow by BIG LOST RAINBOW album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.50 | 8 ratings

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Big Lost rainbow
Big Lost Rainbow Prog Folk

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

4 stars -- First review for this album, or artist altogether --

This is the sole release by the obscure folk rock band from Pomfret, Connecticut, that was active during the first half of the seventies. I'm listening the music from YouTube and wish to share my highly positive impressions. The basic line- up originated from jam sessions at a local school. The demo recorded in 1973 became, with some additional recordings, their privately pressed album, initially of 200 copies only. The main singer-songwriter Ridley Pearson plays guitar, piano and tenor saxophone; the other members are Otis Read (guitars, piano, harmonica, vocals), Tony Morse (flute, guitar, vibraphone, vocals), Robin Pfoutz (cello), Adam Berenson (piano), and J.P. Bailhe (bass). Two further guys appear on the album on backing vocals and pedal steel guitar, but indeed there are no drums involved.

The sound is elegantly mellow and light, highlighting the acoustic guitars, piano, flute and bass, and the cello is also fairly constantly involved. The sonic quality is surprisingly good considering the demo origins. The vocals and vocal harmonies make me think of artists such as CROSBY, STILLS & NASH and AMERICA, especially on the opening song 'Sail'. There's also a slight resemblance with the soft voice of Tom Rapp whose PA-included band PEARLS BEFORE SWINE is a good musical reference. 'I Go Alone' is a calm, slow tempo song with a beautiful introspective atmosphere. Both the flute and the cello are well heard, and the acoustic guitar and piano are played with an equally delicate touch.

Piano dominates the melancholic 'Lady Love'. The very slow 'Ocean' with plenty of flute has almost a meditative mood. 'Oh! Idaho' and 'Morning Sunshine' are more uplifting songs with CSN-style vocal harmonies and lots of flute. However, most of the songs are calm, slow and introspective. The 13-minute final piece 'Lady of Music' is the progressive highlight and undoubtedly the crucial reason for the artist inclusion in ProgArchives. It features the tenor saxophone, which is hardly played at all elsewhere on the album. The jazzy piece has a jamming nature and proceeds mostly as an instrumental, with various instruments soloing in turns. This one reminds me of the British one-timer TONTON MACOUTE (1971).

The compositions are so good it's a surprise that Ridley Pearson (b. 1953) actually became a productive novelist, writing suspense for adults and adventure books for children. Between 1992 -- 2015 he has also collaborated with other succesful writers such as Stephen King and Matt Groening in a charity band called Rock Bottom Remainders. Big Lost Rainbow reunited in the nineties, and this charming album saw a CD re-release in 1998.

Thanks to sean trane for the artist addition.

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