Zerfas for Crossover? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Full bio and extensive review here: http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/ZERFAS.htm from which this is taken:

"Brothers Dave and Herman Zerfas started their professional recording career as members of the Indiana-based band Jubal. By 1973 the band had morphed into Zerfas, in the process recording an album that I'd easily categorize as a true lost classic. Released by Moe Whittemore, Jr.'s 700 West label, 1973's "Zerfas" stood as one of those rarities - an album that came close to living up to the collector hype surrounding it and probably one of a handful of albums that I'd consider paying the asking price in order to own an original copy. Produced by Whittemore, Jr. with four of the five members contributing material, the album's gained a Beatlesque reputation over the years. That's normally a mixed blessing and while not entirely accurate in this case, the Zefras brothers had clearly listened to their share of mid and late-era Fab Four. The album's also regularly slapped with a psych label which I find somewhat misleading. I've listened to the album dozens of times over the years and while 'The Piper' is psychedelic and there are occasional psych studio effects including the opener 'You Never Win' which started with an interesting bit of backward tape manipulation before kicking into the tuneful organ propelled garage rocker, the bulk of the set has always struck me as being surprisingly commercial. So what were the highlights? Six of the eight tracks were exceptionally good. With a dazzling fuzz guitar and inspired lead vocal from bassist Mark Tribby (who was supposedly reluctant to sing lead) 'The Sweetest Part' demonstrated the band were equally comfortable working in a country-rock arena. Apparently written during their Jabul days, 'I Don't Understand' started out with a slice of studio insanity before switching over to a pretty, if stark Badfinger/Emmitt Rhodes/McCartney-styled ballad. The song was also worth hearing for what may have been the album's best guitar solo. With a killer melody, glistening group harmonies and a touch of studio experimentation (I've always loved the way the cheesy synthesizer snuck in) the side one closer 'I Need It Higher' found the band taking a stab at a more commercial sound. You had to scratch your head and wonder how this one wasn't a major radio hit. Best of all was 'The Piper' which actually managed to mix pop, rock, psych, and progressive moves into a wonderful slice of music. That left one track up in the air (the experimental 'Fool's Parade' - complete with 'mushroom soup' belches) and two tracks that were marginal - 'Stoney Wellitz' which sported a bouncy melody, but was plagued by a cheesy synthesizer and an irritatingly whiny lead vocal. Complete with ocean waves sound effects, 'Hope' was a mid-tempo piece that simply didn't make much of an impression on me one way or the other. Those minor criticisms apart, as I said earlier, a lost treasure and one of the few LPs I'd even think about awarding 5 stars on my lame grading scale.

The album's been reissued a couple of times. In 1999 the European Atlas label released a bootleg copy of the LP (Atlas catalog number 730 710 16). In 2004 Radioactive reissued the album in vinyl (Radioactive catalog RRLP050) and CD formats (catalog RRCD050). From a technical standpoint the Radioactive reissues are of mediocre quality. If you can't afford an original (hard to believe you don't have $400 - $500 lying around for something like this), the one to buy is Stan Denski's 1994 Or release. A legitimate, band approved project, 500 copies were pressing, though reportedly about a third were defective. The reissue carried the 700 West logo and was virtually identical to the original except for a 1994 copyright date and the fact it came with a bonus poster (designed by Denski), a promo photo and a third insert that provided information on the band."

Even more info here (full info on each song): http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html

with lots more about the band here: http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html?addendum=1

and here: http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html?addendum=2

Edited by yam yam - October 13 2012 at 10:33

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Sheavy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 28 2010 Location: Alabama Status: Online Points: 2855	Topic: Zerfas for Crossover? Posted: October 13 2012 at 01:57
	Zerfas were a one shot band started by brothers David and Herman Zerfas, from Indianapolis. Indiana. Their sole album was released in 1973.


yam yam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Offline Points: 5820	Posted: October 13 2012 at 10:25
	Full bio and extensive review here: http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/ZERFAS.htm from which this is taken: "Brothers Dave and Herman Zerfas started their professional recording career as members of the Indiana-based band Jubal. By 1973 the band had morphed into Zerfas, in the process recording an album that I'd easily categorize as a true lost classic. Released by Moe Whittemore, Jr.'s 700 West label, 1973's "Zerfas" stood as one of those rarities - an album that came close to living up to the collector hype surrounding it and probably one of a handful of albums that I'd consider paying the asking price in order to own an original copy. Produced by Whittemore, Jr. with four of the five members contributing material, the album's gained a Beatlesque reputation over the years. That's normally a mixed blessing and while not entirely accurate in this case, the Zefras brothers had clearly listened to their share of mid and late-era Fab Four. The album's also regularly slapped with a psych label which I find somewhat misleading. I've listened to the album dozens of times over the years and while 'The Piper' is psychedelic and there are occasional psych studio effects including the opener 'You Never Win' which started with an interesting bit of backward tape manipulation before kicking into the tuneful organ propelled garage rocker, the bulk of the set has always struck me as being surprisingly commercial. So what were the highlights? Six of the eight tracks were exceptionally good. With a dazzling fuzz guitar and inspired lead vocal from bassist Mark Tribby (who was supposedly reluctant to sing lead) 'The Sweetest Part' demonstrated the band were equally comfortable working in a country-rock arena. Apparently written during their Jabul days, 'I Don't Understand' started out with a slice of studio insanity before switching over to a pretty, if stark Badfinger/Emmitt Rhodes/McCartney-styled ballad. The song was also worth hearing for what may have been the album's best guitar solo. With a killer melody, glistening group harmonies and a touch of studio experimentation (I've always loved the way the cheesy synthesizer snuck in) the side one closer 'I Need It Higher' found the band taking a stab at a more commercial sound. You had to scratch your head and wonder how this one wasn't a major radio hit. Best of all was 'The Piper' which actually managed to mix pop, rock, psych, and progressive moves into a wonderful slice of music. That left one track up in the air (the experimental 'Fool's Parade' - complete with 'mushroom soup' belches) and two tracks that were marginal - 'Stoney Wellitz' which sported a bouncy melody, but was plagued by a cheesy synthesizer and an irritatingly whiny lead vocal. Complete with ocean waves sound effects, 'Hope' was a mid-tempo piece that simply didn't make much of an impression on me one way or the other. Those minor criticisms apart, as I said earlier, a lost treasure and one of the few LPs I'd even think about awarding 5 stars on my lame grading scale. The album's been reissued a couple of times. In 1999 the European Atlas label released a bootleg copy of the LP (Atlas catalog number 730 710 16). In 2004 Radioactive reissued the album in vinyl (Radioactive catalog RRLP050) and CD formats (catalog RRCD050). From a technical standpoint the Radioactive reissues are of mediocre quality. If you can't afford an original (hard to believe you don't have $400 - $500 lying around for something like this), the one to buy is Stan Denski's 1994 Or release. A legitimate, band approved project, 500 copies were pressing, though reportedly about a third were defective. The reissue carried the 700 West logo and was virtually identical to the original except for a 1994 copyright date and the fact it came with a bonus poster (designed by Denski), a promo photo and a third insert that provided information on the band." Even more info here (full info on each song): http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html with lots more about the band here: http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html?addendum=1 and here: http://www.700west.com/htdb/releases/Zerfas-Zerfas.html?addendum=2 Edited by yam yam - October 13 2012 at 10:33

yam yam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Offline Points: 5820	Posted: January 29 2013 at 02:39
	Received p.m.from Alex about this suggestion (to be honest I had completely forgotten about it). They were originally suggested in the Psych team thread in August 2009. After some discussion, it was described there by one collab as "not prog music - even not prog-related - holding some psychedelia - but sounding more like popular beat music though with some Beatles hints - not bad but not prog ...". The progfreak link for the evaluation is: http://progfreak.com/Zerfas-101559.html?path=pa/recent There was also some discussion as to whether the band might fit into Proto-Prog (conclusion was 'no'). There are several reviews on the net which suggest that this music has prog overtones in parts, so let's see where we go with it...Added to Crossover chart.

Windhawk Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 28 2006 Location: Norway Status: Offline Points: 11400	Posted: April 21 2013 at 03:38
	added
	Websites I work with: http://www.progressor.net http://www.houseofprog.com My profile on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/haukevind/