SOUNDTRACK

Basically, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre were a group of somewhat talented and highly ambitious college students at the end of the sixties who decided that putting out a cultural newsletter in their Exeter University setting was a noble and worthy undertaking. Then they all got stoned, played some tunes, and quickly decided that making music was more interesting than going to school altogether. So they dropped out and formed a band (of sorts), moved into a communal farmhouse, and went on the road with a multi-disciplined stage show that consisted of poetry reading, light shows, interpretive dance, skit acting wearing gaudy and colorful costumes, and of course – music. Early on the group met with some good fortune in attracting the ear of John Peel, who proceeded to provide moral and some financial support, as well as produced their first album and appears to have been largely responsible for the band getting billing alongside a very impressive group of acts during their few years of touring, including T. Rex, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Caravan, Yes, King Crimson, John Mayall, Fleetwod Mac, Led Zeppelin, the Who, David Bowie, Manfred Mann, Supertramp and many others. A later version of the group would tour for a couple of years under management of Miles Copeland, who later performed the same role for the Police. A genuine fairy tale story.

The music on their first album has the unmistakable feel of a stage show as opposed to the more traditional sound of a modern rock band. Elaborate percussion and sound effects, spoken word passages, and sweeping woodwind passages, and the grandiloquent lyrical tales that seemed to abound in art music of this period are present throughout ‘Soundtrack’ (which is not really a soundtrack, but that’s a minor point here). The group is much bigger than it appears on the album cover – if you flip the gatefold open another eight players appear on the backside.

The band also had the distinction of debuting a young Vivienne McAuliffe on vocals. Ms. McAuliffe’s singing has been compared to a hip Julie Andrews, and I can certainly hear where this would be a valid comparison. McAuliffe would go on to a lengthy career, appearing with the art rock bands Affinty and Aviator, as well as on a couple of Patrick Moraz solo albums and on Gerry Rafferty’s seminal seventies synth-rock massive hit album ‘City to City’, along with her work as a solo jazz vocalist before passing away in 1998.

The tracks here are typical latter sixties stuff lyrically, with a combination of folk-tale and theatrical themes, unabashed pretentiousness, and a real hodge-podge of musical styles wound together without a whole lot of attention to disciplined arrangement or aural flow. And I mean that in a good way, since that sort of unrestrained creativity is sadly in short supply in today’s music business.

The highlight of the album is the thirteen-minute “Death of Don Quixote”, a decidedly folk mini-epic performed as a play of sorts, telling a bastardized version of the long Cervantes tale with a few ‘modern’ twists along with gentle piano, mandolin and recorder accompaniment.

In true sixties fashion there’s also a short ode “To a Broken Guitar”, appropriately presented in the form of a vocal/guitar arrangement where the guitar appears to be a bit out-of-tune; and the quirky “Sacrifice” which starts off with a Black Sabbath- like guitar intro but quickly morphs into a heavy psych number. The closing “Pinky - A Mistery Cycle” is another play-cum-song, but on this one there appears some of the best guitar work to be found on any of the band’s albums. This is another psych-folk number and is predominately instrumental.

The history of this band is probably more interesting in their music, which in fact is pretty dated (not surprising since this was recorded nearly forty years ago). They could be compared to bands like Beggars Opera or maybe Fairport Convention circa ‘Liege & Lief’, although Vivienne McAuliffe’s vocals do stand out as the most distinctive talent in the lineup. I can’t say this is a masterpiece or anything, but it is a very good recording for the period, and one that would likely appeal to many folk fans. So three stars are warranted, and a recommendation mostly for prog folk fans and those who like to hear lightly psych-tinged music from the late sixties.

peace