ULTIMATE SPINACH III

While Behold & See will never become a favorite of mine it does feature some incredible material and some iffy material as well (I could live without the harmonica bits and quasi-church choir like vocals). It's plain to see their third and final album is truly a letdown in every way. In fact at this point it's Ultimate Spinach in all but name only as it's a completely new lineup with only Barbara Hudson being the only original member and she doesn't even appear on all cuts. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan fame appears not that it really made much of a difference. I guess Jeff Lorber was still trying to milk the Boston scene for what it was worth. Anyways if you enjoyed their first two albums, forget it here. Psychedelia gone in favor of mediocre 1970s post- psychedelic rock (and it was 1969). I realize psychedelia was on the decline in 1969 and the Beatles and Stones had no trouble transitioning out of psych due to the massive success they had in the pre-psychedelic era so they knew how to successfully exit psychedelia. Too many bands associated with psych were hitting a brick wall by this point and does that show with this version of Ultimate Spinach. Forget those organs and fuzz guitars and hear that middling '70s rock done by too many undistinguished groups. Lucky for "Skunk" Baxter he would earn far greater success with Steely Dan and the Doobies (regardless how you might feel of their music). With Ultimate Spinach stick with their first two, it's all you need from them.