PEARLS OF AMBER

Man, my eyes are burning from the pungent smoke emanating from this album even thirty-eight years after it was recorded. If you’re into heavy psyched-up sitar, grooving tabla, and vocals mildly reminiscent of Donovan (or maybe a coherent version of Spring’s Pat Moran), then this one is for you. Keith MacLeod, the original “Hurdy-Gurdy Man”, lays down some thick and herbal philosophy that recalls the finest days of post-Beatles George Harrison (from whom he borrowed the sitar played on this record), as well as faint resemblances to friends Donovan and the late Keith Relf (the Yardbirds). This stuff could have easily been worked into the riverboat scenes in Apocalypse Now.

Normally I don’t get into repetitive chanting of “red, blue, green and yellow” to the fingering thud of tabla and scorched-throat warbling; but this one has a certain charm to it. Possibly that’s because this is one of those recordings that sat in a vault somewhere for thirty years or so before Shagrat Records discovered it and released it on virgin vinyl. Gotta’ love that kind of respect for the classic age of psych music.

Not much to say about individual songs though, since they all sound about the same and all are prototypical Eastern-influenced psych of the highest order (pun intended). I will say it’s a bit disappointing the record only lasts about twenty-four minutes, but apparently that’s all MacLeod and bandmate Julian McAllister recorded back then. No outtakes, early recordings or anything like that; the boys simply borrowed Harrison’s sitar and jammed for a while, then walked away to other ventures. MacLeod ended up being a carpenter, and if I’m not mistaken McAllister did some regional gigs but never really hit big.

These are all short tunes, acoustic, and fairly simple and repetitive. The point seemed to be more about grooving the Eastern vibes than really making any kind of musical statement. On that point they succeeded. “Sing on the Sunlight” is the more interesting of the tracks here simply due to the crisp production quality and clarity of tempo. There are two versions of “Sea Shell Rock Me”, both quite trippy and not all that different from each other really. The closing “Earlie in the Morning” has a weirdly Appalachian feel to it, and pretty fair harmonized vocals. But that’s about it; like I said, nothing special but a decent representation of the times.

Two and a half stars really, rounded up to three only because of the late vinyl issue and tasteful artwork. Mildly recommended, but more for psych fans than folk ones.

peace