69

BABA SCHOLAE began in 1967 led by 20 year old Jean-Yves Labat de Rossi. A six piece out of France they really hit a lot of road blocks in their short careers. Getting the chance to open for TRAFFIC in London but having pretty much all their equipment stolen just prior to the show. Back to France they went demoralized and the band broke up, Then round two they get a chance to record their music in 1969 which they did but the money destined to pay for the pressing was stolen by one of the roadies. Again they disbanded and forgot about the three copies of the disc that were made. That was found after a move over 40 years later.

This archival release was made in 1969 but not released until 2012. I did spend a week with this back in 2017 and felt it was a solid album worth the 4 stars. I must say there are skeptics to this story. The sound quality is almost too good for that year and some just don't believe these discs suddenly showed up after all this time. The other thing is the man who started this band who I mentioned earlier Jean-Yves, he would move to the USA and be part of Todd Rundgren's band and he's on the "Utopia" record. Known as Mr. Frog at that point. He plays keyboards on here but is also playing sax and flute. The lead guitarist adds keyboards as well then we get a vocalist, bass player, drummer and a second guitarist who adds mellotron.

The music is varied but mostly psychedelic. Fifteen tracks over 46 1/2 minutes. "Just Like George" has Frank Zappa written all over it. Some hero worship here. "Song My(My Lai)" is the most powerful track with some aggressive guitar and vocals. "Song For A New Connection" is surprisingly jazzy although the opener had a jazzy section too. The closer is experimental and avant. Some folky and poppy tunes too. I really like "She's An Indian Minor" despite the title. Just a feel good vibe, I like the flute and bass. "White Bird" is another song that stands out for me. The opener is very good too and it's by far the longest track at over 8 1/2 minutes called "1984 -Melancolia Street".

I'm not blown away by this by any means but it's a good listen with excellent sound quality and worth the 4 stars.