CULPEPER'S ORCHARD

On Culpeper's Orchard self-titled debut album they play a style of heavy psych-prog influenced by a mixture of the proto-prog sounds of the late 1960s and the West Coast folk-rock of the same time period. Gideon's Trap, for instance, sounds uncannily like a slightly harder-rockin' Procol Harum, whilst the brief piece Hey You People features vocal harmonies which put me in mind of a blend between the Moody Blues and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Bookended by the extended jams of Mountain Music, the album visits a range of styles over its running time, with occasional visits to folk and good old-fashioned rock and roll rooted in a psych-prog foundation. The group didn't make a whole lot of note after this, but in terms of artistic accomplishment they didn't really need to - this is a rare example of a "forgotten gem" which really is a gem.