It’s unbelievable how after so many years it still is possible to make discoveries of an unpublished archive from the 60s, with acceptible sound quality, and with great musical quality. Strawberry Window surely had a strong sound and they also were a bunch of talented musicians (a great drummer, an important quality for convincing with jams, and great guitarists). Somehow they were just slightly ahead of things, while using rather twang guitars, they also used wild and freaky let’s say Hendrix like guitars, with peeping effects and such. They were just fantastic with long jams, pushing the full band forward to great moves, playing this amongst ballads and love songs, strong songs actually that stick with you, like the ballad wishing that the other one will break the girls’s heart so that she would return to him, and even one convincing primitive rock’n roller. A small minor point that for the first listen might pull a bit off I think was the live opener which is rather badly recorded, and even showing a great playing (fastly played drums, electric twang solos, harmony vocals) and not too long. After a second listen I thought this opener would have fitted perfectly well as a bonus track too, even after the other version of it with which the compilation closed. One of the other live tracks shows also rather distorted vocals but well recorded guitars, so that it actually feels quite well. A great one to check out ! (progressive.homestead.com)
U.S. 1967... Strawberry Window hailed from the San Francisco Bay Areas East Bay music scene in the mid 60's and were truly one of the "early birds" and innovators who made their own distinct brand of Rock-N-Roll. They played in a heavy-psychedelic-garage style, sounding somewhat reminiscent of the Jefferson Airplane, (early) Mad River, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Frumious Bandersnatch. These previously unreleased recordings have survived for the last four decades in a box on a shelf of a band member's closet! Meticulous care and detail has been taken to master these recordings with a fresh, open approach, while ensuring that the sound and integrity of the vintage songs remained intact. The amazing music of this guitar based quartet ranges from catchy electric folk tunes and "West Coast" garage rock to raw energetic acid jams lasting over 10 minutes. 65 minutes of intense, but melodic performances...16 page color booklet that will take you on a trip back to the halcyon days of the Summer of Love. In 1968 they switched guitar players added a girl singer, and changed their name to the Dandelion Wine.
link in comments
link
OdpowiedzUsuń