BIG LOST RAINBOW

This is the sole release by the obscure folk rock band from Pomfret, Connecticut, that was active during the first half of the seventies. I'm listening the music from YouTube and wish to share my highly positive impressions. The basic line- up originated from jam sessions at a local school. The demo recorded in 1973 became, with some additional recordings, their privately pressed album, initially of 200 copies only. The main singer-songwriter Ridley Pearson plays guitar, piano and tenor saxophone; the other members are Otis Read (guitars, piano, harmonica, vocals), Tony Morse (flute, guitar, vibraphone, vocals), Robin Pfoutz (cello), Adam Berenson (piano), and J.P. Bailhe (bass). Two further guys appear on the album on backing vocals and pedal steel guitar, but indeed there are no drums involved.

The sound is elegantly mellow and light, highlighting the acoustic guitars, piano, flute and bass, and the cello is also fairly constantly involved. The sonic quality is surprisingly good considering the demo origins. The vocals and vocal harmonies make me think of artists such as CROSBY, STILLS & NASH and AMERICA, especially on the opening song 'Sail'. There's also a slight resemblance with the soft voice of Tom Rapp whose PA-included band PEARLS BEFORE SWINE is a good musical reference. 'I Go Alone' is a calm, slow tempo song with a beautiful introspective atmosphere. Both the flute and the cello are well heard, and the acoustic guitar and piano are played with an equally delicate touch.

Piano dominates the melancholic 'Lady Love'. The very slow 'Ocean' with plenty of flute has almost a meditative mood. 'Oh! Idaho' and 'Morning Sunshine' are more uplifting songs with CSN-style vocal harmonies and lots of flute. However, most of the songs are calm, slow and introspective. The 13-minute final piece 'Lady of Music' is the progressive highlight and undoubtedly the crucial reason for the artist inclusion in ProgArchives. It features the tenor saxophone, which is hardly played at all elsewhere on the album. The jazzy piece has a jamming nature and proceeds mostly as an instrumental, with various instruments soloing in turns. This one reminds me of the British one-timer TONTON MACOUTE (1971).

The compositions are so good it's a surprise that Ridley Pearson (b. 1953) actually became a productive novelist, writing suspense for adults and adventure books for children. Between 1992 -- 2015 he has also collaborated with other succesful writers such as Stephen King and Matt Groening in a charity band called Rock Bottom Remainders. Big Lost Rainbow reunited in the nineties, and this charming album saw a CD re-release in 1998.

Sail: A sweet folk rock song with just a pinch of prog elements to make it more interesting. Nothing special.

I Go Alone: A heartwarming folk ballad with beautiful flute parts, it reminds me of Jethro Tull songs like "We Used to Know", but acoustic. Not prog, but very nice music!

Lady Love: Another ballad, in a style which reminds me of Peter Hammil. Still not many prog elements in this album, but the melodies are wonderful!

Brothers of The Future: A soft folk song reminding me of Simon and Garfunkel. Rather irrelevant for my ears.

Ocean: If Jethro Tull and Peter Hammil ever collaborated, the result would probably sound close to that; I don't think this would be their best song, though.

Oh! Idaho: Folk influenced by the feelgood style of the Beatles, a short uplifting song with nothing significant.

It's Over Now: Another acoustic ballad, but I feel like I've listened to songs like that a thousand times.

Morning Sunshine: Right out of the CSN&Y book, a simple, happy song.

Lady of Music: Ohhh, that's why the album is labeled as prog! This is a 13-minutes Jazz piece, where each instrument plays solos, one after the other, while bass keeps the tempo. I never got the point of pieces like that; I don't know who else has fun listening to them besides the band members themselves. This piece is not so boring because the members of the band play various instruments, so it's not overly repetitive. 3 minutes before the end, they also decide to sing for a minute or so, and then the flutist plays solo again. Meh?

Rating: I don't get the supposed greatness of that album. To my ears, it's a good folk rock album, and nothing more. It's also not prog, only "Lady of Music" is prog-ish, but that's how every single jazz piece I have ever listened to sounds like, at least structure-wise. 2 stars.