LUCIFER RISING (OST)

4.5 stars. Hugues has explained the Bobby Beausoleil story well but a story as incredible as this is worth repeating. It begins in 1967 in San Fransisco where Bobby and his psychedelic chamber band THE ORKUSTRA were gaining some attention. David LaFlamme (violin) who would go on to play in IT'S A BEAUTIFL DAY was part of his band. Bobby was approached after a concert by avant-garde film maker Kenneth Anger who told him that he was making a movie called "Lucifer Rising" and he wanted Bobby to play Lucifer and to also do the soundtrack. Bobby agreed but he would soon get too caught up in his role in real life and his band had had enough and quit. He formed another band and they called themselves THE MAGICK POWERHOUSE OF OZ. The movie and the band name were inspired by Aleister Crowley. Anyway Bobby and Kenneth would have a falling out and Kenneth moved to London, England while Bobby headed south. He had a chance meeting with one Charles Manson who Bobby was attracted to because of the beautiful girls that hung around him, and also he liked the fact the biker gangs came and went from Manson's ranch. Meanwhile in England Kenneth got Jimmy Page from LED ZEPPELIN to committ to doing the soundtrack for his movie "Lucifer Rising" as Jimmy was a big Crowley fan. Back in California Bobby in an effort to impress the bikers sold them a large amount of mescaline. Unfortuntely the guy Bobby bought this off was a fraud and the drug turned out to be nothing but junk. The bikers demanded their money back. Meanwhile Bobby found the drug dealer and killed him. He was busted and at the first trial there was a hung jury. Unfortunately for Bobby in between trials the Helter Skelter murders by the Manson family occurred. Bobby was sentenced to life in prison, it is believed his association with Manson guaranteed him that.

Back to Kenneth in England and he's getting frustrated with Page for putting him off constantly in regards to the soundtrack. Bobby is serving his time in San Quentin Prison and he befriends Steve Kesler a fellow inmate and revolutionary. The Neo-Nazis feel threatened by him and put out a hit on him but Kesler and Bobby are tipped off and attack them first. Bobby receieved a broken jaw and cheekbone in the fracas but the Neo-Nazis got the worst of it. Bobby couldn't see out of one eye for a while and they transfered him to Tracy State Prison. In prison Bobby heard that "Lucifer Rising" was going to happen and he wanted to be a part of it. It was unfinished business as far as he was concerned. He had sent Kenneth a post card from jail telling Kenneth he still wanted to do this and Kenneth agreed and fired Page.

From there thanks to an understanding prison Warden and a small 3,000 dollar budget from Kenneth, Bobby now had the permission and means to do the soundtrack. The budget was small so Bobby learned electronics and basically built a studio in the prison from scratch. He built keyboards, special effects generators, guitars, bass and more. With the money he bought a PA system,microphones, a four track recorder, an open reel tape deck, a six channel mixer and a drum kit. He found an old trumpet in the gym. Eight inmates joined him and they called themselves THE FREEDOM ORCHESTRA.Included was a talented guitarist named Steve Grogan who was part of Manson's inner circle. It took 3 years to finish what with the prison riots and lockdowns along with his band members getting transfered or in trouble etc. We get to hear trumpet,drums,bass,two guitars, Fender Rhodes, electric keyboards and electronics. And the shocking thing is that overall this sounds amazing. Quite spacey and dark but with some variety as well. It's one long suite divided into six parts with the songs blending into one another. He did it ! There's a picture of him playing a self-made double neck guitar during a live concert they did of the "Lucifer Rising" compositions in prison in 1978. Lots of pictures and info in the liner notes. He would later get stabbed twice but survived and has since released another cd.

"Part 1" opens with spacey sounds that come in and echo then a guitar arrives in a powerful manner.Cymbals, drums follow just before 2 minutes as that heavy atmosphere continues. This is powerful and moving for me. "Part 2" features some mournful trumpet then this spacey and otherworldly atmosphere takes over. Emotion. A calm before 4 minutes then the guitar comes in. "Part 3" settles in at 2 1/2 minutes to a peaceful and uplifting sound. Liquid keys too.

"Part 4" is a short piece with loud sounding electronics. "Part 5" is the 15 1/2 minute epic. Drums and spacey sounds then the guitar comes in around a minute and it starts to rip it up. It turns spacey before 3 1/2 minutes.The guitar joins in after 5 minutes then drums after 7 minutes followed by trumpet a minute after that.The trippy sounds continue.The trumpet sounds amazing after 13 1/2 minutes to the end. "Part 6" is led by guitar and drums until they start to fade out at 5 1/2 minutes then waves of sound roll in and out. The guitar is back a minute later as it rebuilds.

Bobby would not stop here as he has since released another album, but that's a story for another day.