Psychedelicatessen

  1968: The Gun - Gun - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxf3X2Xi9rcLFuVbmaO8vr2NNYeA1sB-u

  1969: The Gun - Gun Sight - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRnSEL3D2jw

You're very lucky indeed if you're the proud owner of the original vinyl Gun album, and what better way to open the album than with "Race with the Devil". It's a devilishly good song featuring a killer riff which is arguably one of the best-known speed riffs in the world of Rock. There's no mistaking the dual guitar blitzkrieg of the Gurvitz brothers on "Race with the Devil" and the song also features some marvellously over-the-top manic vocals. It's one of those timeless Rock classics: once heard, never forgotten. The sonic power and speed of the music hits the listener straight between the eyes when combined with the stunning simplicity of the lyrics:- "You better run from the devil's gun, He'll seek you here, He'll seek you there, The devil will seek you everywhere" ...... "Race with the Devil" was a hit song here, there and virtually everywhere. Jimi Hendrix paid tribute to it on his song "Machine Gun" at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, and it was later famously covered by Heavy Metal band Girlschool on their 1980 "Demolition" debut. Now that we're all fired up from the storming opener, it's time for "The Sad Saga of the Boy and the Bee". You can put the Kleenex tissues away though, because this is a tremendously uplifting song and not remotely sad at all. It's a psychedelic phantasmagorical delight, featuring a grand orchestral opening, the familiar thunderous sound of the Gurvitz brothers twin blitzing guitar attacks, and not forgetting drummer Louie Farrell pounding away ferociously in the background at a frenzied pace. This magnificent epic even includes a wild and demonic version of Rimsky- Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" for good measure too. Our third piece of music "Rupert's Travels" takes us on a brief semi-classical instrumental journey of flamenco guitars and full orchestra, which has obvious parallels with Mason Williams "Classical Gas", released in the same flower-power year of 1968. If your eardrums haven't yet been pounded into submission, then try "Yellow Cab Man". Get ready to be taken on a wild psychedelic taxi ride from hell with blood-crazed psychopath Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), in a song that's all about a Taxi Driver struggling to make a living in the Mean Streets of The Big Apple (circa 1968). "You talking to me!??" ...... "Yellow Cab Man" murderously rampages its way through a Purple Haze of four unrelenting minutes of freaky acid guitar licks and pummelling percussion. The music is just as wild and fuzzy as the Gurvitz brothers frizzy 1960's afro-hairdos. Having blazed a trail through four romping, stomping songs, we now arrive at one of the most bizarre songs on the album: "It Won't Be Long (Heartbeat)". This song is as barmy as an army of weirdy-beardy vegetarians working at a meat-packing plant. The song opens to a cacophony of discordant sounds before emerging into a typical plodding blues riff, sounding like the heartbeat of the title. It's the echoing off-kilter vocals which really sets this freaky song apart though, and listen out for the very strange ending when the "heartbeat" slows..right...down....to.....a......crawl.......and........then.........comes..........to..........a...........complete............Stop.

The Gurvitz power trio are gunning for glory with the opening number on Side Two, so Pop the champagne cork and get ready to celebrate with the Beatle-esque sound of "Sunshine" - a warm and radiant burst of glorious Sunshine Pop. This bright and bubbly fizzy Pop concoction is overflowing with triumphant hope and optimism, and features a rousing chorus that's positively bursting with joy and love:- "Sun shines brightly every day, Let it shine, Let it shine." ..... It's a song which inevitably brings to mind the equally joyous sound of "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. It's Poptastic! We're entering moody and magnificent territory now with the stupendous sound of "Rat Race" - a celestial song which has all of the anthemic majesty and splendour of "Nights in White Satin", complete with lush strings and heavenly harmonies to die for. It's an epic ballad which proudly displays its pompous prog colours in a richly orchestrated symphonic soundscape. And now for something completely different as we arrive at the eighth and final song on the album: "Take Off!" This is where Gun really get to fly high and trip the light fantastic by throwing caution to the wind in an 11-minute long psychedelic freak out. The storming closing number is a booming and bombastic show of force where the band are going out with all guns blazing in this supersonic blast from the past.

Gun's stunning debut has all the unstoppable power and force of Dirty Harry's Smith & Wesson fifty calibre Magnum revolver. Gun is one of the highest rated albums on ProgArchives, and deservedly so too. The album comes pre-loaded with eight high calibre, full metal jacketed songs, with extra ammo provided on the CD reissue. Go out and buy the album from your local Gun dealer. It'll make your day!

  1970: The Ghost - When You're Dead - One Second - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kxKT6ZtYAcRCxj0aV-A0jiTku8Kljj4L8

Right from the first few opening bars of "When You're Dead", you can tell we're going to be in for a weird and wonderful wild psychedelic ride here. This acid-drenched music is very reminiscent of the American band H.P. Lovecraft. In fact, The Ghost have such a strong resemblance to the American West Coast sixties sound that it's hard to believe they could be from the gloomy backstreets of Birmingham in England. This "phantasmic" bunch of Brummies really know how to Rock! The Ghost are listed as Prog Folk on ProgArchives, but make no mistake, this opening number sounds like a wild Psychedelic Rock trip back in time to the flower-power freeway of love in San Francisco in the swinging sixties. In complete contrast, the second song "Hearts and Flowers" is a gorgeous Folk Pop refrain that could quite easily have been recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary or The Seekers. It's a truly beautiful melody floating along on a gentle wave of gorgeous guitar strings and uplifting harmonies. This stunning song - featuring Shirley Kent on lead vocals - is a real gem that shines like a sparkling diamond and would have had tremendous hit potential if it had ever been released as a single. We're back on the magic bus again for "In Heaven", and if you love the sound of H.P. Lovecraft, then you'll be "In Heaven" too when you hear this absolutely fabulous psychedelic sixties song. It's groovy, baby! There's a return to gentler Folk Rock territory for "Time is My Enemy", a poignant song about the passing of the years which conjures up fond memories of the classic years of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention, although this is more of an unconventional slice of Psych-Folk. Shirley Kent sounds in magnificent voice on this hauntingly- beautiful song. It's a compelling blend of Sandy Denny's "Fotheringay" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes", given a liberal psychedelic sprinkling of glowing rainbow colours. This is turning out to be a very good album indeed! Continuing with the intoxicating blend of storming Hard Rock songs and gentle Folk Rock refrains comes "Too Late To Cry", a rousing rip-roaring rocker, featuring an extended psychedelic wah-wah guitar trip back to the Streets of San Francisco in the hippy sixties, or the wild and untamed streets of Chicago in the case of H.P. Lovecraft.

We're onto Side Two now "For One Second", which opens as a gently laid-back country-tinged melody, but wait one second because there's a surprise in store when the song metamorphosises from a caterpillar into a bright and beautiful psychedelic butterfly for the storming crescendo of acid-soaked guitar reverb in the fabulous finale. And now we come to The Ghost's magnificent magnum opus, "Night of the Warlock", a spirited Demons and Wizards song that barrels along at pell-mell speed, taking the listener on a crazy helter-skelter ride in a headlong rush towards psychedelic nirvana. This is like a maniacal harum scarum version of "Season of the Witch", wound up to 99 and given an energetic burst of adrenalin and raw power. We're off to meet the "Indian Maid" next, so you can expect to hear some exotic far-eastern vibes from the Indian sub-continent, although the song is still firmly rooted in western psychedelia. Either way, it's another great song wherever you are in the world. It's time now to mount the battlements for "My Castle Has Fallen", a storming medieval ballista firing a relentless percussive artillery barrage of pummelling Psychedelic Rock! There's no let-up in the incredible pace either because "The Storm" is on the way, a thunder and lightning display of sonic energy to rattle the windows and light up the sky. It's not all Crash! Bang! Wallop! though, because there's a return to gentler climes for "Me and My Loved Ones", a bright rainbow sunburst of groovy psychedelic colours to close the album in magnificent style. Wait a minute though, we're not quite through yet, because there's the groovy sixties number "I've Got To Get To Know You" added as a bonus track.

The Ghost has risen from the grave of the psychedelic sixties era and reappeared as an awesome apparition fifty years later on ProgArchives. "When You're Dead - One Second" is an album full of haunting Folk refrains and spirited psychedelic acid trips. All in all, it's a heavenly album full of devilishly good songs.