WHEN YOU'RE DEAD - ONE SECOND

I’d like to say that this is one of those hidden gems from the early progressive music days that have finally surfaced on an off-label prog CD reissue. But that would be only half true. This is available on CD (Wahalla), but I can’t say this is a hidden masterpiece or anything. It is a decent enough album, but there’s not really anything to make it stand out from any number of other similar and just as forgotten bands from the same era.

The nucleus of The Ghost formed around former Velvet Fogg guitarist Paul Eastment, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shirley Kent who would go on to a solo career as a British folk and jazz singer. I have one of her solo jazz albums from just a few years ago and can testify that she is the real-deal as far as being a professional and talented musician.

But this is from the very early days. This is a pleasant album to listen to, but it is remarkably uneven, especially the first half of the tracks. “Hearts and Flowers” and “Time is My Enemy” have an almost Fairport Convention kind of thing going on for example, including the very dated but pleasant hippie-harmonizing vocals of Kent and Eastment. But “When You’re Dead” and “In Heaven” are fully developed and guitar- driven psychedelic works in the finest tradition of The United States of America, Jefferson Airplane, and all the rest of the west-coast flower-power kids. So it seems like the band is really trying to find a sound that works for them, rather than taking a sound and direction they already shared and trying to develop it. Just seems a bit contrived, which I suppose it was.

By the second half of the album the band settles into a very folk-influenced sound with farfisa organ, simple vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, and tambourine. I loved this kind of music back when I was a little kid, but it hasn’t aged all that well with time, much like many of the old earth-mom types from that era. Most of them are either dead, or feeble and slightly shell-shocked today. That was a fascinating time to be alive, but survival comes through adaptation, and this stuff didn’t survive for a reason. That said, “Indian Maid” has some nice psychedelic guitar on it (I believe this was also the band’s only single); “The Storm” is the best showcase of Kent’s very Grace Slick-like vocals; and “For One Second” showcases how well the farfisa could complement psychedelic guitar in the hands of capable musicians.

But that’s about it. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable stuff, and a couple tracks are just plain weak and boring. I won’t point out which ones because it would be disrespectful of the work as a whole and there’s no point. In all this is a little better than collectors-only, not quite really good. But three stars is okay, with a disclaimer that if you don’t have a taste for dated-sounding psychedelic and/or late 60’s west- coast American folk, you probably won’t like this one much.

peace

The most noticeable thing from this record is the omnipresence of psychedelic organ. The rock and hard rock dimensions are also really present, as reveal the numerous visceral electric guitar solos. The nervous lead & backing vocals are borderline hysterical, a typical characteristic of those early seventies. The male lead singer has a slightly irritating permanent tremolo in his voice. The female lead singer, Shirley Kent, amazingly sounds like Annie Lennox of Eurythmics. The tracks, despite some rhythm changes, are moderately progressive. The tracks are not really catchy and memorable, so that this record, although quite good, sounds a bit deja vu: maybe an addition of one or two less usual instruments would have created more originality. Nevertheless, this music is above average considering the release date: 1970.

Rating: 3.5 stars

THE GHOST were a five piece band out of Birmingham, England releasing this one album in 1970. We get male and female lead vocals but the male are more common. The female Shirley Kent would leave after this record and while the band tried to go on using a different name they ended up folding the tent. Shirley adds acoustic guitar and tambourine. The male lead singer is Paul Eastment who also plays lead guitar and what a talented guitar player he is.

It's important to note that Paul is the cousin of Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH fame who also were from Birmingham, England. Noteworthy because THE GHOST released this one album in 1970 while BLACK SABBATH released two studio albums that year and I have to believe that Paul tried to follow his cousin's lead into making music that was dark and scary. I was just reading the liner notes of that "Heresie" album by UNIVERS ZERO and how people would actually leave the concerts out of fear. No need to worry about that with THE GHOST and that's my lament. Positive, upbeat music played with dark lyrics and titles shows they just didn't get it. I mean read the lyrics to "Night Of The Warlock" but then listen to the catchy music, they just don't match.

I'm not big on either vocalist but yes they can sing. Besides the electric guitar the organ certainly solos quite often. So while I like some of these tracks this is inconsistent, up and down and far from a 4 star record in my world. The one track that stands out for me is "Too Late To Cry" an energetic piece with some excellent guitar. Those repeated guitar melodies really hit the spot. The opener "When Your Dead" is similar but more organ. I'm not into "Indian Maid" for the lyrics and female vocals. "Hearts And Flowers" also is one I don't like, kind of folky and ballad-like with female vocals but dual vocals more.

A lot of catchy music here with a lot of vocals but come on you make your album cover look haunting with your band name in blood dripping down from the letters and then we get this catchy, upbeat music? 3 stars is all I got.