SEVENTH SONS

A true underground obscurity of the 1960s, SEVENTH SONS has the reputation of creating the first raga rock before the entire infatuation with everything Indian subcontinent became the rage in the late 60s. This quartet that consisted of Serge Katzen (percussion, vocals), Buzz Linhart (guitar, vibraphone, vocals), Frank Evatoff (flute) and James Rock (electric bass, vocals) claimed that its sole album 4:00 A.M. AT FRANK'S was recorded as far back in 1964 which would make it one of the first Western acts to have done so even a year before The Beatles would incorporate the sitar on its album "Rubber Soul" however these claims have never truly been verified and since this album was released four years later in 1968 well after the raga shtick had fully gone viral, this will probably remain an enigmatic mystery for the rest of time.

The term raga rock itself is fairly ambiguous as the term doesn't necessarily refer to the world of rock music at all but rather Western musicians attempting to recreate Indian music and in most cases failing miserably. That would be the case with this 30-minute jamming session that basically features a cyclical procession of sloppy percussion accompanied by acoustic guitars, gleeful flute runs and the only electric instrument of all on board, the bass guitar. Vocals are basically gibberish wordless utterances and the rock aspect of this album is pretty much nonexistent. Technically the album was released as a single track titled "Raga" but the small bit of silence in the middle section has prompted re-releases to warrant the need for a "Part 1" and "Part 2" effect but in reality it's all the same repetitive track sustained for 30 minutes.

This was basically an impromptu jamming session at flautist Frank Eventoff's Baltimore apartment and it really does sound like it! There is nothing innovative at all here, in fact it sounds like a drug fueled party where a couple guitar chords sounded like a good idea at the time and everyone sort of just joined in. While called raga rock there is really nothing Indian at all here. There is no sitar, no tabla, no other instrumentation that could rightfully designate this a raga album except perhaps the transcendental qualities of the album that make you want to project your astral body to some more interesting destination. In fact i'd call this free folk if anything and more in line with what other New York City bands like Godz were doing about the same time.

Even if this was recorded as far back as 1964, all i can say is whoopty doo. Jazz musicians were incorporating ethnic influences for quite a long time at that point and they actually made real music rather than pointless amateur noise sessions. Sometimes this is painful as the flute is a mess and the awful vocals just seem to drift. Sure this must've been one hell of a party back in 1964 or whenever but honestly i've had much more interesting drum circles with competent musicians just warming up! This one will probably always evoke a bit of mystique as a nebulous drug fueled experience in the wild 1960s which by now has become romanticized rather than examined in a full-spectrum approach but who am i to stop anyone from getting a thrill off the innocence this exudes. Personally i find this boring. Thankfully no other albums followed as this was obviously a quick cash in of the raga craze that peaked around 1968. Major yawn.

Quite possibly the earliest album on this site which you could seriously argue was "prog" by any definition, Raga is a half-hour jam fusing the still-emergent Western folk-rock style with liberal borrowings from Indian raga music of the type which Ravi Shankar was introducing to the West.... which came out in 1964. If you consider that the Beatles had barely emerged from beneath the shadow of their rock and roll influences at this time, that's pretty incredible, but it's important not to go overboard about how early this came out - how is it *musically*?

Well, frankly the production values aren't great, but if you don't mind an occasionally fuzzy sound you get an experience which isn't half bad but at the same time doesn't seem brilliant to modern ears - the guitarists strum away, the drummer plays something approaching a rhythm, visiting flautist Frank Evatoff solos over that and the participants wail along in a tuneless, stoned sort of way. Of course, many hippy jam sessions would devolve into something resembling this, but this was 1964 and at the time this was novel. What's interesting about this Raga is the way the individual parts, none of which are especially stellar, come together to make a whole which actually just kind of works.

The overall effect is trippier and more relaxing than the work many second-rate psychedelic bands would put out in the later part of the decade, and occasionally mounts into rousing crescendos which provide just enough variation in mood to stop the album from becoming completely repetitive, but ultimately - as with many jam sessions - there just isn't quite enough variation to stop the Seventh Sons from outstaying their welcome. Don't put this one on if you want to listen to something exciting, energising, and fast, but if you want to relax a little this foundation stone of psychedelia can't hurt. But even then you probably won't want to sit through the entire thing. Two stars, three if you really, really enjoy improvisation.

This is my first Raga record ! I have to thank Logan for bringing the name of this band up in one of those "What was the first Prog album ?" threads.This was recorded in 1964 and yes it's hard for me to wrap my mind around that.THE BEATLES were just starting to conquer the world and your favourite Prog band did not even exist at this point in time. I'd like to know when the picture on the album cover was taken just because two of the guys have longer hair than what you'd see in 1964, so i'm sure it's from a few years later. A very cool, psychedelic picture anyway. SEVENTH SONS were a trio from New York and when they visited a friend's house in Baltimore they recorded this improv.The friend was Frank Eventoff who guests with some very prominant flute.The music recalls a lot of the Krautrock that I listen to where they jam endlessly with flute playing over top. The main trio play percussion, vibes, guitar and electric bass.Two of the guys offer up vocal melodies.This is one long 31 minute piece.

Things begin with percussion, acoustic guitar, flute,bass and vocal melodies. Flute comes to the fore 3 1/2 minutes in.The vocal expressions are back leading after 6 1/2 minutes as the flute settles back. These guys are just jamming.The flute is back leading after 18 minutes as the vocals stop.Vocals are back around 23 minutes. Both the flute and vocals stop around 28 minutes as percussion, bass and guitar lead.Then they both are back before 30 minutes to end it.

Apparently this band played the first ever electric Raga concert also in 1964. I really like the music and it's cool to own it for it's historical significance as well. So i'm rounding up to 4 stars.

Seventh Sons is a folk rock trio (with the add of Frank Evatoff for the flute parts) who released only one album back in the mid 60's. The leader, guitarist & multi-instrumentalist Buzz Linhart provided a lot of materials. He was recognized as the main protagonist of the Seventh Sons typical sound. After the band's scission he launched a career in solo as a guitarist. Historically this is a must despite that great followers will blow away this effort. Simply called "raga" this album is maybe the first experimental rock item which successes to conciliate "eastern" influences, harmonies & elements with basic, standard rock structures. The only track is built around a single theme developed in several sequences, according a large part to acoustic guitar & flute "floating" lines. Rather discreet pop voices are added to the mix. Back to the 60's musical context "raga" figures as an undisputed masterwork in "indo" pre-progressive rock universe.