RAGA

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.