From Tokyo to Trinidad

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND - From Pussies to Death in 10,000 Years of Freakout

A bootleg of material recorded between 1969-70-- some of it comes from their original incarnation as Yuya Uchida & the Flowers. At that point, they were a mostly covers-oriented band obviously enamored of the "West Coast" sound of Big Brother & the Holding Company and the Airplane. From that era, Hendrix's "Stone Free" is featured here-- a rather pedestrian version raised to loftier heights by them "Engrish" vocals we all know and love. I'm gonna take an edumacated guess that their lift of Zep's arrangement of "How Many More Times" likely dates from only a short time later as it includes the Janis-like backing vox of Remi Aso-- the chanteuse who appeared on the 1969 Flowers' LP, "Challenge." Interesting from a completist's point of view, but it is thee later-period tracks that unleash thee Motherlode.

"I'm Dead" -- spread over all of side one and part of side two, is twenty-seven minutes of acid-damaged, ear-bleedin' guitar-maulin' courtesy of Hideki Ishima-- very possibly one of the all-time high-water marks in recorded history--- and that ain't hyperbole. This is a signature riffathon on par with "Maggot Brain" or "Beck's Bolero." Beginning with some chillingly splashy high-hats, a sparse, foreboding theme is introduced by Ishima's axe that he methodically molds by adding slight variations with lightly-picked harmonics and tonal colors until the rumble of Jun Kozuki's bass arrives approximately seven minutes in. It is then that Ishima begins adding acrobatic runs and manipulated feedback-- sculpting mini-anthems, each of which he lingers on for a few moments before shifting into the next gear. For thee Grande Finale, he switches over to bottleneck, coaxing inhuman shrieks and squeals from mere wood and steel that ultimately climaxes with his ascent to nigh-unbearable upper-registers... a true tour de force! The remaining cut, "Otoko," is a bluesy instrumental that swings like a pair o' rhinoceros balls-- in fact, it brings to mind a condensed "Fillmore East"-era Allmans jam with another dose of searing slide guitar and rapid-fire bass licks.

Look in comments.

NEXT MORNING - S/T (1971)

Now here's a union a bit odd even by my standards: four fellas from Trinidad hook up in NYC with an American keyboardist to form a Jimi/Sly-inspired Psychedelic Soul outfit in 1969. Sharing a love for heavy rock, fellow Trinidadians/guitarists Bert Bailey & Scipio Sargeant assembled a band featuring lone Yank Earl Arthur (organ), Bailey's brother Herbert (drums) and crooner Lou Phillips (Sargeant switched to bass). They quickly built a reputation as a powerful live act on the Noo Yawk club scene, coming within a pube of signing with Columbia-- unfortunately, they ended up inking a deal with Cala Records, a subsidiary of Roulette, thereby condemning themselves to the Mob tax write-off graveyard.

Recorded at Electric Lady studios, Jimi's ghost musta been hovering over the proceedings-- Bailey utilizes the same brand of six-string pyrotechnics of his undoubted mentor-- right down to the whammy bar abuse and amplifier desecration. He even turns a few of the then-recently-departed one's stock chord progressions inside out for good measure. My pick to click is "Back to the Stone Age" where Bailey & Sargeant trade off and harmonize virtuoso fuzz licks over top of an intricate, disjointed-yet-ass-shakin' arrangement not unlike the Cosmic Slop Funkadelic patented a year earlier. Aside from Phillips' very slight accent, you won't hear a hint of the Caribbean-- nor will you hear anything particularly original. Not that it matters--as has been proven time and again, exhilarating R&R is nearly always constructed from the detritus lying around & begging to be expanded upon.

Look in comments-- and leave one there, Slim.