Читать книгу The Mojo Collection - Various Mojo Magazine - Страница 185

Record label: Poppy

Produced: Ronald Frangipane

Recorded: Century Sound Recording Studios, New York; 1969

Released: Autumn 1969

Chart peaks: None (UK) None (US)

Personnel: Kevin Lally (d); Randy Monaco (b, v); Craig Anderton (g); Brooks Arthur (e)

Track listing: Earthfriend Prelude; Earthfriend; Just A Blur (Version 1); Hiding; Just A Blur (Version 2); Tadpole; Kyrie; Ocean’s Daughter; Volcano Prelude; Volcano; Whisper Play; Bucket Of Air; Children’s Prayer; Puzzle; Just A Blur (Version 3)

Running time: 47.30

Current CD: The last reissue edition was on Collector’s Choice but even that is proving hard to track down currently.

Further listening: Mandrake Memorial (1968); Medium (1969)

Further reading: MC Escher: His Life And Complete Graphic Work (Harry N Abrams, 1992)

Download: Not currently legally available

A stunning set upon its 1969 arrival – both because of its gorgeous packaging (Escher graphic, Milton Glaser design) and the even more beautiful music within – Puzzle is unlike any album you’ve likely heard. The final LP by this highly regarded Philadelphia-based band, it smoothly blends slightly trippy, ballad-laced rock with full orchestration and chorale and seduces with every listen. With vague lyrics that pop in and out of focus intermittently, including such snippets as ‘my dolphin friend and I’, and the recurring reality check Just A Blur, one is left with the impression that the LSD has unexpectedly, suddenly, just kicked in.

Actually the second attempt at making the same album – the first, much more acoustic version had been recorded in the UK months earlier with producer Shel Talmy but didn’t work out – Puzzle is notably juiced by the participation of onetime Melanie producer Frangipane.

‘He was actually the guy who wanted to add all the orchestral things,’ notes Mandrake’s guitarist and prescient electronics whiz, Craig Anderton. ‘He saw us play live a couple of times, and he always felt that we were pushing for something grander and bigger in our onstage thing, which we always were. For three people, we made a lot of noise.’

Conspicuously impressed was famed classical conductor Seiji Ozawa – so much so that his quote calling Puzzle a musical masterpiece appeared in several ads Poppy Records took out in the pop press at the time.

‘Actually, there’s a terrible story about that,’ says Anderton. ‘We were supposed to do a promotional appearance with him, and I had come down with this horrible, horrible flu, and so had our bass player – so the only person who got to meet him was the drummer. I had to call up and cancel, which was just horrible because I really wanted to meet this guy – you know, Seiji Ozawa, wow. And I think he was kind of offended that only one of us showed up. But I didn’t want to be responsible for reading in the paper “Seiji Ozawa cancels concert tour owing to flu.” It was kind of unfortunate.’

The band would follow up the album with a final single, a relatively unnecessary cover of Thunderclap Newman’s Something In The Air. One listen to Puzzle, and you’ll suspect something was indeed.