Friday, October 20, 2006

The Rainbow Band - ST (1971)

Not to be confused with the Danish band of the same name, this Rainbow Band was an American outfit that released one record on Elektra back in 1971. It never ceases to amaze me that there was a time when major labels put out really good records (technically Elektra was a major at this point, having been sold to Warner in 1970). This album appears in the Elektra catalog between the intriguing Crow Dog's Paradise' album of peyote songs & Mike Heron's fantastic Smiling Men With Bad Reputations record. So why all this talk about the Elektra catalog? Well, to be honest, it's because I know very little about the group that put together this very cool slice of rural, commune psych. I can give you a tracklist:
1. Rama Rama
2. Lotus
3. Sweater Song
4. Simple Song
5. Midnight Sun
6. Song of the Navajo
7. Now is the Time
And I can tell you who participated in the recording (although not what they did):
Mahesh, Pavarthi, Maruga Booker, Nithyan Gefron, Scotty Avedisian, Phil Catanzaro, Ragunath Mancini, Trevor Young, Gary Olerich, Darius Brubeck, Colin Wolcott, Nirmala, Sharon Simon, Lalitha, Janiki Tenny, Priscilla, Victoria, Felix, Anandi, & Shiva.
Some of the names are familiar. Colin Wolcott was a founding member of the group Oregon. Darius Brubeck, a jazz performer in his own right, is Dave Brubeck's son. Shiva is the "One who purifies everyone by the utterance of His name" in Hinduism--Ok, perhaps it's not the same Shiva. However, I can't say anything about the duo who fronted the outfit except that they look blissed out on the cover. This record also comes from the WMUC library--I hope you enjoy it.

20 comments:

gd said...

this is a cool and heavy record. thanks!

Anonymous said...

an okay record. Much better than the overrated Saddhu Brand album on UNI Records from 1971, which is basically the same commune-hippie-indian vibe. thanks for turning me on to Rainbow.

murdock

Anonymous said...

Hi,
i have this album and it's great, when i saw your post i've looked for my copy a have put on my record player.
It's a nice music.
Have you an album of Hendrickson Road House?
Could you post it?
All the best

Max said...

I'll keep an eye out for Hendrickson Road House but I don't have it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Max,

Thanks for your interest, if i find i'll send you a copy.
I've some requests for album very hard to find and never reissued on cdr.

REBS - 1968 A.D. BREAKTHROUGH
KENT HARRISON BOYLES - KENT HARRISON BOYLES
PAUL WAYNE BEACH - ON DOWN THE ROAD
PERSPECTIVE - SYLLABUS
PLAGUE - PLAGUE
NEW WAVE - NEW WAVE ON CANTERBURY LABEL
PERSPECTIVE - SYLLABUS
PLAGUE - PLAGUE
FILET OF SOUL - FREEDOM
DOGWOOD - AFTER THE FLOOD
DOWN FROM NOTHING - DOWN FROM NOTHING
RFD - LEAD ME HOME
THE AGE OF REASON - THE AGE OF REASON
CAMBRIDGE - SHARE A SONG
GOLDEN THROAT - GOLDEN THROAT
HAPPY FEELING - HAPPY FEELING

Have you any of these?

All the best

Max said...

I know where I can borrow & rip a copy of the Happy Feeling record, although that probably won't happen until sometime early next year. I don't know about any of the others but will keep an eye out.

Anonymous said...

the link is no longer working anymore

Max said...

Works fine for me. Make sure you click the right link.

Anonymous said...

Sure the link is still valid, but "no free download slots available" for more than 10 days now, & I tried 30 times at least...
How can we be sure the purpose of Sendspace is to help sharing ???

Hope I will be able to get this one someday...

Max said...

Weird--I've never had a delay with Sendspace. I'll repost this on another site for those of you having problems.

Anonymous said...

any chance for a repost on this one? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

thanks alot for this, can't wait to here it!

gyula said...

Hi Max, I'm affraid there is no link anymore...or I'm blind....Please help me. Thanks, regards, Gyula

gyula said...

I've run for it once more, got it, thanks, regards, Gyula

Anonymous said...

Hi
Thank you for your interesting blog.
I have never heard of most of the musicians here but I am looking forward to discover them...

BB said...

Thank you a fuc*&n'n lot. This album is the most beautiful thing 2009 showed me.

Anonymous said...

Hendrickson Road House, mentioned above, is available here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dbsz8t

Worth a listen.

Thanks for the nice blog, Max.

Max said...

For those who want to get Hendrickson Road House add an "r" to the final link provided.

Vittala said...

Maruga Booker also spelled Muruga played drums and percussion. He is also known for having worked and recorded with George Clinton, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, John Lee Hooker, Olatunji, and many others as well as performing at the original Woodstock with Tim Hardin.

Anonymous said...

please re-up