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.