UTHER PENDRAGON 'San Francisco Earthquake' (Guerssen Records) - Unreleased Californian Psychedelia
Uther Pendragon believed in magic – which was of course in no small part to being named after King Arthur's father. Although not releasing a single record through their nine year existence this Californian band did think they would be "not as big as The Beatles, but bigger". Whether that was teenage folly or not can now be proved. Did they have it? We think so.
When the teenage group formed in 1966 as a solid garage band the name Uther Pendragon was still three long years off – the debut efforts on this collection were recorded as Blue Fever, Timne, Kodiak and Hodological Mandala before the band settled on the more of its time Arthurian moniker.
The earliest recordings gathered here – the delightfully naive 'Music Box' and 'Kristina' – see the lads embracing light ethereal psych, that was not a million miles away from acts like The Lemon Drops and even the New England garage bands. The ’67 recordings from Timne recall the regional garage/psych offerings by such renowned acts as The Music Machine and Human Expression, and have a tougher, edgier premise. As the band progressed, they soaked up the sounds of the Californian Ball Rooms (The Doors, Country Joe & The Fish and even Led Zeppelin later on) but their sound barely changed – some of the mid-70s recordings ('San Francisco Earthquake') still maintain the classic West Coast garage/psych flavour from their earlier sessions whilst 'King Muskrat' adheres to the loud ’n' heavy.
For collectors of garage/psych this epic collection is guaranteed to be both consoling and exciting.
San Francisco Earthquake may not ignite the senses in the same way as Abbey Road does, but it will certainly invigorate the ears in all of its lo-fi, innocent psychedelic glory. That a three-LP set of unreleased material from a solid band like this is still appearing is to be whole heartedly celebrated, right?
Uther Pendragon - San Francisco Earthquake 3LP Box / 2CD Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUjSF7KLcg
Quelle: No Other