Pride - 1970 - Pride

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

This album is not really a band at all, but rather a front for legendary producer David Axelrod. Apparently his manager got an urge to fabricate and promote a non-existent group, and Axelrod got stuck with throwing the music together with the help of his lyric-writing son.

Right off the bat, this is not prime Axelrod, but it does have a few things going for it and a few sonic curveballs. At this point in time, Axelrod decided to temporarily head in a direction influenced by Spanish music, and instead of screaming fuzz guitars, we hear plucked classical guitar runs (along with some great electric 12-string too). Unusually for 60's Axelrod, there is no orchestra adding exclamation points, and instead the crack session players sketch out the Axelrod signature orchestra hits. And yes, the bass and drums remain damn funky and have probably already been sampled 683 times.

Then there are the aforementioned curveballs. This is a much poppier album than is usual for Axelrod with the vocals front and center and the whole thing reeking of a late 60's folk-rock vibe. For better or for worse, the album only manages to do this on an average level. Of course the arrangements are interesting, but the melodies jsut don't make much of an imprint here. Maybe Pride didn't need Michael Axelrod to write lyrics. The vocals, done by a fellow record producer, are pretty anonymous and I could just as easily take this one as an instrumental.

Pride is really a curio for those who are already David Axelrod fans. I can recommend it in that it warps some signature sounds and production tricks of Axelrod's, and casts them in a very different light. Viewed simply as an album, though, there's nothing here that's going to rock your world.

Buy Me:
The Warner/Reprise Sessions: The Electric Prunes & Pride

David Axelrod - 1970 - Earth Rot

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

Earth Rot finds David Axelrod crawling a bit out of his comfort zone. There is still a great amount of Axelrod's trademark jazz-lounge arrangements at work here, but also a few notable changes. Unlike the first two solo albums, we hear some vocals on here, begging more comparisons with his work with the Electric Prunes.

Axelrod always worked with some sort of concept for his albums, and here he's tackling an early environmental message. The tracks titles break the album into two halves with his "Warning Talk" and "The Sign." Realistically, these still function as eight individual tracks, but I think it helps to consider this as part of a greater whole as Axelrod never ventures to far from his primary sound. With this in mind, we'll give the second side's "The Sign" the edge although "The Warning Talk" is still some solid music.

The vocals do help add a little diversity to Axelrod's style, and what vocals show up serve more as punctuation to the music rather than the backbone of the songs. The core is still instrumental, but I do enjoy the 5th Dimension style interruptions. Thus we can take Earth Rot one step past the psychedelic lounge label into psychedelic muzak (but in a good way). The opening and closing speeches makes me think of a bleached-out version of George Clinton's early Funkadelic epics (Axelrod and early Funkadelic did share the Stateside label around this time).

As always, there's a slight touch of jazz-funk twisting the music into something a little more interesting. The breakbeats still crop up regularly. It's still best to approach this with an open mind, as the psychedelia is often subtle and probably requires a few listens.

With it's slightly later date and slight stylistic shift, Earth Rot tends to be a touch underrated, especially when compared with Axelrod's first two solo albums. I like to think of it as a strong close to a trilogy of solidly strange albums. In many ways, the more pronounced concept makes it my favorite of Axelrod's work.

Buy Me:
David Axelrod - 1970 - Earth Rot

David Axelrod - 1969 - Songs Of Experience

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5

David Axelrod continued his jazz-inflected, William Blake inspired instrumental psychedelic ramblings with with second solo album. As usual, Axelrod's compositional and arranging skills are quite enviable. If nothing else, there's an extremely professional hand at work behind these recordings. Alas, it's not quite as freaky as the albums chronologically surrounding it, but it's still a pretty solid listen.

Once again, Axelrod coaxes some funky, sample-worthy performances out of the rhythm section. In general, the sound here is pretty close to the previous year's Song Of Innocence. On this one, the melodies are a touch darker, perhaps the 'experience' at work, and there is even more orchestral presence. Keep in mind that this probably fits the 'psychedelic lounge music' bill to an even greater degree than Axelrod's other late-60's recordings.

With no slacking off in the arranging department, we've got to look at the melodies. I have to admit that these don't do it for me quite as much as what we heard on the previous album. The sound here is a little more crisp, but I kind of enjoyed the slightly murky sound that Axelrod achieved on the last album. Songs Of Experience is rear-loaded, with the best compositions showing up at the end. "The Human Abstract," "The Fly," and "The Divine Image" do the best job of creating the strangely phased out of the mainstream sound that I consider Axelrod's strong suit. Opening track "The Poison Tree" mixes a enjoyable typical Axelrod arrangement with a touch of solo violin.

This is still part of Axelrod's prime, and should be considered essential listening for anyone wanting to enter his sound sphere. Still, I'd go for Song Of Innocence or the next year's Earth Rot first, and come here if you feel yourself hankering for more.

Buy Me:
David Axelrod - 1969 - Songs Of Experience

David Axelrod - 1968 - Songs Of Innocence

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

Song Of Innocence was David Axelrod's proper solo debut. Freed of the rock trappings of his work with the Electric Prunes, Axelrod takes on a much jazzier sound than those productions entail (and Axelrod was in fact a renown producer for jazz legends such as Cannonball Adderley). The truth is, it's best to view this as psychedelic lounge music or psychedelic elevator music if you will. I have an affinity for exotica like Martin Denny, and this is really halfway between that and the Electric Prunes. If this doesn't turn you off, you'll likely find something here to enjoy.

Axelrod's compositional style remains intact here, but his sonic ingredients are far more varied. The almost pompous burst of orchestra remain, but we also find some juicy interruptions from vibraphones, horn solos, along with more chilled out psychedelic-jazz licks. Also of note is of course the rhythm section. In the past 15 years or so, Axelrod's breakbeats have been endlessly sampled by the hip-hop and electronic scenes (DJ Shadow has practically made Axelrod samples his signature). There's a fine line between squareness and hipness present in Axelrod's music.

Once again (for Axelrod) coming in well under the 30 minute mark, Song Of Innocence works best as a piece. Although immaculately arranged, there is a stylistic unity running through these tracks. The parts are pretty good, but they best exist together. I personally dig the square-funk vibe of "Holy Thursday,"the slightly more rock like title track, and the arranged psychedelia of "The Mental Traveler."

Technically, this is a concept album, with Axelrod inspired by the peoms of William Blake, but I don't think a familiarity with Blake is necessary; this is all instrumental. Axelrod thrives on goofy pretension, and I suppose Blake is a fine a springboard as any for his sonic journeys.

If you're approaching this from a psych angle, make sure to give this one a few listens. Song Of Innocence is all about texture, and chances are you'll not really "get it" this first time around. Once you find the sonic key to Axelrod's world however, it can be a highly amusing place.

The Electric Prunes - 1968 - Release Of An Oath

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

Pretty much dipping into the same well as Mass In F Minor, Dave Hassinger and David Axelrod worked out some traditional Jewish chants for a second religiously themed concept album. This time out though, there really were no actual Electric Prunes present. Hassinger and Axelrod simply had rights to the established name, and constucted a new core band along with a compliment of L.A. session players for this one. Even more than Mass In F Minor, Release Of An Oath should probably be labeled with David Axelrod's now cult-worthy name.

The album remains a strong effort, and there's a touch more melody and assimilation of the themes into the arrangements. "Holy Are You" in particular manages to equal and maybe even top F Minor's "Kyrie Eleison." Maybe the Jewish melodies just have a little more meat on the bones (edit: Wikipedia says only the first track is Jewish; the rest is actually based on orthodox Christian prayers). This too is a short album (24 minutes) and doesn't have a ton of variation. Axelrod is very much working in the same style of hip-hop precursor drums, wailing acid guitar leads, and bombastic swoops from the orchestra. Yes, it still sounds good, but there's nothing new to really distinguish the album from the last. According to the liner notes, Mr. Axelrod sort of got shoved into making this one, so it may just stem from a workmanlike effort and a lack of inspiration.

More annoying for me is that the chants on Release Of An Oath are all sung in English. I thought that the Latin-sung chants of F Minor added a mysterious atmosphere to the proceeding that is lost here. It brings everything a small step closer to being a real religious rock album instead of a tripped out approximation of one (I prefer the latter if you're keeping count).

Although laden with a few shortcomings, Release Of An Oath does make a nice pair with Mass In F Minor. I suppose it's only fair that we get a psychedelic synagogue to go along with the cathedral. These two albums also make a nice rock introduction to David Axelrod, whose first three albums we'll visit in the next few posts.

Buy Me:
The Electric Prunes - 1968 - Release Of An Oath

The Electric Prunes - 1968 - Mass In F Minor

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

I used to think that F minor was the psychedelic key, kind of like how A minor is often cited as the best key for depressing songs. Anyway, I'm sure that I made the connection out of strange recollections of this album. It's one of the best examples of pre-fab production psych out there

Realistically, this isn't really an Electric Prunes. It's more of a studio based wacked out concept album along the lines of the Zodiac's Cosmic Sounds. The Prunes became tenuously attached as producer Dave Hassinger wanted to find a more commercial vehicle for the band and somehow came upon the concept of psychedelic Catholic chants. It seems that the Prunes ended up a bit used and abused, but the word is that they went along for the ride anyway.

Holding the creative tiller was none other than cult jazz/psych guru, David Axelrod. Axelrod is responsible for all of the arranging duties on this album (I think we'll keep the basic composition credits with some long dead Catholic monks), and he did a very groovy job. The trouble was that his arrangements were a little over the heads of the talented, but not musically schooled fellows making up the garage rocking Electric Prunes. Thus, the band ended up as little more than session musicians on their own album accompanying even more session musicians. There's an urban legend that the Prunes don't even show up on the record. The rhythm section of bassist Mark Tulin and drummer Quint do play on every track, and singer James Lowe remains as the lead voice of the monastic vocal, but it's still clearly Axelrod in the creative driver's seat.

Once you get the bad taste out of your mouth of the band being sidelined, you'll find that this is a damn fine album. In fact, it's more consistent than any of the band's proper releases, although the awesome pop punch of "I Had To Much To Dream Last Night" or "A Long Day's Flight" is notably absent. You will find the psychedelic religious strains of "Kyrie Eleison," which is very recognizable from its use in the film Easy Rider. It's also the most basic psych rock style track on the album, especially with the nails-on-glass noise explosion of the instrumental mid section.

For the rest of this short album (26 minutes!) Axelrod adopts an M.O. that renders the tracks a little formulaic. We get short passages of the Latin-language church chants bridged together by instrumental sections mostly alternating between blasts of acid fried guitar leads and amusingly pompous fanfares from the orchestra. "Benedictus" includes a notable keyboard and bass guitar break as well. Fortunately, Axelrod's arranging skills are top notch and keep things interesting throughout.

This disc is really more of an Axelrod album than an Electric Prunes album, and if you approach it as such I think you'll find plenty to like. Listen and enter the psychedelic gothic cathedral.

Buy Me:
The Electric Prunes - 1968 - Mass In F Minor