Customer Reviews

Easter Everywhere

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Already having a copy of the original album on cassette, I had my reservations about buying this CD. At any rate, I did--hoping the bonus cuts would be worth it. Well, folks, they are. Tracks 11-14 are live recordings from Texas, 1967, and the recordings are crisp and authentically LIVE (as opposed to the 1968 live album). The other live recordings of songs from the 1st album are from a San Francisco gig in 1966. Although these 1966 recordings aren't as well recorded as the previous tracks, the historical significance of the Elevators doing psychedelia in the Love Capitol at a time when the Airplane were still a Mamas and Papas throwback makes up for any minor lack of fidelity in the recording process. The instrumental "Levitation" is a studio workout. Last but not least, though, the final track, "I Don't Ever Want To Come Down," is a previously unreleased track from the "Bull" sessions that I'm glad I didn't miss out on.

Your wife will hate it. She will like the album well enough, but you will play it so much that she will be a most sympathetic figure at the divorce proceedings. If you are a fan of late 60's psychedelia, and really, who is not...and you have never heard this...order it now, and hire a good lawyer.

It is a GREAT album, but could've been better: the culprit was the IA (Int'l Artists) label. This label was run by some parsimonious swine! As great as "Easter Everywhere" is, first-hand accounts say that it sounded a whole lot better than does the final mix (which sounds muddy in comparison, they say). This could be a reason why most of the songs have similar "color" (similar sound of the dominant electric jug, with the rhythm section relegated to being almost obliterated. Good thing Sutherland's guitar isn't too far back). IA was just too cheap to spend money on a person who knew how to mix an album.

When the Elevators were recording this, they were ensconced in a fleabag motel that had a large fungus growing under one of their beds! (And it was not edible or psylocibin). Fleabag rates in those days were probably about $3 or $4 dollars per night. These were the state of the accommodations of one of the most important bands in US history during the recording of their magnum opus.

Lelan Rogers was a cool dude. The Elevators & Red Crayloa members all liked him. I believe he wrote liner notes on "Parable of Arable Land". Too bad he ended up as advance man for some robotic bean-counters.

So, despite all this, it's still an essential recording.

(Read a book called "Eye Mind"- a fantastic in-depth bio of the Elevators).

This review is for the 2011 Snapper UK 2CD reissue.
If you haven't purchased this version, or the Snapper 2010 reissue of Psychedelic Sounds get them now! For the 1st time, these albums have been remastered using the original master tapes from the International Artists vaults, and they sound incredible! Throw away your old copies and buy these now!!

i heard acidheads express that sentiment many times in the late 1960s. most of the expressers ended up as drunks, heroin addicts, or in mental hospitals. rory erickson himself (lead singer) had an extended stay in the loony bin. be that as it may, this is an excellent cd. one of the better unknown psychedelic albums of the 1960s. the very good bonus material enhances the original record. you may have to play the cd a few times before the band's unique sound sinks in. check out the weird wails and "electric jug" on the live tracks. another acid casuality perhaps? this band was obviously very heavy into the stuff. anyway, i can't get enough of this bizarre hard rock classic. highly recommended.

This is one of those cases where I trusted the reviews and got burned. I love psych music, but I can't listen to this. The sound of the guy "playing" the jug is too much for me to take, and the songs just don't do anything for me. People swear by this album, but I think you had to be there to appreciate it.