Customer Reviews

Fifty Foot Hose

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Originally released in 1967,even many psych collectors may still be unaware of this short-lived San Francisco band.Best described as obscure psychedelic.'Cauldron' impressed me decently well as I really dug the way-out female vocals performed by Nancy Blossom.When you first listen to this reissue,you'll notice that it does take the first couple of tracks to really get going good.The tunes that made me sit up and take notice are "The Things That Concern You","Red The Sign Post",the outstanding psych bit "Rose",the ten-minute experimental epic "Fantasy" and the two bonus cuts,the demo of "If Not This Time" and the quite noisy "Bad Trip"(sort of says it all,no?).FFH special sound effects main man,Cork Marcheschi may still play an occasional gig or two,as he did on the band's Japanese label Capt.Trip import 'Live&Unreleased'.Check it out when you can.Should appeal to fans of Terry Riley,early Soft Machine,maybe...Gong,and The United States Of America(the late '60's Los Angeles band).A should-have for all pysch fans.

I found this record in the cut out bin for 25 cents over 30 years ago. It blew me away!!! Sure the psych/electronic side is very cool(check out the band White Noise too for cool same era electronic)but what really impressed me was their take on God Bless The Child! One of the best versions ever IMO. As was said, The Rose, Fantasy, Cauldron, Red The Sign Post, all very cool cuts but don't pass by their take on a classic song like God Bless The Child either! Get it! Some day this CD will sell for big bucks, stash a few too!

...get the 1994 Weasel Disc reissue of the CD. First of all, Radioactive's CDs are bootlegs, and on this one in particular, there's a lot of hiss in the transfer from vinyl to CD. They turned the levels up rather high, so especially during the softer parts (like the quiet-buildup-to-speaker-quaking opener "And After"), that hiss is a bit distracing.

Whereas the Weasel Disc version was put out by band member Cork Marcheschi, and has only the hiss from from the original master tapes. Plus bonus tracks (early demos and such), liner notes by Cork and rare pictures.

Released in December 1967, this is the sole release for a unique and forgotten San Francisco band that surely has to rank as one of the more innovative bands to come from that region, in an era and region charachterized by great innovation. Stylistically they were quite similar to some of their more outward reaching peers, with great guitar work and female vocals and moody freakout reminescence of some of the more poular bands from that area like Big Brother and the Holding Company or Quicksilver Messenger Service. But what sets them apart are of course the pioneering experiments in electronic music like the band they are often compared to, the United States of America. Incorporating theramin, siren, audio generators, and other various electronic effects as Cork Marcheschi, the band's original bass player had developed an acute interest in the dadaist/futurist experiments of composers like John Cage and Edgar Varese. Consequently, here can be found the origins of space and ambient sounds later developed by some of the amazing German and Krautrock bands. These sound experiments set them quite apart from their contemporaries and most audiences didn't quite know what to make of them. Today, of course, this original album is quite collectable and considered a touchstone of avant garde rock music. Great experimental and psychedelic pioneers.

Fans of psychedelic 60's music beware of this unknown gem. With male and female voices, electronic experimentalism mixed with 60's pop rock, just like White Noise, Silver Apples and specially United States of America, this belnd of harmonies is way ahead of its time. If you like Broadcast, check this out as quick as you can!

psychedelic!!!!! THE 50 FOOT HOSE IS FAR-OUT
AMAZON IS PRITTY HEAVY FOR SELLING ALL KINDS
OF GROVEY MUSIC.THE 50 FOOT HOSE IS GREAT JUST TRY THEM
YOU WILL LOVE THEM.

"Cauldron" by fifty foot hose is a 5 star classic if the catagory is comedy. I have yet to listen to this record (yes I own the vinyl lp.) without bursting into laughter. It is truly a product of the times, a time when major labels would sign ANYTHING from San Francisco in hopes of tapping into the new music scene. What Fifty Foot Hose does to a beautiful song like "God Bless the Child" is unforgivable unless they were going for laughs. They'er plenty of laughs on this collection and if a listener begins with that approach,....this is a riot! HIGHly recommended...............