Customer Reviews

Iota

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i bought this on the recommendation of one of the reviewers who said it sounded like some early deep purple and blue cheer. i couldn't disagree more. like the other reviewers state, the band was from el paso texas in the late 60s. though there are plenty of guitar and organ, this comes off more like iron butterfly's first release or the more rockin' side of blues magoos. there is a short history of the band and some good b&w photos in the booklet. 10 tracks in the 2 - 4 minute range. if you are into the 60s music scene, this is a nice edition but not a necessary one.

Iota was an El Paso band formed in the late sixties and their style was hard psych with some nice organ work to keep it groovin '69 style, but still a bit dark and gloomy.

Originally, the band only released two singles from their sessions but never got out a full album. They broke up in 1972. All of the unreleased tracks from their sessions were added in 2003 to create the album release that you're looking at here.

I would say their sound falls somewhere between Pretty Things and Blue Cheer and some early Deep Purple thrown in for good measure. Psych fans will not want to pass on this record if you're into heavy melodic psych with dual guitars(fuzz to wah) and a heavy Hammond organ sound. I'm glad to have this lost artifact in my small collection of *rare and listenable* late 60's/early 70's rock!!

I've never heard the band before buying this CD re-issue by "Shadoks" (actually, I was seduced by the cover, and thought it was another unearthed prog act). In fact, "Iota" is a rare artefact of hard rock from the 70s. The band came from El Paso in Texas, where it was signed by the local label "Suemi", whose owner/producer Kenny Smith soon moved his operations to Memphis and took the band there (the first singles were released on Memphis labels). "Iota" (Mark Evans - guitar, Carl Neer - vocals/bass, Steve Phipps - keyboards, Rick Ramaka - drums) played competent and aggressive hard rock messing with prog and psychedelia, and could have easily performed next to the British peers, but their music turned out to be far too extreme for more conservative Memphis scene. Virtuoso guitar solos fortified by moody sound of keyboards and powerful drumming, and lead by dramatic singing became trademark and a standard for hard-rock, let's say, in London or San Francisco, but for Memphis it was too much. Pity - music is excellent, some songs sound as if written by "Deep Purple" and "Doors", and exceptional "Within These Precincts" (shortened to just "Precincts" on this CD) must be treated as a privilege for any decent collection.
"Iota" recorded and performed extensively in 1970/71, but was not welcome locally, and unknown outside. In 1972 the band called it a day. The recordings of "Iota", kept in Kenny Smith's (owner/producer of "Suemi") personal archives, were first made available on "Rockadrome", and finally - on this great CD, featuring all existing 10 songs.
I bought it out of greed and because of hording, but I am really happy to have it now. Don't miss also: Peacepipe (Reis), Shiver, Mad River/Paradise Bar & Grill; Stoned Age Man