Customer Reviews

Live-May 11 1968

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The H.P. Lovecraft were one of the truly acid-soaked bands of the late sixties. Not in it to commercially benefit from the popularity of psychedlia at the time, but simply tripping, their way through their music. Luckily H.P. Lovecraft consisted of good diciplined muscians, which prevented their music from turning into complete chaos during live-performances. With this album they proved to be able to recreate their trippy studio-sound on stage. It's great stuff to (if you allow it) be taking on a trip by, though watch out for some dark paths they take here and there. This creepy dark aspect reminds me of the Doors. Fortunately, they have a self-assured, upbeat Santana-like jam-quality, to compensate this. Spicy stuff!

I remember this band from the late 60's, and even owned a studio album of theirs. I have not been able to locate a copy of the studio work, so I bought this live recording. I expected it to be a poor substitute for the studio work, but I was wrong. This is a very fine recording. I always liked the predominant vocal component of this band. There are two primary singers, both with strong voices. The harmonies of these voices is what I like about the album the best. If you like music from this time, buy this one.

About as good as their 'H.P.Lovecraft/II' 2-lp's-on-one CD release(see my review).Very nice live archive performance offering of this short-lived psych band that took place at the Fillmore West.Good sound quality,so I can assume it might've been a soundboard recording.If the crowd sounds a bit thin,it's because H.P. was apparently the opening act and much of the crowd hadn't showed up yet.Tunes I thought the group performed extremely well were the ten-minute opener "Wayfaring Stranger","The Drifter",the trippin' "At The Mountains Of Madness" and "The White Ship".Line-up:George Edwards-guitar&vocals,Dave Michaels-keyboards&vocals,Jeff Boyan-bass and Michael Tegza-drums.Might appeal to fans of The Seeds,13th Floor Elevators,The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Arthur Brown.

I'm going to disagree with the foregoing review in but one area - it's a board mix recording, and typical of the Fillmore it took about 2 - 3 songs to get the mix right. This is unfortunate in this case as "Wayfaring Stranger" and "The Drifter" are long, free-flowing jam-fests that would benefit from more even-handed production. The drums and keyboards are WAY up in the mix for these songs (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and dominate the proceedings until halfway through "The Drifter", when the mix evens out a bit. But this isn't to take anything away from the performances. While the "HPL II" studio album is described in the liner notes for this release and on various web sites as a disappointment, the line-up that appeared at the Fillmore in May '68 (and the same as appeared on "HPL II") is the definitive HPL - great vocals, fine musicianship, fantastic and evocative songs. I'm glad I was growing up in Chicago when they hit the scene - seeing them do songs like these at the local teen clubs was something else. One of the finest documents of '60's psychedelic rock music that exists - and it's live, to boot!.

This rare find is a masterpiece. Evidently these guys played the Filmore regularly, recorded a great set, but broke up soon after. The energy is astounding. Vocals are hypnotic, yet powerful. Music is perfectly orchestrated, (not really jammed as you might expect at the Fillmore) edge of your seat executed and clearly recorded. Very live, with no effects (other than the Fillmore's signature reverbratory acoustics. A purist's dream.

What more is there to say./Bob P

This is a Fillmore show I believe. The band is announced by Bill Graham, and I don't think he had many shows if any at the Winterland. And once the mix gets straightened out (the problem has been well described by a previous reviewer), it is a wonderful presentation of one of my favorite short-lived bands of the era. Even though the lineup was the HP II, this show occured prior to the recording of that album, and so most of the songs are from HPI. Which is no problem as I think it was the better of the two albums.

It's too bad that they were another band from that time that burned out quickly. Probably as much from their plunging head first into the San Francisco drug scene as from any internal problems. Not unlike another SF band, Moby Grape.
But this is a great disc, wonderful for headphones. And Michael Terzga's drumming is much more evident, and powerful here, than on the albums. And not only due to the mix. Compare them, for instance, with some of the 1967 Airplane live stuff and it will be apparent just how tight a band they were.

Five star memories and overall performance, but an annoying - though not excessively so - mix through the first third.

This album is one of the best I own in my sixties collection. "Wayfaring Stranger" and "The Drifter" are personally my favorite tracks of the album. They are half-progressive, half-psychedelic (like The Doors style). I don't know what happened with this group but it's seems to be their only album. If you like this jam-style music, I can suggest the "Happy Trails" album from "QuickSilver Messenger Service". It doesn't have keyboards on it like HP Lovecraft, but the guitar is very excellent.

This is a fantastic album. Lovecraft was one of the best groups ever to play the Fillmore, but for reasons that I never understood, they did not make it nationally. This CD is a complete concert from May 1967, and they sound quality is great. While not a substitute for thier oop first and second LPs, it offers an opportunity for all of you to get to hear some fine music. The concert featured cuts from both the first and second LPs, with the group being the line-up for the second LP- HPL II, which was fine, as they had a more polished and together sound. No surprises, but the lead in for Wayfarin' Stranger reminded me quite a bit of the long openings to 'Somebody to Love' that the Airplane used to do. Good solid organ-lead rock and roll, sixties all the way. Jim Earley

H.P. Lovecraft had two albums out around 1967 and 68. These albums were pretty decent slices of San Fransico psychadelia.

Where the two studio albums are pretty good, but a bit stilted, this band really, really came alive on stage, as this disc documents. "Wayfaring Stanger" is a driving blues jam, which opens up both this set, and the groups playing. "It's about time" maintains the intensity, and "White Ship," is a great, dark piece of tye dye light show acid rock.

These musicans are great: the singing is excellent as each sings the parts, an octive apart. The drumming is fluid and creative. Although the bass player does not have the hyper athletic talent of Jack Cassidy, he locks in tight, like a perfectly tuned engine, and gives this band the drive they lacked in the studio.

Even if you have the two studio HP Lovecraft albums and have put them aside, this live disc is absolutely miles ahead, and worth owning for any music lover.

The studio albums are a interesting but tame. THIS, however, will blow your doors off. Thundering organ, wailing vocals, cataclysmic drums... In my opinion this beats Big Brother and Jefferson Airplane.