I don’t remember exactly when or why I initially added this album to my queue, but I do know it seems pretty interesting. From what I can find with a quick google search, The Wizards From Kansas were a country-psych rock band from Kansas, which began forming its first iterations in about 1968. The band recorded their self-titled debut album in San Francisco in 1970, but the band essentially disbanded before the release, deciding to pursue different musical interests and genres at the time. This seems like an interesting backstory at the very least, so I’m stoked to give this one a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“High Flying Bird” starts out with a really dramatic movement that sounds sort of like a desperado wandering through a desert of some sort. The tune picks up some structure after a moment with some bass and drums that make me sit on the edge of my seat waiting for the tune to drop in place. Oh wow, the guitar is super groovy. I can’t turn this one up any louder. There’s a great juxtaposition between the jangling acoustic guitar and the crispy pureness of the electric guitar lines. Meanwhile, the whole tune sounds like it nearly moves on with the weight of the world. Dang this tune is awesome – I’m stoked for the rest of the album. Oh wow, the vocals at the end of the tune almost shout back at the sky. Absolutely awesome tune to open the album with.
“Hey Mister” picks up with some twangy acoustic guitar and some really pleasant blues-inflected country rock and roll piano riffs that seem to rattle the tune around from the inside of a saloon. Holy smokes, this tune is awesome. I’m not even 2 minutes into the second track and I already want to buy this one on vinyl. Holy smokes, the piano in this one is absolutely awesome. Awesome tune.
“Mass” starts out really low and mellow with some gradual guitar and some bopping bass that gets the tune grooving along. Oh wow, the lead electric guitar tone is absolutely awesome and sounds incredibly pure. The rhythm guitar tone has a great fuzz that almost has a cheesiness to it. The drums have a really groovy sound and remind me a lot of the studio albums from the Grateful Dead in 1970, and “Easy Wind” from Workingman’s Dead (1970) in particular. Wow, I’m super stoked to be listening to this one tonight. The electric guitar jams between the lead and rhythm plus the bass are absolutely delicious. Absolutely awesome tune.
Oh wow, “Codine” sounds like a psychedelic rock tune set to a lone traveler alone in the middle of the night during a perilous journey through the middle of a desert – with rattlesnakes and other dangers almost certain nearby. The vocals have a strange, really encouraging quality to them that almost set the tune at ease to a certain degree. Dang, I’m really digging this album a ton right now – it’s one that really seems to fit my ear quite well so far. Oh wow, this guitar solo is dripping with psychedelia while the rest of the instrumentation keeps a sort of desperado country western rock sound rolling along. This song has made me audibly gasp a couple of times – the flavor is absolutely immense.
Holy smokes, “Freedom Speech” takes all that heavy flavor from the previous song and immediately keeps it rolling along with somewhat of a heavier sound at first, which sort of fades between a softer sound that sort of keep things rolling along. I’m really grooving to this one – I keep getting lost in these tunes. Oh dang, this jam/solo section is pure country rock with a great psychedelic flavor. The delicious distortion on the rhythm guitar keeps the tune swirling, while the bass guitar gives a great backbone that’s propped up by those groovy drums. The vocals are absolutely awesome too.
“Flyaway Days” almost feels like the band sort of gives you a breather at first in this one after some of the heavier rocking from the previous songs. Wow, some chords are sort of left hanging out, but the drums and percussion comes on strong with a super nice groove to pick them all up and wind the song back up. Oh wow, the vocals really have a sort of rough caressing feeling to them, which seems to drive the song in certain directions. The band seems to take little “clean tone” breaks wherein the playing from the band loses that distortion yet keeps the same nice flavors. Oh wow, this jam at the end is super awesome – the guitars got super bright in tone, and really reminded me a bit Jerry Garcia for a moment. Super sweet song.
“Misty Mountainside” has a bit of an upbeat feel with the major key sounding chord progression from the electric guitar and the gentle percussion from shakers at the beginning. The acoustic guitar comes on to give a nice earthy, wholesome sound to the tune. The vocals have a certain fullness to them, almost like they allow the listener to take a full breath of fresh air in this musical landscape they paint. The guitar takes a bit of a turn and sounds like something in between the major and minor keys – though I don’t know enough music theory to really debate that. Oh wow, the bass line really carries the song along quite well alongside the big bass drums, while the acoustic guitar outlines the path and the electric guitar beckons you along. Great tune.
“Country Dawn” has a really groovy sound to it with the combination of the twangy rhythm guitar and the dreamy keyboards/piano. Oh wow, the electric guitar has a nearly drippingly bubbly quality to it at certain times in between the distorted lines. The piano rollicks around really nicely, giving a nearly bluesy taste at times to this quick groovy tune. Really pleasant listen that I got lost in for a bit.
“She Rides with Witches” has a really low, mellow tone to it at first. The bass guitar has an almost bebop sound to the bass line. Oh wow, the electric guitars subtly mix things up while the drums crash things together with the patient drum beat. The vocals are mixed super nicely and give things a super huge feeling alongside the lead guitar. Oh wow, this drum break is absolutely sweet – it kind of reminds me a little of “The Other One” from the Grateful Dead. Oh wow, the tune falls back in place super well with the guitars and bass coming in hot after the drum solo. The vocals come back on for a last vocal line to cap off the album. Wow, great tune.
This album was awesome. I’m definitely pricing things out on discogs right now to try to get a copy on vinyl. If you enjoy early country rock, psychedelic rock, or especially if you like a combination of both, I would recommend this album to you. It reminded me a fair deal of the Grateful Dead studio stuff at times, though it has a certain unique quality to it, which peppers in flavors from bands like The Velvet Underground and possibly even The Yardbirds and The Byrds. Definitely a groovy album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the experience at least as much as I did.
-A