This is an album I’ve been sitting on for a little while, and I’m very stoked to finally give it a listen tonight. Earth Opera was an American psychedelic folk band from Boston, formed in 1967 and stayed together until 1969. The band featured two prominent bluegrass/folk artists, Peter Rowan and David Grisman. This album also features Bill Stevenson, Paul Dillon, Billy Mundi, and John Nagy. Though this album didn’t chart, the band was still able to record and release another album before splitting up. I’m pretty stoked to listen to this one, so with that I’m going to jump on into the music.
“The Red Sox Are Winning” starts out with some hissing cymbals that gently bring the rest of the instrumentation in. Holy smokes, this song is awesome. Oh wow, there are undoubtedly bluegrass-like elements combined with a sort of desolate psychedelic folk sound. Wow, the vocals have so much feeling in them. There are so many different movements in the music, from the thunderous rolling kicks to the bopping chimes to the smooth highway-like guitar. Wow, I’m so stoked to listen to the rest of this album. Wow, the crowd at the end of the tune is awesome. Awesome tune.
Oh wow, “As It Is Before” has such a gentle club-like approach to this tune. The piano creates a dream-like state while the instrumentation creates this earthy nearly saloon like vibe through the whole soundscape. Holy smokes, this piano is absolutely awesome. My jaw is floored at the moment. This folksy psychedelic jam is amazing. Wow, that tone on the bass guitar is super tasty. I have very little to say about this song other than this is absolutely awesome. I can’t believe I’ve never listened to this band before. There’s definitely a bit of a raga sound at the end of it to tie things up. Awesome song.
“Dreamless” starts out with some gentle organ until some harpsichord and bright acoustic guitar come on and echo each other from across the soundscape in a psychedelic folk baroque sort of fashion. Wow, that bluegrass folksy style of guitar is absolutely awesome in this one. Oh wow, the mandolin and bass really complement each other well. Holy smokes, the harpsichord is played in somewhat of a ragtime fashion for a moment. Really awesome.
“To Care At All” segues into things incredibly smoothly into this dream-like tune. The way these different chords and lines are laid gently into the soundscape reminds me of Grateful Dead’s American Beauty (1970) a fair deal – there seems to be a lot of care in the playing of the instruments. Holy smokes, some heavy distortion comes in out of nowhere are follows the lead from the bright acoustic and/or mandolin. Absolutely awesome. There’s such a great, diverse mix of flavors from the different instrumentation in this one. Great tune.
“Home of the Brave” has a super interesting slow step to the start of thing, almost like the band is winding up a lot of tension at this point. Holy smokes, the piano and the bass and the guitars are absolutely awesome with their delicate interplay. Oh wow, there’s a little horn part that sort of mixes things up for a moment. Oh wow, this song is awesome. Oh wow, the playing is absolutely awesome; it contains gentle build ups to absolutely delicious jams with some great emotion throughout that’s lonely, playful, bluesy, optimistic, and very driven. The ending is absolutely awesome with the effects of the instrumentation coupled with the massive sounding drums. Great tune.
“The Child Bride” has a really interesting folksy psychedelic blues ballad type of feel, with a sweet, caressing performance from the instrumentation and vocals alike. Oh wow, I think there were some very gentle background vocals for a moment, or something that sounded like some that provided a great flavor to the mix. The gentle, scant playing by each instrument really comes together to form a really gentle desperado type of song. Holy smokes, the droning bass combined with that bluesy piano is absolutely awesome, especially in combination with the harmonica that makes a quick appearance. Great song.
“Close Your Eyes and Shut the Door” really picks up the mood of the album a lot with a cheerier tone, or at least more optimistic in sound. I really dig the earthy sound of that deep acoustic guitar while the mandolin paints ripples across the soundscape and the bass guitar gently inches the song forward with accompaniment from the drums once in a while. Great tune.
“Time and Again” has a super melty psychedelic guitar that gently and gradually comes in, almost like the band is nearly done winding things up. Wow, this tune is absolutely awesome. Holy smokes, the build up to the chorus has such great flavor from all the guitar and the piano with absolutely awesome interplay propped up the bass, which connects those paced-out drums to the rest of the tune. Holy smokes, the electric guitar on this one picks up some distortion out of nowhere and the vocals bring in some grunts from nowhere. Absolutely awesome. Wow, this jam at the end is absolutely delicious.
“When You Were Full of Wonder” has a very light brushing of the acoustic guitar to start things out in a very gentle manner after that great jam. There’s definitely a bit of a ballad-like nature to this one. Wow, there’s a really nice sweetness to this one in essentially all facets of the soundscape from vocals to guitar to the chimes. Really nice tune.
“Death By Fire” starts out nearly gospel-like with big church organs raining into the soundscape from the background. The other instrumentation gradually comes in as the tune begins to take form of some sort as the band gently wraps up this album, which has been awesome so far, and seems to be finishing that way as well. Holy smokes, this jam that the band falls into at the end is absolutely awesome. Wow, those organs and guitar really get grooving at certain times and really build up the tune very well at others. Oh wow, the band feels like they’re putting their finishing touches as they wrap this one up a bow quite nicely. The sound of this finale is absolutely epic with the rolling drums building up the church organs even more, all before things come to a gentle rolling finish. Wow, this song is absolutely awesome and really finishes the album really well.
Holy smokes, this album is awesome. I’m definitely getting this one on vinyl. If you dig folk music and psychedelic rock, this is one I’d recommend checking out. The music progresses extremely well and hits so many great flavors from folk music and psychedelic rock alike. Definitely a great way to spend 45 minutes. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A