J.K. & Co. was a band led by Jay Kaye, who was only 15 at the time of the inception of the band in 1968. The album was completed with a teenage arranger, Robert Buckley, as well as some elder producers and session musicians. From what I can find, J.K. & Co. seems to take some musical cues from the likes of Donovan and George Harrison. Jay formed a group to tour around to play the album material with his cousin, John Kaye, after the album was completed. The album was seemingly resurrected with a lot more of these details into the backstory upon Sundazed Records’ CD reissue of this album. J.K. & Co. only ended up recording this album, but I’m excited to give it a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Break of Dawn” is a super gentle, sort of strangle whirring introduction to the album, which really setts a tone for what might be to come. Really quick and interesting.
“Fly” segues into this tune really gently, as some backwards sounding organs and drums seem to fade into the soundscape, creating a mellotron-like dreamscape throughout the space of the tune. Oh wow, there are some normal drums that come in with some super tasty bass and some really great, relaxed sounding vocals. This really does remind me a bit of George Harrison’s later stuff. Oh wow, the vocals shift around and the tune almost takes on a bit of a dark intonation. Holy smokes, this is super interesting. I’m really digging this track a lot – the soundscape has me caught in this somewhat dark, optimistic, psychedelic rapture. This is sweet. Holy smokes, there are some other instruments that come in at the end and gently pluck and strum out a very bright melody throughout the soundscape. This tune is sweet. Great intro tune, I’m super excited for the rest of the album.
“Little Children” starts out with a slow moving bass that slowly inches the tune forward until the drums and keyboards come in to give this tune a bit more structure to work off of. Holy smokes, this tune has such a relaxed, dream-like feel to the super tasty combinations of keyboards with the ever-moving hazy vocals and the orchestral strings that add a bunch of sweetness to the tune. Oh wow, now there’s a bit of a nursery rhyme being played, almost sending you further into dream-land. Oh wow, the different ‘real life’ sounds at the outro give a super interesting feel. Really sweet tune.
Holy smokes, “Christine” starts out with a super great drum beat that almost has a syncopated pulsing effect. Oh wow, the piano comes in and adds a whole bunch of sweetness as they accentuate the pleasant vocal performance. The guitar comes in for some quick little flavorful accentuations. The bass also picks up a ton of flavor as the tune progresses. Holy smokes, those woodwinds bring a great flavor to the mix too. Great track.
“Speed” is a super quick strange segue track – I dig it.
“Crystal Ball” starts out super hot in some sort of 1960s Los Angeles sounding psychedelic rock jam. Holy smokes, this short little tune really builds up a good amount of flavor as the tune gets to the end. Really sweet.
“Nobody” starts out with some super earthy, gentle acoustic guitar that really remind me a bunch of George Harrison. Oh wow, the gentle church organs from the background really give this tune a nearly divine sound from the background. Oh wow, another guitar comes on to accentuate what the original acoustic is playing. This track is super sweet. The vocals also remind me a fair deal of the later work of George Harrison, with an almost raga-like movement between notes in the vocal melody. Oh wow, there’s a lot of great feeling in this tune. Really great track.
“O.D.” almost has a jazz-like sound with the swelling woodwinds and horns, the airy drums, and the low rumbling piano. Oh wow, the woodwinds/horns section blended in nearly perfectly with the distortion from the electric guitar. Oh wow, this vocal performance is super tasty, and definitely has some raga-like elements to it that George Harrison and Donovan sort of incorporated to some of their music around that time. Oh wow, there was a quick little guitar lick with a ton of flavor. I really dig the arrangement of these tunes – there definitely seems to have been a great deal of time, thought, and care in the orchestration of these pieces. Holy smokes, this guitar tone with the distortion at the outro is super tasty. Great track.
“Land of Sensations & Delights” starts out with some super warm piano on one side and some super bright harpsichord on the other. Holy smokes, this is sweet. There’s almost the reversed ticking of a clock serving as the percussion track in this one, while the vocals seem to reverberate and guide you through some dream-like soundscape. Really sweet tune.
Oh wow, “The Times” rumbles at the start like a low engine, and also features the sounds of some sort of experimental sounding synth that seems to beg for your attention. Then, suddenly, a super harmonious tune is dropped into place where the organs/keyboards seem to sound like they’re bubbling up from underwater while the electric guitars have a super tasty sort of country rock twang to them, reminiscent of the likes of Gram Parsons. I really dig this tune. Great track.
“Magical Fingers of Minerva” starts out with some super interesting raga flavors from a sitar, and the interesting harmonization with some sort of hammond organ, which almost sounds like it’s fed through a wah pedal. The bass and drums have a super low, sort of muddy feel as the roll the tune along from underneath. This tune definitely has a lot of flavors that are reminiscent of George Harrison circa 1967-1968. Oh wow, the tune sounds like it almost breaks through to something for a moment, before the sitar comes in with a bit more of a lead-like melody and begins to travel through the soundscape. Oh wow, the sounds of the breeze at the end seemingly wash the soundscape clean. Super sweet and interesting tune.
“Dead” starts out with some super strong electric guitars that are reminiscent of psychedelic garage rock of the era. The tune, however, seems to take a different turn and becomes a bit more of a softer psychedelic tune, with the instrumentation leading you through a meadow-like soundscape while the vocals meander about the space. I’m not even sure what one of the instruments I’m hearing is, but there’s a really great drone-like effect, almost like an accordion, bagpipe, or hurdy gurdy of some sort. Oh wow, the tune changes up to become an effigy of sorts, with the instrumentation playing a really raga influenced, interesting psychedelic jam. Oh wow, the soundscape becomes filled with the gentle plucks of some high notes on a stringed instrument, while the sound of someone digging into the ground with a shovel also fills up the soundscape. The piano almost evolves into a sort of blues-inflected jazz-like piece, while still feeding into the psychedelia. Oh wow, the instrumentation all fades out and the soundscape resolves back to the reverse sounds of the introductory track on the album. Super sweet way to tie things up with this great, interesting track.
Wow, this album was a super sweet listening experience. It’s difficult to fathom that the album was led by a 15 year old and was partially arranged by another teenager; the music in this album displays a lot of wisdom. The album was almost definitely influenced by George Harrison and Donovan with the different elements of the Indian raga incorporated throughout the album. There are a lot of super tasty, and pretty unique sounding musical ideas throughout this album, which touches on a lot of different psychedelic flavors throughout the album, using effects you might hear from groups such as The Beatles, or even possibly The Doors. Really interesting listening experience, and a very enjoyable one as well. If you enjoy psychedelic rock from the 1960s at all, this is an album you might want to consider checking out. I don’t think it’s available on vinyl, but I might try to grab a CD of this album if I can find one. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A