Shiva’s Headband is a psychedelic rock band formed in Austin, Texas, in 1967. The group played a large role in expanding the music scene in their area, serving as the house band for the Vulcan Gas Company nightclub, and played a large part in founding the Armadillo World Headquarters, which was an influential music hall in the Austin, Texas, area from about 1970 to 1980. The band played shows with larger acts such as Spirit, Steppenwolf, ZZ Top, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, and Steve Miller. This album, Take Me To The Mountains (1969), was the first album released nationally from an Austin-based rock band. Most of this information is just pulled from their Wikipedia page, as I can’t seem to find a whole lot of information about the band at a quick glance from the internet. The band still seems to perform today in the Austin area, under the name Shiva’s Headband Experience. This album is labeled under southern rock and psychedelic rock on Discogs, however, so I’m quite excited to give this one a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“My Baby” starts out with a really groovy beat and guitar that reminds me of some 1960s west coast psychedelic rock, which is soon joined by a super interesting fiddle to add some different flavor to the mix. Oh wow, this piano in this one is super tasty too. This is super sweet, like some sort of strange conglomeration of 1960s west coast psychedelic rock with some classic southern rock with a Texas twist. Oh wow, the fiddle is super interesting and really provides something that immediately gives the band a unique sound, while the rest of the instrumentation and arrangement seems to complement this idea too. The backing vocals really have that in-your-face quality that is sometimes found in psychedelic rock tunes from the time period, while the piano, drums, and bass all groove together and give off a great southern rock vibe, while the fiddle seems somewhere between the two, while still staying quite southern in sound. Great track, and I’m super excited for the rest of the album.
Oh wow, “Take Me To The Mountains” has a super tasty southern country rock feel with the strong backbeat and the seemingly back and forth country sound in the bass. Oh wow, this extended instrumental jam is super sweet. The piano seems to fill in the space between notes in the bass line, while the fiddle brings a super earthy sound to the soundscape. All of the instruments combine for a soundscape rife with flavors of southern comfort near the border. Great track.
Oh wow, “Homesick Armadillo Blues” has a classic blues riff with the band giving a unique blend of psychedelic-tinged blues and southern rock instrumentation and flavors to create a song reminiscent of Texas. Oh wow, the harmonica really brings some great bluesy flavors while the groovy bass and tasty piano rollick around to create a rockin’ soundscape. Oh wow, the distorted guitar adds tasty accentuations right at the end to tie up the tune a bit. Great tune.
Oh wow, “Ripple” sounds so similar to a psychedelic rock sound from the west coast in the 1960s, but it’s got a distinct southern flavor. It’s like if a group like Jefferson Airplane were from Texas or something, super awesome. There’s a really nice warm sound from the piano and keyboard, that seem to walk the tune forward along the bass line, while the clean guitar melting into the soundscape. Holy smokes, there’s a kazoo part that really jams out in the soundscape and adds a ton of flavor. Great track, wow.
“Song For Peace” starts out with a somewhat ominous high pitched drone and a repetitive light drum at the beginning, almost like a strange hum of electricity of a slow moving fan that seems to clip something each time it completes a rotation, and reminds me a bit of The Doors’ extended jams/songs from the end of some of their albums. Holy smokes, the tune seems to drop into place and becomes a super flavorful psychedelic soundscape with some groovy organs and really tasty piano that create a lot of movement in the track, while the meandering bass helps drive the tune forward alongside those steady drums. Holy smokes, this track is awesome, and switches up a ton from the sound of some of their other albums. Wow, the fiddle in the tune almost picks up a bit of a psychedelic raga-intonation as the jam gets to exploratory territory. Oh wow, the guitar seems to land the tune into place as the track comes to an end. Great track.
“Ebeneezer” starts out in a somewhat similar manner to the previous track, with the organ providing a bit of a high-pitched drone just before the rest of the instrumentation drops the tune into place. Holy smokes, this track is sweet; the tune is still in some psychedelic exploratory territory, but seems to be returning a bit back to those Texas roots a bit. Oh wow, the tempo changes up a lot and the tune seems to come to an end, with the fiddle gradually winding things down in a super natural sounding way. Wow, there’s a ton of stuff I missed writing about as I was caught up in the music. Great tune.
“North Austin Strut” has lost a lot of the psychedelic soundscape and returned mostly to the southern rock/Texas groove rock sound. Oh wow, the piano seems to lightly rain in some high notes that really bring a delicate feel to the album, while the clean electric guitar seems to create a really nice line that makes its way around and around as the tune progresses. The female vocalist’s voice provides a really interesting contrast compared to the vocals on the rest of the songs so far, which has only brought me further to the edge of my seat. Great track.
Oh wow, “Come With Me” starts out with some tasty r&b feel between the groovy vocals, tasty clean guitar, super flavorful bass guitar that really expands on the melody a lot, and those super sweet drums that are going full steam ahead with no signs of slowing. The piano brings a playful rollicking flavor to the tune, while the fiddle provides a gritty and earthy sound to the tune that seems to tie everything together with a Texas groove flavor. Wow, this is sweet. The drums are super sweet, and have been giving the tune a great platform to work off of as they don’t stop until the very last moment as the song ends. Wow, great track.
Oh wow, “Good Time” starts with some harpsichord and super light folksy vocals that make the tune sound as though it had been lost in time and found by the band. Oh wow, the backing vocals only add to this feeling too. Holy smokes, the flute comes in alongside the bass, which both seem to coax you through a really sweet meadow that’s been lost in time. I seem to have gotten lost in the music on this one, as the tune ended before I even knew it. Great track.
“Kaleidoscoptic” starts things off in a seemingly unapologetically Texas and southern manner with the fiddle in conjunction with a groovy rollicking from the interplay between the tasty bass and warm piano lines. Oh wow, the jangliness of the acoustic guitar only adds to that Texas groove sound. Holy smokes, the band seems to naturally shift over to something a bit more psychedelic in nature near the end of the song as they seem to be tying things up with the super tasty keyboard/organ, alongside the sturdy drums and flavorful vocals guiding this natural movement from one genre to the next. Great track, and a great way to finish up this album.
Holy smokes, this album was awesome. If you dig southern rock, Texas flavors, and psychedelic rock, I would recommend you check out this album. After completing this play-through of the album, I can say that I am almost certainly going to at least try to get it on vinyl, as well as listen to it again very soon. The music ventures out into exploratory territory and finds its way back to that Texas groove southern rock sound on multiple occasions, and sort of reminds me a bit of a mixture of Jefferson Airplane and Doug Sahm, which is a combination I didn’t know I needed until now. Psychedelic music verged a bit with country music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but this is a sort of take on that style I can’t remember having heard until now. 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