This album, Dreaming With Alice (1972), by Mark Fry was another album I added a few nights back while doing more research on psychedelic folk music. From what I can find on the internet, Mark Fry made the album after leaving art school in Italy in the early 1970s, which ended up sounding like a British psychedelic folk album that had been popular a few years earlier. It seems to have been relatively well-received, though is somewhat of an unknown album today from what I’m seeing at glance on the internet. I’m pretty excited to give this a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Dreaming with Alice (Verse 1)” starts things out with a very gentle and somewhat ominous acoustic guitar with some super reverberated vocals that spread throughout the soundscape. Super interesting intro tune.
“The Witch” starts off with more of a bit of that ominous sounding guitar, while still retaining a delicate quality that still seems to be inviting at the same time. Oh wow, this is sweet. There sounds to be a bit of raga influence with the electric guitar, which takes on a really pleasant droning quality. Oh wow, this is sweet. The sparse and simple drums really add to the drone-like quality of the soundscape, while the simple bass line continually seems to bop the tune along, creating a lot of forward moving sound. This is super interesting, as it almost sounds like The Brian Jonestown Massacre meets early Donovan with some elements of John Lennon’s solo discography peppered in. Oh wow, I really dig this tune. The percussion section gradually becomes a bit more complex with what sounds like the use of a tabla, giving more of that raga quality to the tune. The soft droning quality of the vocals really add to the inviting quality that the tune seems to contain, as Fry leads you down a really sweet and interesting soundscape filled with folksy and raga flavors. Great track.
“Dreaming with Alice (Verse 2)” contains more of the soft guitar and super pleasant and reverberated vocals in this short tune. Super sweet.
“Song for Wilde” starts out with some really pleasant folk guitar, accompanied by a super simple percussion pattern on what sounds to be a tabla. The vocals from Fry are super interesting as it sounds like he sings super similar lines offset about a fifth of a second from one another on both sides of the soundscape, while both of these lines seem to reverberate through the soundscape even more to create an interesting echo. Super sweet track.
“Dreaming with Alice (Verse 3)” returns to that sweet acoustic guitar and reverberated vocals in this quick verse. Super sweet again.
“Roses for Columbus” has a super pleasant acoustic folk sound with the acoustic guitar on what side, and what might even be a sitar on the other side. I really dig the acoustic guitar in this one, it’s not overly complex and still contains some quite pleasant flavors that beg you to listen closer. Oh wow, this tune is super sweet. The bass line and vocals seem to play alongside each other with plenty of space to sound distinct. Oh wow, this tune contains a few different movements in it. There’s a really pleasant soft drone within the different parts, all seemingly inviting you to continue following them. The flute brings a really nice brightness whenever it comes on, only adding to the inviting quality in the soundscape. Super sweet tune.
“A Norman Soldier” seems to fade in through the ether, with a super pleasant percussion track from the tabla encircling the soundscape, while a really pleasant chord progression is repeated in the center of the soundscape. Holy smokes, the bass line brings some super sweet flavor to the soundscape that seems to verge on a folk rock sound, all while some background vocals seem to caress the tune forward. Super sweet track.
“Dreaming with Alice (Verse 4)” continues on with the pleasant guitar and reverberated vocals much like the other verse tracks. “Dreaming with Alice (Verse 5)” seems to pick up again as if the previous verse had a false stop to it, super sweet. Really pleasant tracks.
Oh wow, “Lute and Flute” has a super pleasant and inviting sound from the flute right at the start that invites you into the soundscape, which is soon joined by an encircling tabla percussion section as well as a pleasant acoustic guitar or lute, which combine to produce a super pleasant folksy soundscape. The vocals from Fry carry with them a simple but very pleasant sentiment. The background vocals seem to add yet another layer of inviting sound in the tune. Oh wow, there’s a little lick played by a guitar seemingly out of nowhere, which combines with the rest of the instrumentation to add that much more flavor to the soundscape as the tune seems to be continually building on itself. Super sweet tune.
“Dreaming with Alice (Verse 8)” returns back to that pleasant acoustic guitar and sweet reverberated vocal sound. Really sweet.
Oh wow, “Down Narrow Streets” almost reminds me a bit of John Fahey with the guitar at the beginning, and gradually changes over to something a bit more European folk oriented with the introduction of the pleasant flute and smooth bass line in the background. This is really interesting, as there’s almost a bit of a layer of distortion that encompasses the different instrumentation, nearly blurring the lines between the sounds of the different instruments until it’s just one cohesive folksy sound. Great track.
Oh wow, “Dreaming with Alice (Verse 7)” seems to sound all the sweeter this time around. Super sweet short tune/verse.
Oh wow, “Mandolin Man” sounds like it has that classic folksy hero’s voyage sound in the descending melody at the beginning between the different stringed instruments. Oh wow, there seems to be a traditional western drum kit in this one as well as the tabla, which really propels the tune forward with the marching feel of the soft snare and emphasis from the cymbals, all while the tabla once again encircles the soundscape to nearly hypnotize the listener. Oh wow, the acoustic guitar is super sweet as it seems to combine flavors from some Spanish flamenco, British folk, and acoustic delta blues. Holy smokes, there’s some super interesting electric effects to what sounds like an electric guitar with a fat and squishy wah effect and in interesting fuzz/distortion. Holy smokes, this tune is sweet. The acoustic guitar and electric guitar seem to blend together at times, while the rhythm acoustic guitar keeps the tune grooving steady with a percussive strumming of some chords. The bass has a really sweet, smooth and muddy contrast alongside the rhythm acoustic guitar. Wow, this is sweet. Holy smokes, the tune transitioned to another movement that almost has a funk folk feel, if that’s even possible, though evidently it is possible. The vocals from Fry seem nearly be relieving tension in this super groovy soundscape, while the instruments keep up a super tasty jam until things are tied together with the crashing of some cymbals at the end. Wow, great tune.
Holy smokes, “Dreaming with Alice (Verses 8 & 9)” comes on and has a ton of flavor, and nearly takes you down memory lane after the epic jam that took place in the previous track. Oh wow, the vocals seem to reverberate through space near the end. Great track.
“Rehtorb Ym No Hcram” starts out with some extremely flavorful reversed instrumentation from what seems to be a reversed tabla, reversed guitar or sitar, and possibly reversed mellotron or some sort of keys or something that would create a gently shifting drone-like quality in the background. Oh wow, even the vocals are reversed at the end. It nearly sounds as if the lyrics at in some sort of Gaelic or language like that with the British folk flavors combined with the reversed effects. Great track and a great way to wind up the album.
Wow, this album was incredibly interesting. It reminded me a bit of C.A. Quintet with the “Dreaming with Alice” motif throughout the album, with a sound that was like The Brian Jonestown Massacre meets early Donovan, with plenty of influence from other artists from previous years like the effects and forward movement feeling in John Lennon’s solo work, as well as some of the different folk flavors from Bert Jansch’s solo work. There was a really pleasant consistency throughout the album, with each song feeling as though much thought about its placement in the album went into it. If you dig psychedelic folk or acid folk, and folk rock, you might want to check out this album. 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