MIND DE-CODER 102
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We don’t wear sequins because we think we’re great. We wear them because we think sequins are great.
Gram Parsons
STURGILL SIMPSON TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN
On which Sturgill Simpson - a man whose name doomed him to become a Country and Western singer - wonders aloud if the Bible and a handful of 'shrooms will lead you to the same religious epiphany and, in doing so, also manages to invoke Buddha, mythology, cosmology, lizard aliens, LSD, physics and similar cosmic themes in his quest for enlightenment. In truth, Turtles All The Way Down isn't the most psychedelic track on his exceptional 2014 release METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC (the title is a nod to Ray Charles' own pioneering 1962 album MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC) but it provides the best intro with which to start a show that seeks explore the tenuous links between psychedelia and Country music. By the end of the song, Sturgill concludes that “marijuana, LSD, psilocybin, DMT - they all changed the way I see, but love is the only thing that saved my life," to which one can only respond: “Amen to that, brother” (and, perhaps, “don’t bogart that joint”).
THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS DEVIL IN DISGUISE
Gram Parsons had long departed the Burritos to pursue his solo career (fired by his own band for being a dilettante) by the time band came to record the live album LAST OF THE RED HOT BURRITOS in 1971, alongside "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and Bernie Leadon, leaving Chris Hillman as the only member of the original line-up - nevertheless, this iteration of the group deliver a blistering delivery of Devil In Disguise, with guest fiddler Byron Berline providing some jaw-dropping psychedelic dissonance to the performance. Originally titled Christine’s Tune, the song opened the Burrito’s debut album, THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN, and was written about Hollywood groupie Christine Frka, member of the GTOs and cover star of Frank Zappa’s HOT RATS album, with whom Hillman and/or Parsons seem to have had some serious issues (she probably broke their poor little hearts). Following her death of an overdose in 1972 at age 22, the song was rechristened Devil in Disguise as Hillman regretted the bitter misogyny of the lyrics. With this in mind, I struggled with whether to include the track in the show at all, but in the end, was won over by the sheer sonic dynamism on display in this joyous performance.
MICHAEL NESMITH AND THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND HOLLYWOOD
It was The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith who actually married psychedelia to Country, delivering a hallucinatory vibe to that Nashville twang. His first solo album as an ex-Monkee, MAGNETIC SOUTH, was delivered under the name of the First National Band in 1970 and combined a cosmic mix of Bakersfield swing, Appalachian yodeling, R & B soulfulness, and even lounge music with Nesbitt’s Country sensibilities. This was Gram Parsons’ Cosmic Americana writ large across a panoramic landscape, and although he never quite received the critical acclaim of the Burritos, or the financial rewards afforded The Eagles, Mike Nesmith was delivering cosmic country-rock long before it became the next big thing. The trippy Hollywood, rejected by The Monkees for inclusion of THE MONKEES PRESENT, pulses and shimmers beneath a lysergic haze, redolent of a time of altered states and new ideas.
THE BYRDS OLD JOHN ROBERTSON
I’ve never been a great fan of The Byrds’ SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO; in striving for C & W authenticity The Byrds lost their essential Byrds-ness. SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO could have been made by anybody, but Old John Robertson, taken from the magnificent NOTORIOUS BYRD BROTHERS, released in 1968, could only have ever been made by The Byrds. Had they followed their own singular vision and created an album at home to this track and Wasn’t Born To Follow (which also appeared on the soundtrack to EASY RIDER), augmenting their country vision with an experimental cascade of exotic phasing and that sort of thing, they might have created the greatest Country album of all time - instead, by adopting a C & W verisimilitude they lost what fans they had and failed to gain any new ones amongst the Country community (who pretty much hated them and their long-haired ways). This track had already been released some six months before as the B-side of their Lady Friend single, but that was a substantially different mix from the version that graced the album, which makes liberal use of producer Gary Usher’s love of flanging and phasing. Old John Robertson was a song that looked forward to THE SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO, but here the group’s immersion in psychedelic experimentation is very much to the fore - halfway through, a marching band seems to pass through the studio and nobody seems to take very much notice. Except for those rednecks in Nashville.
SCOTT 4 START UP
A mere trifle, but nonetheless interesting for all that, especially when it appears to head out to the stratosphere. Start Up is the opening track from the album RECORDED IN STATE LP by London’s electronic cowpunks Scott 4, released in 1998 and pretty much lays out their stall as purveyors of hip-hop beats, punk rock riffs and a sweet country twang. They never really made it big, but Beck was clearly listening.
THE MONKEES LISTEN TO THE BAND
Listen To The Band was the only single released by The Monkees which featured Michael Nesmith on lead vocals, and already he was showing his predilection for psychedelically-tinged Country with a pop sensibility. That being said there’s an insanely wild psychedelic version played by the band for their 1968 TV special ‘33 ⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee’ which descends into a freeform freakout featuring Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity, and Buddy Miles which has to be heard (and, indeed, seen) to be believed. By the time the track was recorded as a single, Pete Tork had left the band and The Monkees were now operating as a three-piece. The song was later included on their album THE MONKEES PRESENT, released in 1969, although in 1970, Nesmith would re-record the song with The First National Band for their second album, LOOSE SALUTE, so this was clearly a song he was fond of. Me too - I have often thought that that long held cadenza on the electric guitar, with the accompaniment of the organ before Nesmith comes back with the "Listen to the Band!" is a thing of quiet wonder.
CHRIS GANTRY AWAY AWAY
Recorded at Johnny Cash's house, Away Away is the track which opens the brain-melting odyssey which is AT THE HOUSE OF CASH, a peyote-inspired trip that literally starts off in outer space, with Gantry singing about flying saucers amid otherworldly electronic sounds. Years ahead of its time, this is an album that defies easy categorisation, but which might be labeled acid-country/folk, if such a genre actually existed. Recorded in 1973 it took the rest of the world some 45 years to catch up with the sounds Chris Gantry, one of Country’s true outsiders, was hearing in his head, but the album is now available from Bandcamp (you can find it here). God knows, none of the Nashville-based labels at the time would touch it.
SARAH LOUISE FLOATING RHODODENDRON
Beautiful and evocative, Floating Rhododendron puts one in mind of what The Cocteau Twins might have sounded like had Robin Guthrie been born in the Appalachian Mountains and not Scotland, say, although as fans of the genre are aware, traditional Appalachian music has its roots in the music of Scotland, so what started off as a whimsical observation actually has some veracity. Floating Rhododendron begins as a languid waltz, but is quickly swept up in a flurry of graceful finger-picking which mimics flower petals floating on water, creating a sense of stillness one can retreat to. Taken from the unpromisingly titled VDSQ SOLO ACOUSTIC Vol. 12, released in 2016 on Vin Du Select Qualitite, a label which seems to deal exclusively with instrumental guitar releases, Sarah Louise has created a moment of breathtaking beauty simply through plucking at the strings of an acoustic guitar. One could reside there.
SHIVA’S HEADBAND SONG FOR PEACE
Not so much countryfied as countryfried, Shiva’s Headband brought a psychedelic twang to the burgeoning Texas music scene before decamping from Austin to San Francisco to promote their debut album TAKE ME TO THE MOUNTAINS, released in 1969. In many ways, they were exactly the band I was looking for, combining psychedelia with some good ol’ homespun Country, with just a little bluegrass thrown in for style. They never garnered the critical trajectory of their peers, The 13th Floor Elevators, but Shiva’s Headband were the real deal and managed to keep their singular vision alive well into the eighties. In 1999, long-time bandleader and violinist Spencer Perskin was voted "Austin's Old hippie” at Eeyore's Birthday Party, an annual Austin rite of spring. The band still performs in Austin, using the name Shiva's Headband Experience.
FUTUREBIRDS TEAMWORK RUNS THE GAME
The Futurebirds evoke the entire Western landscape in 37 seconds. Taken from their 2020 release TEAMWORK.
ENNIO MORRICONE WATCH CHIMES
The man who defined the spaghetti western - as well as European genre flicks, Hollywood blockbusters, and things of that nature; he was, after all, a working musician with over 500 scores to his name. With that in mind, it’s still worth stating that the score to A FEW DOLLARS MORE - all Jew’s harp, amplified harmonica, mariachi trumpets, cor anglais, watch chimes, Bach references, and ocarinas - released in 1965, is nothing less than a masterpiece - evocative, resonant, and hauntingly psychedelic.
MARTY ROBBINS EL PASO (PLANET L’S ‘KISSING FELEENA GOODBYE’ MIX)
There ought to be a special place reserved in hell for Planet L for his egregious assault on what is, at the end of the day, the most marvelous of all Western ballads, Marty Robbins’ El Paso, originally recorded for the seminal album GUNFIGHTER BALLADS AND TRAIL SONGS, released in 1959. I first came across this tragic tale of doomed love when I was about five years old and I think that right there and then I saw it as nothing less than a fucking manifesto - a code by which to live and, if necessary, die for, all for the price of one dying kiss. Released as a single it became Robbins’ best-known song, a triumph of unrequited love - Planet L, it must be said, makes it epic. Curious fact - El Paso was produced by Don Law, the man who produced the only known recordings of blues giant Robert Johnson in the 1930s.
GENE CLARK ECHOES
Ex-Byrd Gene Clark’s career never took flight the way you might have reasonably expected given his soaring talent (you see what I did there?), although whether this was due to his reluctance to become a rock ‘n’ roll star (oh, stop), or his terrible phobias and his heavy substance abuse, is anyone’s guess - the man was a musical genius weighted down by his own fears. Echoes is taken from his first post-Byrds solo album, GENE CLARK WITH THE GOSDIN BROTHERS, released in 1967, featuring, as the name might suggest, the folk/country vocal duo the Gosdin Brothers on backing vocals, as well as former bandmates Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke, future Byrd Clarence White, and Glenn Campbell amongst other Wrecking Crew session musicians. It featured some of Clark’s best songs, combining a unique mixture of country rock, pop, and the baroque psychedelia of Echoes, and with all this talent on board, it should have been a hit. Sadly, it sank without a trace owing to the fact it was released at the exact same time as the Byrds’ YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY, and CBS’s promotional energies went into the new Byrds LP, as did the attention of the fans, which pretty much set the course for Clark’s subsequent career. These days, of course, it’s a highly regarded gem.
STURGILL SIMPSON IT AIN’T ALL FLOWERS
This is the full-on psychedelic assault that closes Simpson’s METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC, the track which confounds traditional Country listeners, but delights the ears of those who enjoy the new pathways it opens up - this is acid-drenched psychedelic Country: phased, wah-wah'ed, and reverbed guitars, crunchy snares, haunting mellotron, spacy slide lines, and instrumental backmasking that wind into the stratosphere abide here. I don’t know why all Country acts don’t do this sort of thing. In truth, I wonder why everyone doesn’t do this sort of thing.
PETER GRUDZIEN RETURN OF THE UNICORN
Peter Grudzien, one of Country music’s true outsiders (he has a chapter in Irwin Chusid’s ‘Songs in the Key of Z’, for a start), may have released Country’s first psychedelic concept album back in 1974 - it may even be Country’s first openly gay album to boot - but, and I can’t stress this enough, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’d ever want to listen to it twice. THE UNICORN was almost entirely written, played, and produced by Grudzien who, throughout his lifetime, suffered from drugs, mental illness, being institutionalized, and the social stigma of homosexuality. The album features bluegrass mountain music, and a kind of Americana from the twilight zone, mixed with tape effects, musique concrète, fuzz guitar, imagery and themes from religion, death, sex, and other timely concerns with surreal lyrics which unabashedly address his homosexuality. It is by no means an easy listen - Return Of The Unicorn, whilst undoubtedly psychedelic, will offer you some indication of the music you will find within its grooves, which might best be expressed as intense, claustrophobic, and challenging. Grudzien had 500 copies pressed and tried, unsuccessfully, to sell them in bookstores but the world wasn’t ready for eccentric gay hill-billy music then; however, there has been much subsequent interest in his work, culminating in a documentary, also called ‘The Unicorn’, released in 2018, which is well worth checking out.
THE ALIENS HEY, LEANNE
Hey, Leanne, of course, is a play on words, one which it took me years to get, but which accounts for just one reason why The Aliens are one of my favourite bands. This track is taken from THE ALIENOID STARMONICA EP, released in 2006 by the ex-Beta Band-ers, and is a wonky psychedelic affair that enjoys a lo-fi, otherworldy, transcendental quality which, for all the world, sounds like an alien abduction put to tape.
JOHN R. BUTLER HAND OF THE ALMIGHTY (excerpt)
Just the opening verse from the John R. Butler classic Hand Of The Almighty, also known as God will Fuck You Up, from his 2003 release SURPRISE! It may be satire, but in these post-ironic days, who can tell?
SUSS DRIFT
New York band SUSS evoke a nocturnal trip through an empty desert on Drift, taken from their 2021 release PROMISE. This is cosmic Americana, a psychic road trip through a cosmic pastoral landscape, alive with cicadas and tumbling bushweed.
MICHAEL NESMITH AND THE SECOND NATIONAL BAND YOU ARE MY ONE
The stoned, tranquil You Are My One is a plaintive mantra that floats away into the cosmos on the back of some trippy pedal steel guitar. It’s an expansive listen, taken from the album TANTAMOUNT TO TREASON VOL 1 (there was no Vol. 2) which gives a pretty good idea where Nesmith’s (or Papa Nes, as he appears to have been called at this time) head was at in 1972 (the end of the sixties, if truth be told). Apart from the opening track, which could almost be heavy metal, the whole album is at home to a gentle, slightly hallucinogenic reverie, best enjoyed on the steps of a classic silver Airstream parked up in Joshua Tree national park as the sun sets and the sky turns pink, orange and red. On the back cover of the LP, Nesmith helpfully provides a recipe for his Papa Nes Home Brew.
CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH GUINNEVERE
David Crosby’s Guinnevere enjoys a serene sylvan charm that is beatific in its loveliness. Strictly speaking, it isn’t Country at all and owes more to an acoustic folk vibe, but along with the Byrds' SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO and The Band's MUSIC FROM BIG PINK released the previous year, CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH, released in in 1969, looked backward to a simpler time, rooted, at least somewhere, on the Cosmic Americana spectrum. The point is, the sublime Guinnevere is probably Crosby’s best song and I just wanted to include it in the mix. Country? Folk? Psychedelia? These are just labels and you shouldn’t get hung up on labels (he said, dissembling, in public, of all places).
NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE GARDEN OF EDEN
The New Riders Of The Purple Sage initially started off as an offshoot of the Grateful Dead, allowing three members of that band (Garcia, Lesh and Hart) to indulge their tastes for country music beyond the albums WORKINGMAN’S DEAD and AMERICAN BEAUTY. By the time they came to record their debut album in 1971 only Garcia remained, and the group took on a psychedelic edge that owed more to the Flying Burrito Brothers than anything The Grateful Dead were doing at the time. The eponymous debut album features some of the most spaced-out country-rock of the period, the mescaline-soaked musical arrangements providing a tie-dyed, patchouli oil-scented Bakersfield-style twang for the hippie themes of sex, drugs, and in the case of Garden Of Eden, nascent environmental concerns.
PINK FLOYD CRUMBLING LAND
I think it was David Gilmour who referred to Crumbling Land as Pink Floyd’s strange little Country and Western track. They had composed it for Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult 1970 movie ‘Zabriskie Point’. Gilmour went on to note that the track could have been done better by any number of American bands which, given that The grateful Dead also provided a number of tracks for the soundtrack, would have made sense, but Antonioni went with the Pink Floyd. And there you have it.
HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS IF YOU WANT TO BE A BIRD
If You Want To Be A Bird is taken from the album THE MORAY EELS EAT THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS, released in 1969, but you will most likely recognize it from the soundtrack to EASY RIDER (it accompanies the scene where a young Jack Nicholson, proudly wearing his high school football helmet, sets off on the highway with his new motorcycling hippie pals Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, a celebratory moment in a film which doesn’t end particularly well for any of its protagonists.) The parent album is generally considered an album that’s so far out it ain’t coming back again - an acid-fried mix of jugband, country, blues, ragtime, folk, and hard rock segued into a continuous mix that more than reflects the madness of the times. The Holy Modal Rounders, incidentally are generally regarded as the first band to use the term psychedelic in popular music (although one hesitates to use the word ‘popular’ in reference to the band) on their debut album, released in 1964, thus pipping The Blues Magoos with their 1966 album PSYCHEDELIC LOLLIPOP to the post, as, indeed, they do with The 13th Floor Elevators who, of course, used the term for their debut album THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS, also in 1966 (fact fans!)
MICHAEL NESMITH AND THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND TUMBLING TUMBLEWEED
Tumbling Tumbleweeds is probably the most famous country and western song ever - the original, recorded by Sons Of The Pioneers in 1934, was selected for entry to the archives of the National Recording Registry, and it’s been covered by everybody from Gene Autrey (whose own 1935 recording was chosen by Members of the Western Writers of America as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time) to The Meat Puppets. Michael Nesmith has a go at the reins on his third and final album with the National Band, NEVADA FIGHTER, released in 1971, and produces a typically trippy interpretation on an album that concludes his American Trilogy. It turns out that it is he who best marries psychedelia with Country, and what a cosmic little trip it was.
PAUL QUINN AND EDWYN COLLINS PALE BLUE EYES (WESTERN)
Erstwhile harbingers of The Sound of Young Scotland, Bourgie Bourgie’s Paul Quinn and Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins take a welcome country turn in their cover of the Velvet Underground’s Pale Blue Eyes, recorded in 1984 for the soundtrack to the movie 'Punk Rock Hotel', a film that was, in fact, never made. Ever so slightly discordant, it still sends a shiver down my spine.
GO HOME PRODUCTIONS LSD FOREVER
Go Home Production’s Mark Vidler takes the novelty country tune and cautionary tale LSD, released in 1968 by country and western crooner Wendell Austin, and does right by it on his 2003 remix LSD Forever, available here under the clunky but valid collection title GO HOME PRODUCTIONS GHP COMPLETE 02 2003/02 which is where mashups appear to be kept these days, if they’re not stored away at the back of a hard drive somewhere.
