Deep Purple-Deep Purple

Deep Purple

What artwork! On this the 3rd album by Deep Purple, Rod Evans, Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Nick Simper produced another gem. Nice opening track "Chasing Shadows", the psychedelic-pop of "Blind", really like the modern jazz playing by Jon Lord, Blackmore also gives a stand up job too. Donovan's "Lalena", Rod Evans vocals are fantastic, nice cover. "Fault Line/The Painter", one of my favorites from early Deep Purple, Blackmore's guitar work is freakin' great, Lord's organ and Ian Paice's drumming is tops. this should be played on every classic rock station! "Bird Has Flown", with that funky beginning, almost reminds me of Evans' Captain Beyond. Another solid effort here, after this album bassist Nick Simper and vocalist Rod Evans would be fired, months later in came Ian Gillan and Roger Glover from Episode Six. Next studio album would be "In Rock", for 1970. A big change in direction for the band. I own this CD and probably heard it first (Vinyl) around '70/'71. I loved it right away and did my early trippin' to it. What memories! As the other reviewer said, this stuff beats out the following more commercial material. The sound quality is the best you're gonna get. It amazes me how the original tapes have held up after 35/40 years. If you like acid rock with a few twists (the Donovan song "Lalena") you will be glad you made this purchase. Go for it!

Klaus Schulze- Cosmic Jokers & Galactic Supermarket

Cosmic Jokers and Galactice Super Market

 

 

COSMIC JOKERS
This is the first of the (in)famous Cosmic Jokers releases, culled from master tapes of jams by members of Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, et al that Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser surreptitiously released on his Cosmic Couriers label...eventually resulting in the demise of that and the Ohr label, as well as R-U Kaiser's career! Seems that these jams came out without the permission (or compensation!) of the artists involved, and at the time those circumstances were highly controversial. Controversy aside, though, this initial Cosmic Jokers release is a wonderful thing, a pair of truly psychedelic (supposedly the sessions were highly LSD-drenched affairs) and flowing jams reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, and then-current efforts of Tangerine Dream (viz their "Electronic Meditiation" album). A very trippy landmark of space-rock, to be sure.

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GALACTIC SUPERMARKET
Here is a truly amazing spacy Krautrock album worth looking in to. Cosmic Jokers was an unintended gathering of some of the biggest names to record for the Ohr, Pilz, and Kosmische Musik labels. This was the project that killed the career of Rolf Ulrich Kaiser and the labels he ran: Ohr, Pilz, and Kosmische Musik, because of lawsuits against him. This was the big reason why the likes of Klaus Schulze moved to Brain and Tangerine Dream moved to Virgin, and many others to other labels (often Brainm who were founded by ex-Ohr employees who didn't feel all was right at Ohr). Musicians involved were Manuel Göttsching, Klaus Schulze, Harald Großkopf, Jürgen Dollase, Dieter Dierks, Rosi Müller, and Gille Lettmann, names familiar to all who are in to this type of music. With associations with the likes of Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, Wallenstein, etc., you know what to expect with the Cosmic Jokers. Galactic Supermarket was the second in a series of Cosmic Jokers albums, all released in 1974, and is one tripped-out jam, ranging from guitar-oriented jams that sound like they came off Ash Ra Tempel's Join Inn, to percussion experiments, heavy on synthesizers, lots of electronic effects, the occasional female spoken dialog from Rosi and Gille, and so much more. The music is certain to keep you glued from start to finish. There's even a passage on the first cut, "Kinder des Alls" where the Mellotron rears its head.

It seems that Klaus Schulze was most angered. He calls these recordings an embarrassment and he wished they never existed. Manuel Göttsching thought better of these recordings and had a much better opinion of Kaiser than did Schulze. Plus he did think highly of the music, and for good reason. There seems to be too many stories regarding Kaiser (as well as Gille Lettmann, his girlfriend), but apparently they were not driven out of Germany. They simply gave up on the music industry altogether and went into seclusion (which lead to rumors of mental illness not unlike Syd Barrett).

Regardless what's the real truth behind the story of the Cosmic Jokers and Kaiser, I have to still say that Galactic Supermarket (as well as their other releases) is a complete must have for those who enjoy Krautrock, particularly Schulze and Ash Ra Tempel fans.