Sunday, December 8, 2019

Group 1850 - Live. 1969 Netherlands

By all accounts it looked like 1975 was to be a revival year for Group 1850. They reissued their most famous single in 'Mother No-Head', and they released their first studio album in 6 years with Polyandri. In addition to that, to set the context of who Group 1850 even was, they issued this archival album of 1969 live recordings, arguably at the height of their creative powers. As with any live Group 1850 setting, the focus is more on improvisational jams than simple recreations of past material, thus making the recording essential listening for fans. The highlight here for certain is the lengthy 'Between 18 and 50 Part VII' which captures the band at their freaky best. The final track 'Verandering (Change)' is yet another Peter Sjardin solo effort on his homemade Organiser. It is said this was a home recording tacked on to the end of this Live album. It's this recording that lends credence to the fact that Sjardin's solo album Changes may have been recorded as early as 1969. If it's true, Sjardin was considerably ahead of the pack - as usual. He took the spacey aspects of Pink Floyd's 'Saucerful of Secrets' to its logical extreme - long before anyone else. Overall though, the sound quality itself isn't great - but good enough for an archival album. In a later era, these would have made excellent bonus tracks to any CD reissue. As a standalone LP, it is debatable if it's worth owning by itself.

CD: 2019 Pseudonym

Part of the Purple Sky box set. As a bonus, there are also a couple of classic Paradise Now era tracks recorded from a 1973 concert, one of the dormant years of Group 1850. Both are well recorded and makes one pine for a full concert from this era of the band.

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