Stone Garden (1969 / 1998)
Hard to imagine that Idaho was home to any heavy psych bands from the late 60s and early 70s, much less two. Though unlike Salem Mass, Stone Garden did not release their material real time, despite having a production grade recording under their belts. It wasn't until 1998 that Rockadelic unearthed the tapes and released it on LP, and was later issued on CD by Gear Fab. Other issues followed. They did, however, manage to put out one incredibly obscure 45 prior to these recordings.
The album starts with a Blue Cheer styled heavy psych piece, and largely defines the album as a whole. But there are many diversions including the jazzy 5) and some early progressive rock ideas (tracks 4; 8). The only skip over is 9), which is a silly novelty country influenced number. A fantastic archival find overall.
All of the issues include the original 45, which is considerably lesser than the archival material. This is noted in the booklet since the latter was professionally recorded. The opening track is the B) side of the single, and closes this CD. It's definitely the highlight, though the guitars are way less amplified and there's incongruous saxophone, which comes out of nowhere. The A) side is pretty much straight blues, though it does have a very nice psych tinged solo.
Ownership: 2002 Gear Fab (CD). Booklet with full history and both 45 cuts.
5/10/07 (first listen); 2/28/14 (CD acquired); 1/27/26 (review / new entry)
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