Monday, June 3, 2024

The Beat of the Earth, USA-California



The Beat of the Earth. 1967 Radish.
Our Standard Three Minute Tune. 1994 Radish (recorded in 1967).

One of the most extraordinary early recordings you'll ever hear. Maybe the best aural document we have of the free wheeling Southern Californian culture of 1966 and 1967. This is one continuous track, broken up by the sides of the record. Non stop percussion, acoustic and electric guitar (a fuzzy surf sound), sitars, an ancient organ, and droning vocals. One of the most drugged out albums I've ever heard, except the bandleader (Phil Pearlman) was apparently anti-drugs! Maybe if the Velvet Underground had more of that Californian sunshine, they'd sound like this.

A legit LP was reissued by the band itself at the same time they unearthed the archival Our Standard Three Minute Tune, which is very similar in sound and structure to the album proper. Neither of these have been issued legit on CD. Watch for bootlegs.

Priority: 2

7/8/09 (new entry); 5/10/11; 6/3/24

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One of my favourites - the "legit reissue" released by Phil Pearlman in the 80s under the title "Our Standard Three Minute Tune" is a completely different take, by the way.

Rayuela, Argentina ***REISSUED***

Rayuela. 1977 Orfeo ***Reissued by Fonocal, Dec 2024 Moved to UMR Priority: 1 3/16/14 (new entry); 12/10/24 (complete)