News: Friendsound reissued on CD by Real Gone!

I saw this one come through the wire yesterday, and I ordered it immediately. As such, I will be featuring it in Unencumbered Music Reviews soon as well.

As you can see, this is a 2 CD set that also includes the band that precedes Friendsound, and that would be Brotherhood and their two albums. I haven't heard these myself, and they look to be a bit outside of what I normally listen to. But for a few extra bucks, I'll hear two new-to-me albums plus obtain one of America's most experimental psych records on CD to supplement my LP copy. As well as what appears to be a great reissue all around. Our feature for Friendsound is here. And if we look carefully at the label description, we'll notice the band is known as Friend Sound - two words. The original LP gives us a mixed message on that front. The spine is two words, but everywhere else (label, back liner notes, track titles) indicate it is one word. So it appears there will need to be some discography adjustments applied on the various sites out there.

We haven't run into the Real Gone label prior, but they have been around for over 20 years, and appear to have quite an extensive collection of reissues under their belt. So it's good news that they've entered our realm as well!

The label's description is as follows:

• Brotherhood Is the Band that Bassist Phil "Fang" Volk, Guitarist Drake "The Kid" Levin and Drummer Mike "Smitty" Smith Formed After Leaving Paul Revere &
  the Raiders
  
• The Complete Recordings Includes All Three Albums They Recorded for RCA, None of Which Have Ever Been on CD
• Friend Sound/Joyride Is One of the Most Experimental Albums Released by a Mainstream Rock Group in the Late '60s
• 2-CD Package Includes a Thorough Band History Written by Bill Kopp and Drawn from Extensive Research and Interviews with Phil "Fang" Volk
• Added Photos
• Remastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in NY

Right at the height of popularity for Paul Revere and the Raiders, the band’s core power trio of Phil “Fang” Volk (bass), Drake “The Kid” Levin (guitar) and Mike “Smitty” Smith (drums) left to pursue their own more ambitious musical goals. Subsequent lawsuits and a run of bad luck meant that the first, self-titled album by their new band, Brotherhood, would be delayed, and received little notice at the time. Yet, by mixing a wealth of socially-conscious original numbers with hard-rocking reinterpretations of tunes by the Mamas and the Papas and Joe South, Brotherhood was a band brimming with promise. Between 1968 and 1969 the band released two more albums, one under their own name, the other a third, wildly experimental record (Friend Sound / Joyride) that drew upon Cage, Zappa and Stockhausen (and acid) for its influences. Bringing together music that has been out of print for over 40 years and never available on CD until now, Brotherhood: The Complete Recordings includes all three albums the group cut for RCA on two CDs, plus a definitive history of the band by Bill Kopp, based on extensive research and a lengthy interview with Phil Volk, who contributes a note of his own. Remastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in NYC…one of the great lost bands of the late ‘60s!"