The Parable Of Arable Land Set Media Book

With the recent release of Lightning Hopkins'  Free Form Patterns  U.K.'s Charly Records have completed their Limited Edition Deluxe Digi-book series of the  International Artists  album catalog. All have been remastered and housed in hardcover digi-books, some containing two or three CDs if enough bonus or rare material was available, and generous booklets featuring photos and memorabilia. Some of the bonus tracks throughout the releases can also be found on the  Epitaph for a Legend  compilation as well. There have been grumbles in some circles about the remastering, but for the time being these are the best bet out there. Besides this release, which was IA-2, the rest of the series includes 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS 'The Psychedelic Sounds Of' (IA-1), LOST AND FOUND  Everybody's Here  (IA-3), GOLDEN DAWN ' Power Plant ' (IA-4), 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS 'Easter Everywhere' (IA-5), Lightning Hopkins 'Free Form Patterns' (IA-6), RED KRAYOLA  God Bless The Red Krayola And All Who Sail With It  (IA-7), 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS 'Live' (IA-8), 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS 'Bull of the Woods' (IA-9), BUBBLE PUPPY 'A Gathering Of Promises' (IA-10), Dave Allen 'Color Blind' (IA-11) and ENDLE St. CLOUD 'Thank You All Very Much' (IA-12). I plan to cover each release in this series, use the link to the next entry to follow the reviews.......The RED KRAYOLA (they lost the "C" after the first album when the Crayola Company threatened legal action) is probably the best known act on International Artists after 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS. Led by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Mayo Thompson, who remained the only constant in their now 48 year career, the original group also included drummer Frederick Barthelme (brother of novelist Donald) and bassist Steve Cunningham. After 'Parable' the label rejected their second offering,  Coconut Hotel , an album of improvised and atonal compositions, with many running only one second. The album, very much ahead of it's time, remained unreleased until 1995. It was during this period that the band recorded a live performance in Berkeley, California that was even further "out there." They also played a set with legendary guitarist/historian John Fahey that was broadcast on San Francisco's KQED. Both concerts were released in 1998 on the 2CD set  The Red Crayola Live 1967 . A rumored studio album by the two has yet to surface. With new drummer Tommy Smith, the band made a 180° turn toward minimalism on their "official" 2nd album, 'God Bless The Red Krayola And All Who Sail With It.' I cover that in more detail on it's  product page . After leaving IA, Thompson released  Corky's Debt to His Father , a solo album of lyrically complex but musically mainstream (for him!) songs backed by a studio group. As with 'God Bless' the musical genres were all over the place, country, pop, psychedelia and Tejano, to name a few. Mayo took a break from the music scene for a few years, moving to NYC where he worked with pop artist Robert Rauschenberg, and later to London, where he recorded five albums with conceptual art group ART & LANGUAGE and new wave musicians such as Lora Logic and Epic Soundtracks. From 1980-1982 he was the guitarist in the avant-garage PERE UBU, who recorded "Horses" from 'Corky's Debt.' Thompson remained active in music from then on, releasing numerous albums either solo or with RED KRAYOLA or ART & LANGUAGE. He also taught at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California from 1994-2008 and continues to live there. A long, varied and interesting career, to say the least......'Parable of Arable Land' has six songs by the band, cross-faded in and out of "Free form Freak-Outs," cacophonous improvised "free" sections generated by the band and audience, later named The Familiar Ugly to differentiate their genesis from the group-only performances. Roky Erickson's guest performance on organ ("Hurricane Fighter Plane") and harmonica ("Transparent Radiation") helped give the album a 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS' nod. The first actual composition, "Hurricane Fighter Plane" reminds one of a stripped down HAWKWIND and benefits from Roky's spooky organ washes in the background. It's also been covered by ALIEN SEX FIEND & THE DWARVES. "Transparent Radiation" is folk-based psychedelia reinforced by Roky's Dylan-esque harmonica. The obviously anti-Vietnam "War Sucks" could've been a lost VELVET UNDERGROUND live track with it's pounding tribal beat and exploratory guitar noise. "Pink Stainless Tail" is probably the album's highlight, with it's throbbing bass breaks and treble-y guitar interludes, a groovier slice of driving psychedelia would be hard to find. The atmospheric "Former Reflections Enduring Doubt" finds the band in a rare reflective mood, and probably would have benefited from a better production. It's easy tho hear why THE RED CRAYOLA is sometimes categorized as proto-punk, but screaming double-time three-chord rock it ain't......The 2CD set is remastered from the original master tapes for the first time (except for six tracks, see below) by Sonic Boom of the British psych/space/rock group SPACEMEN 3 (who have covered "Transparent Radiation"). CD#1 contains the 12 track stereo album and the 6 outtakes originally on the 'Epitaph for a Legend' compilation, and one previously unreleased track. CD#2 contains the mono album with the original Side One (Tracks 1-6) taken from an original mono LP. The reviewer who complained about the "Free form Freak-Out" sections failed to mention is that as a bonus on Disc Two are five songs (Tracks 2,4,6,8,12) gathered together without the FFFO sections so they can be "listened to collectively." (Title track 10 is not featured separately since it's an electronic improvisation). Sometimes I wonder if some of these reviewers actually buy or listen to what they write about! There's a bound-in 16 page booklet made of heavy quality stock with a preface by Sonic Boom, an eight page history of the band (that's continued in the 2nd album reissue) by 13th FLOOR ELEVATOR's biographer Paul Drummond, two pages of credits, and rare photos, posters and memorabilia, including a great two-page colour spread of the Band, The Familiar Ugly, and International Artists' Lelan Rogers and Producer Walt Andrus. A definitive package fit for a seminal and influential band, now let's talk about their next album......

If you are reading this, you are most likely already a fan of this album. The question for you is probably, "Why should I buy this latest reissue?" My answer is that the monaural version presented in this package delivers the goods the way they were meant to be heard - with great clarity and without the tape manipulation noises found in every stereo version ever released. It may have been lifted from a pristine disc instead of from master tapes, but it sounds better than any version of the album I've ever had and I've had many (unfortunately, no IA originals). The lengthy liner notes include some great pictures and anecdotes about the recording session and the mastering process, including an explanation about why the mono version had to be created from a pressed disc (the original studio master tape was erased for the sake of economy). This is as good as it gets, so if you already love Red Krayola's first recorded creation, don't hesitate. You will be rewarded with a new, incredible listening experience.

Originally released in 1967, as this is the long running band's very first effort. Highly under-appreciated 'experimental psych' in which as for the few other Red Crayola CD's I've heard, this one is probably the best. 'The Parable Of Arable Land' employs weird and unconventional sounds of jugs, sticks, flutes, kazoos, etc. Hard to believe, but the band actually STILL exists today. Well, at least singer / songwriter Mayo Thompson is active with putting out new releases and touring occasionally. A couple of the tunes that I was sort of blown away with were "Free Form Freakout", "Pink Stainless Tail" and "Transparent Radiation". Might be too strange for some. Line-up: Mayo Thompson - guitar & vocals, Steve Cunninghan - bass and Rick Barthelme - drums. Might appeal to fans of Skip Spence, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Pere Ubu, Syd Barrett and 13th Floor Elevators. Let your freak flag fly!

God bless the Red Crayola and all who sail with it! That's not just the title of another Red Krayola album, it's verity!The confusion between the early Red Crayola and the later Red Krayola comes from the fact that the maker of Crayola crayons (and who isn't familiar with those?), Smith-Binney, SUED the band over their name. Seriously? That's low-rent, in my book.The engineer/studio inadvertently destroyed the stereo version master tapes of this record, so it has been painstakingly reconstructed using bouncing techniques to re-create (simulate) the real stereo version. Amazingly, it works quite well, and would fool some audiophiles into thinking it's a real stereo version! Hats off to whoever took the time and effort to do this. I actually love both the mono and faux stereo versions, and listen to them equally.If you are a fan of the Red Crayola/Krayola, this is a must-have.

This is a review of the 2-LP set from Charly records. Record A is the stereo mix; record B is the mono mix.Nice gatefold interior showing a large photo of the 'familiar ugly,' an assorted band of you name it who played on the interludes between songs. Fascinating.clangs, bangs, shrieks, etc.You'll be open to this if you like songs like 'Interstellar Overdrive' by Pink Floyd; however, make no mistake: The Red Crayola carved out their own distinct slice of free-form psychedelia and strange anti-pop songs for the ages.

Great introduction to this bizarre and near legendary early Psych rock band! fantastic sound quality that I've come to expect from Charly Records U.K. with both the mono and stereo albums and includes great sounding demos as well!

definitely out there

This is a 60's psychedelic gem. Put this album on and you will be transported to a different world. It's really captures the craziness of its time. They don't make em like this anymore.

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Great album. Their sound is unique, very original, well performed. Good audio quality, especially compared to the other version I had together with their 2nd album also released by the Charly label.

Free Form Freak-OutHurricane Fighter Plane "When the Ride Is Over You Can Go to Sleep"Free Form Freak-OutTransparent Radiation "Red Signs Out-Side, Which I Contain"Free Form Freak-OutWar Sucks "You Remember What Happened to Hansel and Gretel"Free Form Freak-Out (prima traccia)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Free Form Freak-OutPink Stainless Tail "Seven Guest Are Quite Now, And Now Not Half ..."Free Form Freak-Out (seconda traccia)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Parable of Arable Land (terza traccia)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Free Form Freak-OutFormer Reflections Enduring Doubt "I Pass in a Rain That Is Always Too" (quarta traccia)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Former Reflections Enduring Doubt [Alt Stereo Edit & Mix] (quinta traccia o bonus track)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Il primo lato dell'originale LP lo trovate tutto sulla prima traccia. Le 5 tracce del CD sono distribuite come sopra indicato.

A truly fine CD, with lots of trip filled music for those needing a fix of 60's psych.

13th floor elevatorsのヒットで次のTexasのスターを探すなかで発掘されたバンドの1967年の1st。この作品の影響力と現在まで続くMayo Thompsonの活動の重要性とは強調してもしすぎることはないでしょう。先に再発されたelevatorsの諸作は結局ヴィニールマスターがほとんどで別段ピンとくるものはなかったのですが、今回のリイシューで特筆すべきは本作品がはじめてオリジナルのマスターテープから復刻されたことです。その効果は絶大で、音の分離の良さ（多人数のFamiliar Uglyがそれぞれ何をやっているのか聞き取れるくらい！）、ステレオでの尋常ではない音像変化、Steve CunninghamとRick Barthelmeの二人のリズム隊のタイトな演奏などなど「こんなによかったのか」と感動すること請け合いです。リマスターをしたSonic Boomのとてもいい仕事です。残念ながらモノ（ステレオのストレートミックスではない）は半分はヴィニールマスターですが、そうでもしないと聞けない内容ですからよしとしましょう。これを聞くと当時は意外にGarage bandっぽかったのだな、という発見もありました。必携です。