Mind games
ACID TEST on Sound City Productions with Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters along with members of the Grateful Dead and others. Ultra rare original copy of drugged out noise experimental psych weirdness housed in paste-on cover with blank back.
From the Acid Archives: “Legendary documentation of the 1965-66 Bay Area Acid Test scene “from 14 hours of the actual trip” (recorded in a studio). Shows the other side of acid culture which is fun, unpredictable and avant garde as opposed to the Leary camp’s solemn religious/ psychological approach. Lots of amazing mind games and word play with Kesey and Ken Babbs in good form, ad libbed poetry, fractured harmonica solos, tape loops and the Grateful Dead lurking in the background. Released in March 1966, just as the Pranksters were splitting for Mexico.”
Wheel and grace
“Something Worth Living For” Donnie Saxe. On the Crusade label. Donnie was born in 1948. Was paralyzed from the neck down from Polio in 1956. And was born again in 1973 at the West United Methodist Church in Ellery, Illinois. Donnie must sleep with an iron lung each night. Side one is Donny’s story and his testimony.
The bust of West Coast jazz
Johnny Otis’ DIG Records Jazz Series presents Modern Afro-American Jazz featuring many of the stars of the West Coast jazz scene Budy Collette, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Hall, Curtis Counce, John Anderson and Gerald Wiggins. “Tanganyika” Produced by Sleepy Stein! (1956)
A real lost slice of work from the career of Chico Hamilton — recorded for the short-lived Dig label, owned by R&B artist Johnny Otis in the mid 50s! The group here is slightly different than Hamilton’s quintet that recorded for Pacific Jazz — in that it’s got a sound that’s a bit less arranged, and which often opens up into some more freewheeling jazz styles at times. Buddy Collette and Jim Hall are on the session from Chico’s regular group — and Buddy’s really the co-leader of the set, and contributed some fantastic original tunes that are perfect for his colorful work on reeds. And the group’s also got Curtis Counce on bass and Gerald Wiggins on piano — bringing a decidedly heavier groove to the record than on most 50s Hamilton work — one that’s topped off by the trumpet of John Anderson, often muted but still powerful enough to make its presence known on the set. Titles include the Collette originals “It’s You”, “Green Dream”, “Jungle Pogo Stick”, “Tanganyika”, and “A Walk On The Veldt” — plus other session originals “And So Is Love”, “Wagnervous”, and “The Blindfold Test”. – Dusty Groove










