Playlist for road trip to Houston: Mayo Thompson, Fever Tree, and Josefus - Installment #2 of Texas Psychedelia.

The wife and I are driving to Houston to see some family, and the playlist is set: start a little mellow with some strange sounds from Mayo Thompson, move on to the psychedelic rock of Fever Tree, and end with some Zeppelin-done-Houston-style rock’n’roll in the form of Josefus.

R. Rauschenberg - 1970

I’ve posted about Mayo Thompson before, but I mentioned his solo work as a mere side note to another story, namely that of the Houston band Red Crayola.  Mayo Thompson’s solo album deserves more attention, however.  He formed Red Crayola in 1966 with Frederick Barthelme, brother of writer Donald Barthelme.  The band could easily be considered Houston’s 13th Floor Elevators, and at times, they were even more “out there” than their Austin counterparts.  (See the linked post above for samples of their experimental “freak outs.”)  After Red Crayola’s first formation, Thompson recorded a solo album in Houston entitled Corky’s Debt to His Father (1970 Texas Revolution; re-released by Drag City...), and it was around this time that he relocated to NYC to work as assistant to the artist Robert Rauschenberg. (He later moved to London where he collaborated with many experimental music acts such as the previously posted Pere Ubu.)  Mayo Thompson’s solo album, however, is one of the greater personal testaments of the psychedelic age of musical experimentation. It stands with the other greats, such as Syd Barrett’s  The Madcap Laughs (1970 EMI) or Alexander “Skip” Spence’s Oar (1969 Columbia). I previously posted the 1st track of the album; here’s the 2nd song, “Oyster Thins”:

Mayo playing live

Corky's Debt to his Father is a very abstract, yet playful, folk-rock album.  The lyrics and musical compositions are like the soundtrack to the mindscape of a Dada poet.  The songs are meaningful, however, and there is great sincerity in Mayo Thompson’s voice and writing. The album isn't always folky; here’s a more rockin’ number, “Venus in the Morning”:

And one last song from Mayo’s solo work; this time from the 2nd side.  The song’s entitled “Fortune”:

Corky’s Debt to his Father may be my favorite work by Houston’s psychedelic guru; I definitely listen to it more than my Crayola records and more than his work with Pere Ubu.  Check out the whole album and listen straight through.

http://www.mediafire.com/?bkynmydmzib

Now Fever Tee was a psychedelic rock group from Houston, TX that played and recorded between the years 1966 to 1970.  The band had one successful hit, “San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native),” released on their self-titled album (1968 Uni Records/MCA):

Good ole Texas boys dreamin’ of the California bay! From what I understand, they did not write their own music; most of that was done by the couple, Scott & Vivian Holtzmann, so maybe they were the ones from San Francisco, dreaming of their summertime return... The music is pretty typical of its era. I do like the sustaining fuzz guitars... good for one’s ears.  Here’s the opening track of the debut, self-titled album (mentioned above); it’s called “Imitation Situation 1 - Where Do You Go”:

For some reason, the introductory “Imitation” part of the song is cut from this video, but you get the point, fun psychedelia that is not as compellingly unique as Thompson’s material but still good for what it is. Fever Tree released a total of four studio albums, but none of their later material seems to match the summer-of-love sound of the debut album. Definitely start with the first one.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mtn4ngdjyni

Another legend of Houston rock were the heavy metal innovators, Josefus.  They formed sometime before 1969; in other words, before there was ZZ Top there was Josefus; they were the Dixie South’s answer to the sounds of Sabbath and Zeppelin.  They recorded 3 albums before disbanding, and the second Lp, Dead Man (1970 Hookah), has recently been rereleased on Vinyl with the instructions on the back cover to play very, very loud.  Here’s the opening track, “Crazy Man”:

I definitely hear the inspiration of Plant here, and many people reiterate the derivative quality of Josefus’s sound.  To their credit, they were recording this material around the same time as the studio sessions for both I & II, so they cannot simply be explained away as a Led Zeppelin knock-off group of the 70s.  The guys were current, fresh, and somewhat ahead of the curve, for sure. The guitarist has nothing on Jimmy Page's chops, however.  Check out the magnum opus title track, “Dead Man”:

Now that was a jam.  If you like earlier-posted Pentagram, Led Zeppelin, and other early innovators of bluesy hard rock, check out Houston’s very own Josefus.  Now off to the town itself I go!!!

http://www.mediafire.com/?plhpacleda85xu8