The Electric Prunes / Stockholm 67 (Vinyl LP)

Description

Vinyl  LP / Reissue

Recorded by the Swedish Broadcasting Company Corporation at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden December 14th 1967.

1967-USA

Format: Vinyl LP

#Ref: MR 412

Release date: 2021

Release notes

The Electric Prunes’ December 14, 1967 show from the Concert Hall in Stockholm… The result is the finest record ever released by this band, and one of the best live albums of the psychedelic era.

The band’s lineup is from their second album, Underground: James Lowe (lead vocals), Mark Tulin (bass, organ, vocals), Ken Williams (lead guitar), the late Mike Gannon (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Quint (drums). Calling them tight would be an understatement — the band does a 45-minute set, parts of which (“Try Me On For Size,” “You Never Had It Better”) display long instrumental passages showing off Williams’ prowess on the fuzz-tone guitar and Quint’s powerful drumming to great effect; “I Had Too Much To Dream Tonight” is here, along with “Long Day’s Flight” and “Get Me to the World On Time” and solid covers of “Got My Mojo Workin'” and “Smokestack Lightnin’.” This live show presents the group as much more of a garage-punk band than a psychedelic band, though they still traffic in the currency of the latter, including lots of distorted guitars and organ cadenzas — the snarl and energy keep things moving, however. Twice as valuable as their Edsel hits compilation.

Psychedelic rock icons The Electric Prunes formed in Los Angeles in 1965 with a musical recipe rich in fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. American garage bands from these years were rarely documented on live albums, making this recording a rare testimony of that era.

After a US tour in the latter half of 1967, the band embarked on a European tour, their first and last tour of the continent, that would take them to the UK, France, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden, performing at high-profile venues. The band’s lineup is from their second album Underground, released earlier that year: James Lowe (lead vocals), Mark Tulin (bass, organ, vocals), Ken Williams (lead guitar), Mike Gannon (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Quint (drums).

They would also hook up with Brian Jones at the Speakeasy (London), meet The Beatles mixing Magical Mystery Tour and visit Hendrix‘s flat, share stage with Soft Machine in Amsterdam and recorded a TV show in Paris. Members of the audience would often disrupt the concerts with Vietnam war related shouts in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. On the final leg of the tour, The Electric Prunes’ performance was recorded in Stockholm for broadcast on Swedish radio. They’d find out about the recording much later… The band here sports an explosive, noisy and wild sound, more in the vein of legendary early punk-rockers like MC5 than the psychedelic Californian landscapes some might expect. The line-up featured on this album would disband the following year after failing to complete the challenging arrangements David Axelrod had prepared for their new album. However, this album proves these guys were not just a studio-controlled group but seasoned psych rockers.

Recorded by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation at the Concert Hall in Stockholm in December 1967. Includes notes by Mark Tulin and James Lowe.

Tracklisting