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Avg: 3.5 (48 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1968
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Contemporary Folk, Psychedelic Rock
- Label: Get Back-Runt / IODA
Unjustly overlooked second album from Florida’s acid-folk originators
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We Say...
Pearls Before Swine founder Tom Rapp’s earliest claim to fame, that he once defeated Bob Dylan in a talent contest, makes perfect sense. Despite his prominent lisp, Rapp boasted a more conventionally musical voice than the young Bobster and, although both often penned equally impenetrable lyrics, Rapp floated his on statelier melodies than Dylan favoured.
Justly feted as the inventors of acid-folk, Pearls Before Swine was essentially a vehicle for Rapp’s songs. Formed in Melbourne, Florida, in 1965, they released their cult debut album One Nation Underground in 1967 on New York’s hip ESP Disk label, best-remembered now as home to the Fugs. One Nation Underground was a mite too derivative (of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, even Country Joe and the Fish) to be totally convincing, but Balaklava found Rapp powerfully asserting his own identity. "Translucent Carriages," even now, sounds like something that has found its way back from the land of the dead, complete with ominous whisperings and sounds of fearful breaths being drawn.
During the ethereal "I Saw The World," a soaring symphony orchestra duets with an Al Kooper-like organist while sound effects of waves, bells and wind chimes provide a swirling ambient background. If there’s ever been another album like this, before or since, I haven’t heard it. -
They Say...
A record that virtually defies categorization, Pearls Before Swine's 1968 epic Balaklava is the near-brilliant follow-up to One Nation Underground. Intended as a defiant condemnation of the Vietnam War, it doesn't offer anthemic, fist-pounding protest songs. Instead, Rapp vented his anger through surrealist poetry, irony, and historical reference: Balaklava was the 1854 Crimean War battle that inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson to write his epic The Charge of the Light Brigade; in reality, the "Charge" was a senseless military action that killed scores of British soldiers. Balaklava begins with "Trumpeter Landfrey," an 1880's recording of the actual voice and bugle charge of the man who sounded the charge at Balaklava. It makes the transition into "Translucent Carriages," a mix of acoustic guitars, a basic vocal, and ghostly narration ("Jesus raised the dead...but who will raise the living?"), all the more stunning. "Images of April" continues the mystical feel, combining flutes, cricket chirps, and frog croaks for a nether-worldly effect. Rapp virtually cries "I Saw the World," backed by a powerful string arrangement that makes the song even more impassioned. Like One Nation Underground, Balaklava is somewhat unfocused: "There Was a Man" is a little too Dylan-esque, and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" detracts from Rapp's compositions. Unfortunately, the record closes with "Ring Thing," a morbid piece that refers to Tolkien's famous Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still, this is superb psychedelic music, successfully merging exotic instruments like marimba, clavinet, French horn, and swinehorn with Rapp's unique lisping vocals. But Balaklava isn't just acid-trip background music. It's probably the best example of what Rapp calls "constructive melancholy" (also the name of a recent CD collection of Pearls songs), a combination of the real with the surreal, and it's indispensable to any serious '60s rock collection.
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| 01. |
Trumpeter Landfrey |
0:35 |
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| 02. |  |
Translucent Carriages |
4:00 |
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| 03. | |
Images of April |
2:41 |
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| 04. | |
There Was a Man |
2:57 |
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| 05. | |
I Saw the World |
3:27 |
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| 06. | |
Guardian Angels |
3:02 |
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| 07. | |
Suzanne |
5:01 |
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| 08. | |
Lepers and Roses |
5:23 |
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| 09. |
Florence Nightingale |
0:17 |
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| 10. | |
Ring Thung |
3:31 |
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10 Total Tracks, 30:54 Total Length
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Credits
- Pearls Before Swine - Main Performer // Tom Rapp - Guitar // Tom Rapp - Vocals // Tom Rapp - Noise // Tom Rapp - Breathing // Tom Rapp - Group Member // Richard Alderson - Producer // Richard Alderson - Engineer // Jim Bohanon - Keyboards // Selwart Clarke - Strings // Selwart Clarke - Arranger // Selwart Clarke - String Arrangements // Lee Crabtree - Organ // Lee Crabtree - Flute // Lee Crabtree - Piano // Lee Crabtree - Guest Appearance // Lu Crabtree - Flute // Lu Crabtree - Keyboards // Joe Farrell - Flute // Joe Farrell - Horn // Joe Farrell - Horn (English) // Joe Farrell - Wind // Joe Farrell - Guest Appearance // Wayne Harley - Banjo // Wayne Harley - Vocals // Wayne Harley - Vocals (Background) // Wayne Harley - Harmony Vocals // Wayne Harley - Harmony // Wayne Harley - Group Member // Lane Lederer - Bass // Lane Lederer - Guitar // Lane Lederer - Horn // Lane Lederer - Vocals // Lane Lederer - ? // Lane Lederer - Group Member // Bill Salter - Bass // Bill Salter - Guest Appearance // William Salter - Bass // Al Shackman - Guitar // Al Shackman - Guest Appearance // Bill Slater - Bass // Warren Smith - Strings // Warren Smith - Arranger // Michael Zimmer - Photography // Jim Bohannon - Organ // Jim Bohannon - Piano // Jim Bohannon - Marimba // Jim Bohannon - Clavinet // Jim Bohannon - Group Member // Joe Farell - Flute // Joe Farell - Horn (English) // Bill Sattler - Bass // Urban Gwerder - Liner Notes // Breughel - Artwork
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