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TALES OF A RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT Written by Stuart Hamilton
Nothing to do with the sixties comedy with Don Knotts and Leslie Nielsen (He’s an ASTRO-KNOTT turned ASTRONAUT in the Maddest Mix-up in Space History!!), this is out and out space rock from the mind of Jeff Hopp. And you will be delighted to know that it’s a full blown psychedelic concept album about M.A.R.S., a mysterious organization called the Man and Robot Society whose chief agent is an expert in analog synthesis whose musical sound generators are the source of propulsion for the mighty starship The Oblivion. The part of the expert is played by the aforementioned Jeff Hopp. In finest one man band tradition, Jeff takes care of lead guitar, bass guitar, analog and digital synths, theramin, vocoder, analog drum modules, sonic generators and also acts as alien communicator. And if this sounds to you like the finest confection this side of “It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous”, you would be 100% correct. For it is space rock of the highest, maddest order. For sure, it’s not perfect, but when he sets up a swoosh and a swirl as on the utterly splendid ‘Dance of the Vulcanoids’, then the mix of Hawkwind, mid period Pink Floyd and a sprinkling of hippy Ozric’s tosh is absolutely beguiling. Things peak on the kling klang ‘Twenty-Five Light Years’, which is as good a slab of space rock as you will hear on any planet this year.
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival took place from June 16 to June 18, 1967. Over 200,000 people attended, and it is often regarded as the beginning of the hippie movement and precursor to Woodstock.Held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California, the festival was planned by record producer Lou Adler, singers Michelle Phillips and John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, producer Alan Pariser, and publicist Derek Taylor. The festival board included members of The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
The artists performed for free, with all revenue donated to charity, with the exception of Ravi Shankar, who was paid $3,000 for his afternoon-long performance on the sitar. More than 200,000 people attended the festival, which had a nominal $1 entrance fee. The festival is generally regarded (along with the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band released two weeks earlier) as the apex of the "Summer of Love".
The festival became legendary for the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix (who was booked on the insistence of board member Paul McCartney) and The Who. It was also the first major public performance for Janis Joplin, who appeared as a member of Big Brother and The Holding Company, and Otis Redding, backed by Booker T. & The MG's. Redding would die only a few months later.
Many record company executives were in attendance, and a number of the performers won recording contracts based on their appearance at the festival. Several acts were also notable for their non-appearance. A variety of reasons were given for The Beach Boys' cancellation: as an admission that they could not compete alongside hipper acts, a rift between Brian Wilson and the rest of the band over their failure to complete Smile, the follow up to Pet Sounds, or Carl Wilson's problems with the draft board. Musician Donovan was refused a visa to enter the United States because of a 1966 drug bust. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band was also invited to appear but according to the liner notes for the CD reissue of their album Safe As Milk, the band reportedly turned the offer down at the insistence of guitarist Ry Cooder, who felt the group was not ready. Although The Rolling Stones did not play, guitarist and founder Brian Jones attended and appeared on stage to introduce Hendrix. Jones was known as "king of the festival"
Also conspicuous by their absence were acts featuring artists of color. In fact, Dionne Warwick and the Impressions were advertised on some of the early posters for the event. Warwick dropped out due to a conflict in booking that weekend. She was booked at the Fairmont Hotel and it was thought that if she canceled that appearance it would negatively affect her career. She considered sneaking off between sets to perform at the festival, but ultimately decided against it. Also conspicuous by their absence were artists associated with the Motown label.
Eric Burdon and The Animals later that same year sang a song about the festival entitled "Monterey", which quoted a line from the Byrds song "Renaissance Faire" ("I think that maybe I'm dreamin"). In the song, Burdon mentions Monterey performers The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Hugh Masekela, The Grateful Dead,and The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones ("Her Majesty's, Prince Jones, smiled as he moved among the crowd"). Jones did not perform. The instruments used in the song imitate the styles of these performers.
A number of other artists performed, including blues singer Lou Rawls, singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, and the South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Many rock bands made appearances as well, including The Association, Buffalo Springfield, Country Joe and The Fish, Moby Grape, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Blues-rock bands were well-represented, among them Canned Heat, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Steve Miller Band, and The Blues Project. The Mamas and the Papas, who helped organize the event (which prevented them from doing any rehearsals), were the closing act of the festival.
"Baba O'Riley" was originally written by Pete Townshend for his Lifehouse project, a rock opera that was to be the follow-up to The Who's 1969 opera, Tommy. Townshend derived the song from a nine minute ARP synthesizer demo, which the band reconstructed. "Baba O'Riley" was going to be used in the Lifehouse project as a song sung by Ray, the Scottish farmer at the beginning of the album as he gathers his wife Sally and his two children to begin their exodus to London. When Lifehouse was scrapped, many of the songs were released on The Who's 1971 album Who's Next. Baba O'Riley became the first track on Who's Next. The song was released as a single in several European countries, but in the US and the UK was only released as part of the album.
Drummer Keith Moon had the idea of inserting a violin solo at the coda of the song, during which the style of the song shifts from crashing rock to an Irish folk-style beat. Dave Arbus, of East of Eden, plays viola in one of the most recognizable solos in popular music. In concert, lead singer Roger Daltrey replaces the violin solo with a harmonica solo. The Who have produced a live version of the song with a violin, provided by Nigel Kennedy, during their 27 November 2000 concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold And she's buying a stairway to heaven (And) when she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh ooh ooh...ooh...ooh ooh ooh And she's buying a stairway to heaven
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure 'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings In the tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Oooh...It makes me wonder Oooh...It makes me wonder
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west And my spirit is crying for leaving In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees And the voices of those who stand looking
Oooh...It makes me wonder Oooh...And it makes me wonder
And it's whispered that soon, if we all called the tune Then the piper will lead us to reason And a new day will dawn for those who stand long And the forest will echo with laughter
Woe woe woe woe woe oh If there's a bustle in your hedgerow Don't be alarmed now It's just a spring clean for the May Queen Yes there are two paths you can go by but in the long run There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder...ohhh ooh woe
Your head is humming and it won't go -- in case you don´t know The piper's calling you to join him Dear lady can you hear the wind blow and did you know Your stairway lies on the whispering wind
And as we wind on down the road Our shadows taller than our souls There walks a lady we all know Who shines white light and wants to show How everything still turns to gold And if you listen very hard The tune will come to you at last When all are one and one is all, yeah To be a rock and not to roll Ooooooooooooh
