Saturday, January 26, 2008

Sapphire Thinkers - From Within - Hobbit Records - `70





YES ! i brought the FUZZ , ACID & FLOWERS BACK !
hold on tight....
just found this gem the other day .. i am assuming this puppy is pretty scarce.
i have certainly never seen it. i might sell it , so i thought i would share it 1st. hope you kids enjoy this one ! My fave trax : please understand , title track & theres a woman
very nice west coast sunshine psych out of LA with all the right ingredients — organ, fuzz, flute, male/female vocals, cool harmonies, etc. recorded by sandy lehmann-haupt, an original merry prankster and sound man on the Pranksters' bus. Quality from start to finish. and yes, those are mushrooms on the cover.
more ....
Other than Vernon Joynson's entry in Fuzz, Acid and Flowers and his very similar summary of the album in "Flashback", used in the sleeve notes for the CD re-issue, there is very little information on this excellent band and their work. Joynson's summary from the sleeve notes was as follows "...similar to Jefferson Airplane and Peanut Butter Conspiracy...based in LA, they were probably Californian. The album contains some pleasant vocal arrangements/harmonies and nice touches of acid and fuzz guitar and is recommended". I couldn't agree more. If it's light and breezy West Coast psych inflected pop you're looking for, then this band make all the right moves. In addition to melodies and male/female vocal harmonies to rival The Mamas & The Papas, and a groovieness in the vein of Ultimate Spinach, there's a few more things that really stand out on the album for me. These are the technically brilliant snappy keyboard backing on most tracks, the stunning lead guitar breaks that really lift several of the tracks, and the sprinkling of flute over the album. The standout tracks are the title track "From Within" and the amazing "I Got To You" which is contains the best harmony work on the album and some beautifully introspective guitar pieces. Yet another talented bunch of musicians that never received the attention they deserved.



Saphhire Thinkers - From Within - Hobbit Records - `70
*includes high rez front/back cover scans ! MP3 @ 320kbps


1. MELANCHOLY BABY 2:11
2. I FEEL A BIT STRANGE 2:42
3. GET ALONG BOY 1:57
4. BLUES ON YOU 3:03
5. FROM WITHIN 3:23
6. I GOT TO YOU 2:45
1. NOT ANOTHER NIGHT : 2:51
2. LET HER COME IN 2:17
3. PLEASE UNDERSTAND : 2:56
4. BLIND WITH A BORROWED LIGHT 2:30
5. THERE'S A WOMAN 2:40
6. DOIN' ALRIGHT 4:47



DOWNLOAD -- here --


16 comments:

ge said...

1 listen so far and seems pretty damn good! ...phased drums kicking in now; that's the way I like it I tell you, I'm in Heaven!
Akasha-man, we thank ye

phosphor said...

thanks aka, my preferred genre!

Anonymous said...

Beauuuutiful record!!! Thankx.

akashaman said...

ha : finally more post on this one !
your right , this is a beautifull record , glad you are diggin on it !
thanks for feedback :

keep `em spinnin .. more psych pop next : oh , never heard the "hamilton streetcar" LP !?

:)

aka`

turgut said...

Hi..
May you add my blog to your "Blogs" section as SilverainTR
?

Anonymous said...

Just found you via this one. Excellent find mate - keep it.
Thanx for sharing.

ge said...

whom must one soivice to get a listen to the likes of "hamilton streetcar" round heeah?
we saliwaitin' here...

akashaman said...

LOL , man ; i started transferring it & it was just too damn noisy !
its a super shame ,cause thats one killer LP.

looking for another gem to share , so sorry !

aka`

Anonymous said...

great find! thanks for your work!
-tony

Anonymous said...

Brilliant, thanks for this, looking forward to hearing this lost classic. :)

harding said...

Hi, love your blog, i'm enjoying the Willow lp, but this one seems to be deleted, guess I got here late...any chance of a re-up? Thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm totally sitting right next to one of the guys in this album. On the picture he is in the far right. He was my AP World teacher and now is my AP US teacher. He was totally touched by all of your comments. He is still that hippie he was back then.. just a bit more educated! I just today found out he made an album and I'm going to go and download and listen!

Anonymous said...

Hi from Cy
I'll give this a birl, great to hear that some of the usual suspects made it through TO and back from the Other Side to this side which is as far out as one needs to be?
Thanks for keeping the Pranksters in the pool

cheap viagra said...

Thanks for sharing. I really like that cover of that album. Specially for the way that one tree is different than other. it looks great.

Tim Lee said...

hi everybody...ST was Bill Richmond and his support crew. We played in his dads garage for a couple of years and recorded 2 albums. There used to be a studio near the Busch brewery in the SFV where the band cut its teeth on tape. We were so young. BR was a brilliant song writer at 21 years old. His father was a screen writer for Jerry Lewis and his talents were handed down to Bill. Bill a multi instrumentalist basically could pick up an instrument and teach himself to play it. Keys, drums, guitar, winds, and more were easily mastered by this prodigy. I played bass on this album and am a little embarrassed to admit it. I was all over the place using the bass like a drum set instead of understanding what bass was about. The band was a family effort and the brothers bickered allot. When we recorded the album, we were doing a tv special by Rowan and Martin (Bills dad got us on the show to do a skit with Martin) Since we were in the studio already working on the album, it was decided that we would record a version of Melancholy Baby for the tv special skit. Somehow the powers that be decided to release MB as a B side to the single released from the album. I dont know all the BS associated with the story, but it was the beginning of the end of the Sapphire Thinkers. Bill Richmond has since recorded multiple albums over the years and is still a clever/creative song writer. These were some of the best times of my life and I'd do it all again. Thanx to all of you who enjoyed this musical effort. Tim Lee proud member of the Sapphire Thinkers

akashaman said...

Tim 1

hi , thanks a lot for the comments & feedback on your LP ; havent had much time for the blog of late , sorry for that - ya , this is a very cool LP for sure & a nice find ... have never seen a copy since ha --
so great u found this space - small world i guess. really love the fuzz on this record & keys . so much fun going on & well recorded ! there is a bit of bass going on , ha - listening to get along boy now _ ya .. bass is moving right along - fun to hear tho & stands right out in mix !
thanks again for stopping in ! rock on

aka `