Tuesday, December 5, 2006

The Paupers - Ellis Island - Verve - `68




hey all :

here is a cool psych record from Canada , a request fullfilled. These guys did two Lp`s ,
here is thier second. i will get to thier debut , magic people soon as well.
really good stuff here , let me know what ya think !
transferred from the original wax by da` shaman --



REVIEW :

Ellis Island, the second album by the Paupers, contains a front cover color photo of the four bandmembers inserted on a Sgt. Pepper-style collage by Ollie Alpert. Inside the LP is a very psychedelic black-and-white picture of the group, which also features 16 single photos of Cambell, Mitchell, Prokop, and Beale -- photos which you can cut out to make a flick book. Like a trendy flicker ring with more sustain, you can see the Musicians move in the optical illusion if you follow the instructions. Problem with this concept was that there was no Andy Warhol to splash his name on the cover and get the idea some attention à la the famous banana cover. If Verve had difficulty understanding the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground, where the Paupers fit in was anybody's guess. Adam Mitchell takes seven of the nine lead vocals as the band touches on a variety of psychedelic styles, beginning with "South Down Road." This opening track plays like Procol Harum battling the Electric Prunes -- it's eight and a half minutes of acid blues on an interesting album by an interesting crew. Mitchell's originals, four co-written with Skip Prokop, are an odd bunch. It seems Procol Harum won the war on the first song because "Cairo Hotel" sounds like they've now taken on Kaleidoscope U.K. in a battle of the bands. The intellectual display quickly disappears when the country comedy of "Another Man's Hair on My Razor" brings side one to a close. OK, it's amusing, but despite all the Sgt. Pepper trappings, there's no "Lucy in the Sky" in these grooves. Al Kooper guest stars on keyboards, and maybe they should have taken his "This Diamond Ring" and jumped the gun on Frijid Pink by reinventing that pop classic with a wall of distortion. Side two's opener, "Numbers," could be "Eight Miles High" meets Simon & Garfunkel's "Fakin' It." "Numbers," with its Strawberry Alarm Clock guitars and Janis Joplin bassist-to-be Brad Campbell singing lead, is jarring, but that's the rule on this album. Campbell would go on to track I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! and Pearl with Joplin, as well as Joplin in Concert. That live album was collected and assembled by Elliot Mazer with some of the tracks recorded by Fred Catero, both men involved with the Paupers' Ellis Island project. Interesting to note the credible resumés involved in this esoteric project. Skip Prokop's one solo composition is also his one vocal. The man who would perform on Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield and create the band Lighthouse does an off-key Keith Moon-style vocal over a dreamy track, the Small Faces phase shifting meets...you guessed it...Procol Harum. This track is minus the fuzz guitars, instead employing the strings, piano, and effects, giving the listener some breathing room. Adam Mitchell takes the vocals back from here on out -- it's a dramatic "Yes I Know" written by Campbell, Prokop, and Mitchell, six minutes and 23 seconds of more psychedelic blues. This music would've been a blessing for the latter-day Blues Magoos and Electric Prunes, groups who moved away from these types of sounds, much to the chagrin of their fans. Without the hit singles those groups enjoyed, the Paupers' Ellis Island never got the attention it kind of deserved. It is both vintage and obscure, which could make it quite collectable at some point in time. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide


  • THE PAUPERS - ELLIS ISLAND - VERVE - 1968 - 256 KBPS - 75MB - includes high rez front cover scan & live shot

  • 1 - south down road
  • 2 - cairo hotel
  • 3 - cant go on
  • 4 - another man`s hair on my razor
  • 5 - numbers
  • 6 - oh that she might
  • 7 - yes i know
  • 8 - ask her again
  • 9 - julliana


download -- here --

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoah man!! The last time I´d heard this album,I was 20 years old!! And 15 years later,i´m still thinking this is a good one.Songs like Cairo hotel and Can´t go on are much better than some songs of some supergroups of these years. I wanna thank you for give us the chance to discover or remember albums(with a superb sound quality,yeah)which make our life happier.
I´M SORRY FOR MY SPANGLISH!!
HAMMERHEAD

akashaman said...

ha ! thats killer you found this again , that must be very kewl !
i am just glad there are others that
enjoy obscure music ~
and as long as i know that others are enjoying it , i`ll keep sharing it :
& your english is fine `

spin on man :

aka`

Anonymous said...

I have been wanting to hear this for a bit now after picking up Magic People and really diggin' it. Thanks for posting this, brotha!

Anonymous said...

Never heard of this band before - thanks for the chance to give it a virtual spin.
Regards,

bearwil said...

Wow!!!! You've made my day. I've been looking for this album for decades. I remember it as a great one, just wondering what it sounds like almost 40 years later

akashaman said...

sweet ! i should do thier magic people as well soon...:)


aka`

Unknown said...

oh please! can you reupload?! Link is dead and cant find this anywhere else. Your blog is so great and your music has such excellent sound quality. I just wish I would found you sooner.

akashaman said...

will do ; uploading now !
thanks for the kudos , i am in the process of moving so everything is in limbo , but i`ll be back up & runnin by turkey day hopefully.
keep `em spinnin.

aka`

Anonymous said...

Thank you SO MUCH! You da man!

Anonymous said...

Brad Campbell lives in milton ontario and drives a bulldozer by day and jams blues on his same fender from the Janice days, still got a great groove and a beautiful personality

freQazoidiac said...

thanks for the post..this 2nd LP of the paupers, BLOWS away the Magic People LP.. IMO.. ;) mature and no frills, with a darker edge..and a nice byrdsy country-fried vibe.. essential lost LP. What Cartridge do you use for your LP transfers? I didn't see it in your tech notes ..

akashaman said...

yo freqazoidiac ;
thanks for post ! i think this 2nd is better as well.
i am using an audio technica cart.
its all clean !
check out the new sapphire thinkers lp i just posted , you`ll dig.

aka`

freQazoidiac said...

oh yeah? what is the model number of the cart?
I'm looking to purchase the audio-technica AT150MLX, supposedly the bomb, for a great price. Peace

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this - difficult to find. Really appreciated!