Euphoria - Disc of the day

Euphoria
A Gift From Euphoria

(Capitol, 1969; reissued by Rev-Ola, 2003)

Solitary offering from forgotten psych pairing who almost secured a deal with Apple…

Having cut their teeth in a variety of bands, Ohio-born Hamilton Wesley Watt Jr (left on album cover) and native Angelino William D. Lincoln (right), first met at a West Coast club in 1964 and immediately began writing together. Five years later they would go on to record this hugely ambitious, utterly brilliant curio that effortlessly pits lysergic country-rock against freak-out effects and big-string accompaniment. A Gift From Euphoria is an album inextricably linked to the cities in which it was recorded. In California, Watt and Lincoln enlisted the help of the L.A. Philharmonic to provide the magisterial orchestral vignettes, while the Nashville sessions were spent laying most of the acoustic/bluegrass foundations. Finally, the colourful hustle and bustle of London became the perfect setting to implement the snapping psych-guitar overdubs (very Jack White), vocal finishes and tape loops – including, somewhat disturbingly, the cries of a baby. Quite how they managed to fit the whole shebang together remains a mystery, but the final tapestry contains sounds that career and contort with such unabashed freedom, you’re hooked to the very end on every single spin.

Ross Bennett

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 04/04/2008

Further Listening

The Beau Brummels – Bradley’s Barn (Warner Bros, 1968)

Jefferson Airplane – After Bathing At Baxter’s (RCA, 1968)

The Flaming Lips – Hit To Death In The Future Head (Warner Bros, 1992)

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