THE SERPENT POWER The Serpent Power LP VANGUARD 1967re Stereo DAVID&TINA MELTZER
€
30
$
34
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Description
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THE SERPENT POWER
Folk/psychelic rock band from San Francisco.
It was formed by Meltzer and his wife Tina, and also included Denny Ellis on lead guitar and David Stenson on bass, both from The Grass Roots. The band became a full rock outfit with the inclusion of John Payne on organ and Clark Coolidge on drums. Ellis, Stenson, and Payne left shortly after the first self-titled album was recorded, replaced by Bob Cuff (from The Mystery Trend), on lead guitar and Jim Mocoso on bass. But the band didn't record another album, and disbanded in 1968.
'THE SERPENT POWER'
<reissue, originally published in 1967>
LP VANGUARD RECORDS STEREO VSD-79252
PRINTED IN U.S.A. LATE-70S OFFICIAL REPRESSING
STILL IN SHRINK SINGLE COVER
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: none
LABEL: VANGUARD - MARBLE/SWIRL LABEL - BLACK TEXT
Catalog on cover: VSD?79252
Catalog on labels: VSD-79252-A (XSV 124408) / VSD-79252-B (XSV 124409)
Matrix / Runout (Side A, Etched): VSD 79252A P(AP) XSV 124408-3D
Matrix / Runout (Side B, Etched): VSD 79252B P(P) XSV 124409-3D
On labels: rim text reads " Recording for the Connoisseur" " Warning: Unauthorized.......prosecution"
All songs, words & music by David Meltzer; Ryerson Music, BMI
Copyright 1967
Vanguard recording Society, Inc., N.Y.
Recorded in U.S.A.
On back cover: Copyrighted 1967 Vanguard Recording Society, Inc., New York, N.Y.
Printed in U.S.A.
tracklisting
Side A: DON'T YOU LISTEN TO HER - GENTLY, GENTLY - OPEN HOUSE
FLYING AWAY - NOBODY BLUES - UP AND DOWN
Side B: SKY BABY - FORGET - DOPE AGAIN
ENDLESS TUNNELL (with J.P. Pickens, electrified 5-string banjo)
grading
RECORD EX but (please, read above description)
SLEEVE EX but (please, see pictures and read above description)
The only album released by this San Francisco group, The Serpent Power is a good example of the ways in which the "San Francisco sound" had coalesced into a recognizable trend by 1967: music set to beat poetry, a combination of bluesier rockers and wispy, folk-influenced tunes with male and female harmonies, and meditations about drugs all date the album somewhat, but the songs themselves are quite good, with excellent band interplay and nice electric guitar work. The heavier songs pack a good punch, while the lighter songs set a very airy, flowing mood, the epitome of what was then becoming known as "flower power". The Serpent Power is most noteworthy, though, for the inclusion of the last track, "Endless Tunnel," which was one of the first successful fusions of eastern-style song structure and philosphy with western instruments and rock sensibilities. This sort of raga-rock had been tried earlier by San Francisco's Great Society, and, of course, the Beatles, but never had it been taken to such extremes on record, clocking in at over 13 minutes. The only other rock songs with similar ideas and effect were the Butterfield Blues Band's "East-West" and the Doors' "The End,"...(AllMusic)
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