Monday, December 7, 2009

Perth County Conspiracy - Alive (Canada 1971)

Perth County Conspiracy - Alive (Canada 1971, Hippie Folk)
- Live at Bathurst St. United Church, Toronto
- (COLUMBIA CAT. NO......GES 90037)

Members:
* RICHARD KEELAN - guitars, vocals,
* CEDRIC SMITH - guitars, vocals,
* TERRY JONES - guitars, vocals,
* GEORGE TAROS - piano, vocals.

Tracklisting:
(side 1)
01. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan) - 3:30
02. Sailboat (Terry Jones) - 4:23
03. Broken Wing (Cedric Smith) - 5:32
(side 2)
01. Take a Look at the Light Side (Richard Keelan) - 5:30
02. Stratford People (Cedric Smith) - 3:38
03. People Are Out of Tune (Richard Keelan) - 3:52
(side 3)
01. Hezakaiah - 3:14
02. Stories of Old (Terry Jones - Richard Keelan) - 4:10
03. Pilgrim (Cedric Smith) - 5:35
04. Welcome Surprise (Richard Keelan - Cedric Smith) - 5:35
(side 4)
01. I Spun You'out (Milton Acord - Cedric Smith) - 3:03
02. Tractor Song (Cedric Smith) - 5:28
03. Uncle Jed (Billy Batson) - 5:12

Perth County became the ideal place for hippies to leave the cities and set up their communes. The Perth County Conspiracy was just such a band. A merry band of men, women and children (and a few dogs and cats) who set about recording their brand of stoned-hippie-acoustic-psych-folk.
"Alive" was recorded at Toronto's Bathurst St. United Church in 1971 as 2LP set. Largely acoustic, showcasing some nice vocal harmonies and the band's penchant for crafting exceedingly pretty melodies. The Band is pretty tight, also.
Highlights included the opening Dylan cover 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere', the pretty ballad 'Broken Wing' and and the radio friendly 'Take a Look at the Light Side' (the latter track being one of the few that seems to have undergone significant post-production work).
The fact that these guys actually had a sense of humor ('Stratford People') was an added bonus.
Once again produced by John Williams, the set sported crystal clear audio and sounded marvelous on a good stereo, or headphones. a mysterious tape was circling among long haired late-hippies of the time, of an obscure commune that called themselves "the perth county conspiracy" and insisted that they do not exist. years later I discovered they actually had a past material menifestation, as a theater group in Toronto try and find the whole album its a rare treasure and an intelligent antidote against cynicism they read Shakespeare and Dylan Thomas, just for fun!
~ by http://www.vinylrecords.ca/.
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Perth is a rural county in the Canadian territory of Ontario. In the late 60’s Perth County became the ideal place for hippies to leave the cities and set up their communes. The Perth County Conspiracy was just such a band. A merry band of men, women and children (and a few dogs and cats) who set about recording their brand of stoned-hippie-acoustic-psych-folk.
"Alive" was recorded at Toronto's Bathurst St. United Church in 1971 as 2LP set. Largely acoustic, the performances were all surprisingly good, showcasing some nice vocal harmonies and the band's penchant for crafting exceedingly pretty melodies. All of that came as a surprise to me since I didn't expect these guys to sound nearly as tight. Highlights included the opening Dylan cover 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere', the pretty ballad 'Broken Wing' and and the radio friendly 'Take a Look at the Light Side' (the latter track being one of the few that seems to have undergone significant post-production work). The fact that these guys actually had a sense of humor ('Stratford People') was an added bonus. While the set had a lot going for it, one minor complaint stems from the emphasis on pained ballads which eventually started to take a toll on listeners (or maybe I'm just not sensitive enough). For what its worth, the album would have benefited from a couple of up-tempo numbers. Once again produced by John Williams, the set sported crystal clear audio and sounded marvelous on a good stereo, or headphones.
~ by Lizardson.

Download Links:
Perth_County_Conspiracy_-_Alive__Can_1971_prog_hippie_folk_psych_.rar

...and also...

http://www.multiupload.com/IX121XU1YT
Perth County Conspiracy - Alive (Can 1971 prog hippie folk psych).rar (98.21 MB)
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2 comments:

zappahead said...

Listened to the first album....really good unusual stuff so...im looking forward to hear what they sound like live.....much appreciated for sharing...thank you.

mike said...

This one downloads but there is something wrong with the files and they cannot be unpacked properly