URBAN ASPIRINES: H.P. Lovecraft: Two Classic Albums From H.P.Lovecraft: (H.P.Lovecraft I 1967 + H.P.lovecraft II 1968) (Remaster 2000)

Monday, June 22, 2020

H.P. Lovecraft: Two Classic Albums From H.P.Lovecraft: (H.P.Lovecraft I 1967 + H.P.lovecraft II 1968) (Remaster 2000)

H. P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967 and named after the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Much of the band's music was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambience, and consisted of material that was inspired by the macabre writings of the author whose name they had adopted. Combining elements of psychedelia and folk rock, the band's sound was marked by the striking vocal harmonies of ex-folk singer George Edwards and the classically trained Dave Michaels. In addition, Michaels' multi-instrumentalist abilities on organ, piano, harpsichord, clarinet and recorder provided the band with a richer sonic palette than many of their contemporaries.

The band was signed to Philips Records in 1967 and released its first single, "Anyway That You Want Me", in the early part of that year. Their first album, H. P. Lovecraft, followed in late 1967 and included what is arguably the band's best-known song, "The White Ship". The band then relocated to San Francisco, California, where they became a frequent attraction at various San Francisco Bay Area venues, including The Fillmore and the Winterland Ballroom. In 1968, a second album, H. P. Lovecraft II, appeared, but the group disbanded in early 1969.

Edwards and fellow original member Michael Tegza subsequently formed a new line-up of the band with the shortened name of Lovecraft, although Edwards left this new group before the first album was recorded. This second incarnation of the band released the Valley of the Moon album in 1970 and, after a further name change to Love Craft, the We Love You Whoever You Are album in 1975.

H.P.LOVECRAFT I. 1967

In late 1967, the band recorded and released their debut album for Philips, H. P. Lovecraft. A cover of the traditional song "Wayfaring Stranger" was issued just ahead of the album as a single in September

1967, but it failed to chart. The album itself was released some weeks later and although it also failed to reach the U.S. charts, it sold reasonably well over time.
Featuring a nine-piece orchestra and songs that exhibited a wide-ranging stylistic variety, H. P. Lovecraft was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambiance that lived up to the band's intention of making music inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's "macabre tales and poems of Earth populated by another race" (to quote the LP's back cover). While the album did include a smattering of self-penned material, including the jazzy "That's How Much I Love You, Baby (More or Less)" and the vaudeville psychedelia of "The Time Machine", the majority of H. P. Lovecraft consisted of cover versions.

Among these covers were Dino Valente's hippie anthem "Get Together", Randy Newman's "I've Been Wrong Before", Travis Edmonson's "The Drifter", and the Fred Neil compositions "That's The Bag I'm In" and "Country Boy & Bleeker Street". The centerpiece of the album, however, was the Edwards—Michaels—Cavallari composition "The White Ship", which was based on author H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The White Ship".

The six-and-a-half-minute opus, which featured baroque harpsichord passages, droning feedback, somber harmonies, and the chiming of a genuine 1811 ship's bell, has been described by music

historian Richie Unterberger as having a "wavering, foggy beauty, with some of Michaels' eeriest keyboards." The song became something of an underground FM radio favorite and was also issued in an edited form as a single, although it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100.

This is one of the best second-division psychedelic albums, with strong material that shows the immediately identifiable Edwards-Michaels vocal tandem at its best. According to the LP notes, the songs were largely inspired by novelist H.P. Lovecraft's "macabre tales and poems of Earth populated by another race." It's more haunting than gloomy, though, with deft touches of folk, jazz, and horns.

TRACKS

01. Wayfaring Stranger (traditional, arranged by George Edwards) – 2:35

02. Let's Get Together (Chet Powers) – 4:35

03. I've Been Wrong Before (Randy Newman) – 2:46

04. The Drifter (Travis Edmonson) – 4:11

05. That's The Bag I'm In (Fred Neil) – 1:46

06. The White Ship (George Edwards, Dave Michaels, Tony Cavallari) – 6:33

07. Country Boy & Bleeker Street (Fred Neil) – 2:35

08. The Time Machine (George Edwards, Dave Michaels) – 2:05

09. That's How Much I Love You, Baby (More or Less) (George Edwards, Dave Michaels, Tony Cavallari) – 3:55

10. Gloria Patria (traditional, arranged by George Edwards, Dave Michaels) – 0:27

MUSICIANS

George Edwards – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, guitarrón, bass

Dave Michaels – vocals, organ, piano, harpsichord, clarinet, recorder

Jerry McGeorge – bass, vocals

Tony Cavallari – lead guitar, vocals

Michael Tegza – drums, percussion, timpani, vocals

Additional musicians

Bill Traut – bells, percussion

Len Druss – piccolo flute, English horn, saxophones

Jack Henningbaum, Paul Tervelt – French horn

Bill Traub – reeds

Herb Weiss, Ralph Craig – trombone

Clyde Bachand – tuba

Eddie Higgins – vibraphone, horn arrangements

H.P.LOVECRAFT II. 1968

Eight weeks after the group's relocation, bassist Jerry McGeorge made his final appearance with H. P. Lovecraft at the Los Angeles Kaleidoscope on April 12–14, 1968. He was replaced by Jeffrey Boyan, who had previously been a member of the Chicago band Saturday's Children.

Critic Jeff Jarema has noted that Boyan was an accomplished bass player with a strong singing voice The band subsequently played West Coast concerts with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Moby Grape, as well as with touring British bands such as Pink Floyd and The Who. The band's prowess and imagination as a live act during this period can be heard on the Live May 11, 1968 album. The live album, which, according to critic Ned Raggett, boasts "one of the best live recording qualities" for the period, was released in 1991 by Sundazed Records (Edsel Records in the UK) and was reissued in 2000.

and that his addition to the band improved their abilities as a live act considerably.

In June 1968, H. P. Lovecraft decamped to I.D. Sound Studios in Los Angeles with engineer Chris Huston to record their second album. Due to the intensive touring that the band had undertaken during the first half of 1968, there was a lack of properly arranged new material and consequently much of the album was improvised in the studio. Huston was pivotal in enabling the underprepared band to complete the recording sessions and was also responsible for creating many of the album's psychedelic sound effects.

The album was released as H. P. Lovecraft II in September 1968, and, although it was less focused than its predecessor, it managed to successfully expand on the musical approach of the band's first album. Among its nine tracks, the album included "At the Mountains of Madness", another song based on the works of the author H. P. Lovecraft (this time his 1931 novella At the Mountains of Madness).

The album also included a cover of Brewer & Shipley's "Keeper of the Keys", the Edwards-penned tracks "Electrollentando" and "Mobius Trip", a contribution from voice artist Ken Nordine, on the track "Nothing's Boy", and two songs written by Edwards' friend Terry Callier: "Spin, Spin, Spin" and "It's About Time". Like the band's first album, H. P. Lovecraft II failed to sell in sufficient quantities to reach the U.S. charts.

Masterpiece follow-up to their debut! One of few albums which I have rated 5 stars that contains

mostly covers on it but the songs and Psych sounds are some of the best from the 60s!
An absolute classic! And a real shame that this album gets ignored by anyone that throws together their "Classic Psych" albums lists. I see that Allmusic also doesn't even have a review on this one, either. At the mountains of madness and Mobius Trip are enough to put anyone in Psych heaven! This album is classic from start to finish. People have to listen to this one...

Michaels decided to leave the band in late 1968, to return to university, and as a result, H. P. Lovecraft effectively collapsed in early 1969, with Tegza joining the band Bangor Flying Circus. A

successor group, Lovecraft, was formed in 1969 and included Edwards and Tegza from the original line-up, although Edwards departed from the group soon after its formation. Edwards has subsequently undertaken production work and played in folk clubs under his real name Ethan Kenning, occasionally reuniting with Michaels, who records and performs under his real name David Miotke.

TRACKS

11. Spin, Spin, Spin (Kent Foreman) – 3:21

12. It's About Time (Kent Foreman, Lydia Wood) – 5:17

13. Blue Jack of Diaonds (Jeff Boyan) – 3:08

14. Electrallentando (George Edwards) – 6:34

15. At the Mountains of Madness (George Edwards, Dave Michaels, Tony Cavallari) – 4:57

16. Mobius Trip (George Edwards) – 2:44

17. High Flying Bird (Billy Ed Wheeler) – 3:21

18. Nothing's Boy (Ken Nordine) – 0:39

19. Keeper of the Keys (Mike Brewer, Tom Shipley) – 3:05

BONUS TRACKS

20. Anyway That You Want Me (Taylor) (Mercury Single 40464)

21. It's All Over For You (H.P.Lovecraft) (Mercury Single 40464)

"Anyway That You Want Me" was coupled with "It's All Over for You", a George Edwards solo

outtake from the previous year, and released as a single under the moniker of H. P. Lovecraft in early 1967 by the Mercury Records' subsidiary Philips. The decision to release the single as H. P. Lovecraft, rather than as a George Edwards solo release, was made by Dunwich founders Bill Traut and George Badonsky, who were both fans of the literary works of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and had, in fact, named Dunwich Records after Lovecraft's short story "The Dunwich Horror". Edwards and Michaels were both enthusiastic about the band name and after permission from Lovecraft's estate was secured, the duo set about recruiting other musicians to form a permanent line-up of the band.

MUSICIANS

George Edwards – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass

Dave Michaels – vocals, keyboards

Tony Cavallari – lead guitar, vocals

Jeff Boyan – bass, vocals

Michael Tegza – drums, percussion, vocals

ALBUMS

H. P. Lovecraft (1967)

H. P. Lovecraft II (1968)

Valley of the Moon [as Lovecraft] (1970)

We Love You Whoever You Are [as Love Craft] (1975)

Live May 11, 1968 [live recordings] (1991)

COMPILATIONS

At the Mountains of Madness (1988)

H. P. Lovecraft/H. P. Lovecraft II (1997)

Two Classic Albums from H. P. Lovecraft: H. P. Lovecraft/H. P. Lovecraft II (2000)

Dreams in the Witch House: The Complete Philips Recordings (2005)

THE WHITE SHIP LYRICS

"The White Ship" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first published in The United Amateur (Volume 19) #2, November 1919, and later appeared in the March 1927 issue of Weird Tales.

The white ship has sailed and left me here again

Out in the mist, I was so near again

Sailing on the sea of dreams

How far away it seems

Sailing upon the white ship

Home through the night here in my darkened room

Sails of white across the misty moon

Floating across the sky

Burning into my eye

Sailing upon the white ship