The Golden Dawn are an American psychedelic rock band formed in Austin, Texas, United States, in 1966. The band released one album, titled Power Plant, before breaking up soon after the album's release in 1968. The 1966 release of the album was withheld by International Artists, until after The 13th Floor Elevators' album Easter Everywhere was released, even though Power Plant was recorded nearly a year earlier. As a result, the Power Plant 's reviews tagged it as a copycat record, unworthy of positive consideration. George Kinney remained a recluse figure in the music world for decades until a reemergence in 2001, when Power Plant became an iconic psychedelic recording.
Though the early break up of the original band was unfortunate, this was not the end of the band's influence. George Kinney, lead singer and lyric writer for the band, went on to renew the band with several incarnations up to the present day version resulting in the latest recording, Rebel Heart (2017).
In 2017, George Kinney release what he called the "second Golden Dawn" album, Rebel Heart. The Members of this band were:
George Kinney - Songwriter, Guitar and Lead Vocals
James Henry - Lead Gutar
William vonReichbauer - Upright and Electric Bass, Backing Vocals
Michael Morris - Drums, Backing Vocals
Miranda Morris - Flute, Percussion and Backing Vocals
Peter Gordon - Piano, Organ
Some of these members are also part of the Lone Star Hippie Band.
The 13th Floor Elevators were seen as oddball one-hit wonders in most of the United States during their glory days from 1966 to 1968, but they were heroes (at least for a while) in their native Texas, and plenty of psychedelic acolytes from the Lone Star State cited them as a major influence. It would be
hard to name a band that borrowed more from the Elevators, or did it to better effect, than Austin's the Golden Dawn, whose debut album, Power Plant, sounds like a folkier companion piece to Easter Everywhere. Lead vocalist George Kinney was friends with Roky Erickson and they briefly played together in a teenage garage band, and while Kinney lacks Erickson's feral intensity, his voice bears an uncanny resemblance to the open and quietly passionate tone Erickson was reaching for on songs like "Splash 1" and "Dust." As a songwriter, Kinney couldn't quite match the acid-fueled philosophizing of Tommy Hall, but his lyrics are thoughtful and insightful, reaching for something deeper than the "listen to the sound of purple" clichés that dogged many psych band of the era.
The opening cut, "Evolution," uses a set of wind chimes to punctuate the arrangement much in the same way the Elevators used Tommy Hall's jug, and the lovely melodic sense of "This Way Please" and "Reaching Out to You" recalls the more mellow moments of the Elevators' folk-influenced numbers. While the Golden Dawn could rock out when they were so inclined on tunes like "Starvation" and "I'll Be Around," their approach is informed by a gentleness that sets them apart from their contemporaries
-- there's a grace in this music that's uncommon for any era, and the interplay in the guitar work of Tom Ramsey and Jimmy Bird shows a subtle sophistication that makes Kinney's melodies all the more compelling. Kinney has frequently told journalists that Power Plant was recorded before Easter Everywhere, and though it's hard to believe that the Golden Dawn didn't learn a lot from the 13th Floor Elevators, the music on this album is good enough to insist they weren't stealing, just following a similar path, and it takes them to a very fine place on Power Plant. Sadly, the Golden Dawn broke up before they could record another LP, but Power Plant shows them to be one of the best bands to emerge from the Texas psychedelic underground during their brief renaissance in 1967.
[By Mark Deming]
The Golden Dawn – Power Plant
Label: International Artists – IA-LP #4, International Artists – IA-LP-4
Format: Thick unflexible viny, US Original Press
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Garage
SIDE A
.jpg)
A1. Evolution (Written-By – Bobby Rector, George Kinney) 2:50
A2. This Way Please (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 5:10
A3. Starvation (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 2:50
A4. I'll Be Around (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 3:00
A5. Seeing Is Believing (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 2:15
SIDE B
.jpg)
B1. My Time (Written-By – Hallmark, George Kinney, Bird) 4:00
B2. A Nice Surprise (Written-By – Hallmark, Rector, George Kinney) 3:00
B3. Every Day (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 4:50
B4. Tell Me Why (Written-By – George Kinney, Tom Ramsey) 2:05
B5. Reaching Out To You (Written-By – Bill Hallmark, George Kinney) 2:35
ORIGINAL MEMBERS
George Kinney – vocals, guitar
Tom Ramsey – lead guitar
Jimmy Bird – rhythm guitar
Bill Hallmark – bass
Bobby Rector – drums
A classic ! One of the very best Texas lp. Too bad i can't check (your) quality.
ReplyDeleteThat's really a pity. All these IA Lps,
or almost all of them, were badly made. Those backwoods folks in Texas just didn't seem to know any better. I have a cd of it a so-called
"improves" version that doesn't sound much different eithers. The master tapes are likely to be lost as far as i know.
The quality of the sound of my post is perfect. I told you before, you can't find this quality of sound elsewhere
DeleteHow did you do that ???
ReplyDeleteAuweia, i'm sorry i don't have a computer.
It's even a favourite record from a friend of mine. The band only got the cult status 20 years later. Golden Dawn were only a local affair at the time. "Nobody" knew the band. I didn't get to know them until around 1978.
A very close friend of mine, he organise concerts for 30000 people in Athens, brought to my house a professional Sound Console , so we convert the analog vinyl sound to digital. I could do it with my Tascam converter, but I wanted something more for this album.
DeleteDear friend what a good deed.
DeleteYou would have to be guaranteed immortality for that.
Thank you on behalf of all who appreciate it.
i agree with Josef. By far this is my favorite album of the Texans. But the engineering/production is less than the performance is entitled too. So I actually took the flacs I had & enhanced parts as my taste led me. In places vocals given more treble & more often raising the volume of passages. For me its better but in the end I wish I could have been there...then
DeleteA classic, yes!!! Thanks for the flac quality!!!
ReplyDeleteCheers
This LP deserves its place in psych masterpieces, the sound is somewhat similar to the 13th Floor Elevators sound but still different, it's like the two bands shared a common background (which they obviously did). They also shared misfortunes that didn't allow them to flourish, Golden Dawn were not a priority for their record company, 13th Floor Elevators had a more tragic story that stopped them before getting big and despite their cult status later they didn't manage to benefit from it. I remember how few people even knew about this music a few decades ago, and obviously record companies didn't have much incentive to promote those bands.
ReplyDeleteI don't have access to quality speakers right now but I am eager to listen to this version, which I understand is a vinyl transfer from the original? In that case I wonder how an original press vinyl found its way to Greece.
This album didn't find its way to Greece. My uncle George who lived all his life in America bought it. After his death, ten years ago, his daughter told me that she doesn't want his records, so she gave them to me,
DeleteMany of these bands from Elevators to Chocolate Watch Band, were almost unknown
ReplyDeletewhen i was in the late 60's to mid 70's. No one was interested either. Especially the singles scene. With the expection of Hans Kesteloo who was already driving in the USA in early 70's and bought tons of obscure lps and singles and shipped them to Europe by ship. Even i, who was in California for some time in the first half of the 70's, had no idea about these bands. I ignored in the antiquarians musicshop just because i didn't know them. Especially in Santa Cruz there was a wonderful shop. Prices were 1-2$, poorly preserved lps for 50 cent. I still have some today, also a few obscures, which are no longer obscure and which i bought by chance because either the cover or the title appealed to me.
Josef, I see you were there when the scene was happening and lived things first hand. Even with those shortcomings, the Chocolate Watch Band made an appearance on film and a few records, the Velvet Underground managed to get audiences to listen to them, 13th Floor Elevators were making a living through music. I mean they were somehow given the chance to record and gig, which is a step up from the scene elsewhere where even buying a musical instrument wasn't easy.
DeleteWere those LP prices high or low? I guess one should take into account the income a young man could have there compared to the situation elsewhere. And especially in places with a small market where unscrupulous merchants manage to profiteer.
I should also add that this album gives a vibe of perfection. It's not a specific track, the sound just flows without effort from track to track like a long trip.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, i am happy to answer your questions as far as i understand them.
DeleteIt's not always clear to me what you mean. But let's try. Ch. W. Band was a really unknown band. They were also more a studio band and live performances mostly took place in 1966 as far as i know. I don't know anything later. The film where you see them briefly a ridiculous and bad film was also known to no one, which is not a pity. At V. U. things are completely different and not to be confused wirh Elevators or Ch. W. B. They were a cult band early on and i've known them since 1969. American records were hard to become by, at least in Austria, and i wasn't living in Vienna at the time, were probably better. I paid a lot of money for( just one example) of Quicksilvers Happy Trails and the first Quicksiler was hard to come by in Europe at all and i bought it from an American guy who was in Austria through a middleman for double the price. But that's just by the way. 13 Floor had at least one hit "youre gonna miss me" and also performed live on the West Coast in 1966 and 1968. Nevertheless, hardly any one in Europe knew her. ( Maybe in the UK ?)
It's not for nothing that i think the Nuggets Sampler was rel. 1972 to call to mind all the unknown or forgotten bands. Also you don't have to be too surprised that there are so many bands have come to recordings. Almost everyone had their chance here. You only need to visualize the singles scene and where even a lot of bad things got a record.
The lp prices were cheap at that time in the USA not in Europe. Sometimes around 1976/77 obscure bands were discovered in Europe. At first it was cheap, but soon the prices went up as the bands became known and it became a big business.
Josef, I always read your comments and find them interesting and fascinating. Have you thought about writing a book? Perhaps something like Psychedelia And Other Colours? (Which, by the way, haven't read myself so far)
DeleteI myself slowly came across the rarities through a German ring exchange. That was a name of the little magazine where you could be a member. I was the 2nd who came from Austria and has a very low membership number. These magazine were ideal. You could meet people there, exchange ideas and give tips, lots of records and rarities were offered for sale. That was around 1976 and my actual beginning of the hunt for unknown bands.
ReplyDeleteShame about their name χαχαχα
ReplyDeletePretty sure some idiots will declare war on us for listening to this band.
Delete"My Time": an ALL Time classic.
ReplyDeletethewog