East Of Eden: Mercator Projected 1969 + Snafu 1970

                      

 East of Eden were a British progressive rock band, who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the single

"Jig-a-Jig" in 1970. The track was stylistically unlike any of their other work. A critically acclaimed jazz-fusion band with a strong Eastern music influence, they were a natural for stardom during the late '60s; indeed, they might've taken the wind out of the sails of the Mahavishnu Orchestra very fast, but they never became more than a cult act in England, with a strong local following in London, especially on the underground scene, even as they attracted serious audiences in continental Europe.
                         

Their professional career began back in 1967 when they were formed in Bristol as Pictures of Dorian Gray, by Dave Arbus (b. David Arbus, 8 October 1941, Leicester – violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet), Ron Caines (b. Ronald Arthur Caines, 13 December 1939, Bristol – alto saxophone), Geoff Nicholson (b. Geoffrey Nicholson, 27 June 1948, near Bristol – guitar, vocals), Mike Price (bass), and Stuart

Rossiter (drums). Price left in spring 1968 and was replaced by Terry Brace (born Terrence Brace, 28 September 1943, Bristol). Vocalist and guitarist Al Read (b. Alan G Read, 26 March 1942, Chelsea, London) joined at the same time. Arbus had been trained in the violin, but it wasn't until he saw Jean-Luc Ponty playing on-stage in Paris that he realized the possibilities that the amplified instrument offered. He added the electric violin to his repertoire, greatly broadening the band's range and sound, and the following year, they moved to London.
         

With this line-up the band released the now very-rare single, "King Of Siam", on 25 July 1968. They appeared in the film Laughter in the Dark. The group was signed to Decca's progressive rock imprint

Deram label in 1968, and cut two LPs, Mercator Projected and Snafu, of which the latter made it into the British Top 30, while a single, "Ramadhan," got to number two in France. In the Mercator Projected album, featuring the line-up of Dave Arbus, Ron Caines, Geoff Nicholson, Steve York and Dave Dufort (Dufort's surname was misspelled "Dufont" on the cover of the original LP release, and also on the CD re-release in 2008.
              

This album was followed by Snafu (1970) featuring Nicholson, Britton, Arbus, Caines and Sneddon;

and later by Jig-a-Jig, a European-only compilation, released in 1971. After the band had left Deram, the company released Jig-A-Jig as a single and it was a surprise Top-10 hit. Caines and Nicholson had left the band in 1970, and the band (now effectively a quartet of Arbus.
              

Caines and Nicholson left the band as the '70s began, and Arbus kept it together. They jumped to the Harvest label, but their work there never caught on, coinciding as it did with a change in style and a

veering away from Eastern music to a country-ish sound. Arbus left in the early '70s and was replaced by future Rory Gallagher collaborator Joe O'Donnell. The band carried on through the mid-'70s as almost exclusively a European act, recording and releasing albums in Europe only. The three original core members reunited in 1999 for the recording and release of the album Kalipse, which was followed by two additional albums after the turn of the century, Armadillo (2001) and Graffito (2004).
                                 

EAST OF EDEN - MERCATOR PROJECTED (APRIL 1969)

                

East of Eden's debut LP is one of the hardest-rocking albums to come out of the progressive rock movement, and maybe the best non-Rolling Stones albums issued by English Decca label during the late 1960s. It's also one of the most daring debut albums of its period, less tightly focused than, say, King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King, but otherwise equally bold and maybe more challenging.

The whole record is eerie -- coming from a pop culture where most psychedelic rock tended toward the light and airy -- East of Eden use high-impact bass, drum, and guitar parts mixed with the distinctly Oriental and Central/Eastern European classical influences. The first track is a surprise coming from any British psychedelic band of the period, opening with a pounding heavy metal beat pumped out on Steve York's bass and Dave Dufort's drums, while Dave Arbus' electric violin subs for what would normally be the rhythm guitar part, and Geoff Nicholson's guitar twists a blues riff around before setting a Jimi Hendrix-like wave of tonal pyrotechnics ablaze for the finale.
                    

East Of Eden – Mercator Projected
Label: Esoteric Recordings – ECLEC 2033
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2008
Country: UK
Released: 1969    
Genre: Jazz, Rock
Style: Jazz-Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock

TRACKS

                     
                  

01. Northern Hemisphere    5:02
02. Isadora    4:32
03. Waterways    6:49
04. Centaur Woman (Vocals – Ron Caines)   7:09
05. Bathers    4:57
06. Communion    4:03
07. Moth    3:54
08. In The Stable Of The Sphinx    8:30

BONUS TRACKS        

09. Waterways (Demo)    6:40
10. In The Stable Of The Sphinx (Demo)    11:10
11. Eight Miles High   6:51
Remix – Mark Powell, Paschal Byrne
Written-By – David Crosby, Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn

LINE - UP

Dave Arbus - Electric Violin, Flute, Bagpipes [Bagpipe], Recorder [Recorders], Saxophone [Two Saxophones At Once], Performer [Lavatory]
Ron Caines - Soprano Saxophone [Acoustic And Amplified], Alto Saxophone [Acoustic And Amplified], Organ
Steve York - Bass Guitar, Harmonica, Thumb Piano [Indian Thumb Piano]
Geoff Nicholson - Guitar, Vocals  
Dave Dufont - Percussion

NOTES

Originally released in March 1969 as Deram SML 1038.
Bonus tracks are previously unreleased.
Tracks 9-10 recorded in July 1968.
Tracks 11 recorded Tangerine Studios London 3rd September 1969.

Flac Size: 371 MB

EAST OF EDEN - SNAFU 1970

                      

East of Eden's second album had to be one of the least commercial albums ever to enter the British Top

30, as well as one of the most stylistically diverse (or inconsistent, depending upon your mindset). The term "progressive rock" fit as well as any, yet much of it was rather along the lines of early jazz-rock fusion, with lengthy hard-to-hum instrumental passages. But there was a lot of Eastern influence as well, especially on those pieces that highlighted Dave Arbus' violin and flute.
                  

East Of Eden – Snafu
Label: Eclectic Discs – ECLCD 1013
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2004
Country: UK
Released: 1970    
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock

TRACKS

                    

01. Have To Whack It Up   2:20
Alto Saxophone [Electric], Vocals – Ron Caines
Violin – Dave Arbus
02a. Leaping Beauties For Rudy   7:02
Alto Saxophone – Ron
Tenor Saxophone – Dave
02b. Marcus Junior
Soprano Saxophone – Ron
Tenor Saxophone, Electric Violin – Dave
03a. Xhorkom   8:07
Harmonica [Harp] – Geoff Nicholson
Piano, Vocals – Ron
03b. Ramadhan
Claves, Drum [African Hand Drum] – Geoff Britton
Flute – Dave
Soprano Saxophone, Vocals – Ron
03c. In The Snow For A Blow
Alto Saxophone [Electric And Acoustic] – Ron
Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone – Dave
Vocals [Everyone] – East Of Eden
04. Uno Transito Clapori   2:53
Tape – Peter, Robin
05a. Gum Arabic   8:18
Flute, Bells [Indian], Bagpipes [Bagpipe Chanter] – Dave
Synthesizer [Stylophone] – Ron
05b. Confucius   
Flute, Electric Violin – Dave
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Ron
06. Nymphenburger   5:46
Alto Saxophone [Electric] – Ron
Guitar [Both], Vocals – Geoff Nicholson
Violin [Six Violins] – Dave
07a. Habibi Baby   6:22
Flute – Dave
Soprano Saxophone – Ron
Vocals – Geoff Nicholson
07b. Beast Of Sweden
Electric Violin – Dave
07c. Boehm Constrictor
Flute, Violin – Dave
Percussion – Geoff Britton
Strings – Andy, Geoff Nicholson
08. Traditional: Arranged By East Of Eden   1:33
Piano, Strings – Geoff Nicholson
Piano, Vocals – Ron

BONUS TRACKS        

    
09. Jig-A-Jig    3:43
10. Petite Fille (Previously Unreleased)    3:52
11. Biffin Bridge (Previously Unreleased)    5:50
12. Blue Boar Blues (Previously Unreleased)    7:06
13. Nymphenburger (First Take)    5:10
14. Marcus Junior (Single Edit)    3:56
15. Jig-A-Jig (Take Nine)    4:10

LINE - UP

                  

Ron Caines - Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone [Electric], Piano, Vocals, Synthesizer [Stylophone]
Dave Arbus - Violin [Six Violins],  Electric Violin, Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Trumpet, Bells [Indian], Bagpipes [Bagpipe Chanter]  
Geoff Britton - Claves, Drums, Percussion, Drum [African Hand Drum]  
Geoff Nicholson - Guitar [Both], Strings, Piano, Harmonica [Harp], Vocals    
Andy Sneddon - Bass Guitar

NOTES

Originally released in February 1970 as Deram SML 1050
All tracks remastered from the original tapes at the Audio Archiving Company, London.

Flac Size: 465 MB