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Druids of Stonehenge-CREATION CD (Axis)

This 'un never did make as big an impression on me as it did with many of the garage-band aficionados who were scouring BOMP catalogs and flea markets (good luck!) back in the mid-eighties. Perhaps my basing judgement upon it via a very thin-sounding pirate copy (obtained via Midnight, not exactly the most reliable mailorder company out there) wasn't quite the best way to judge this oft-talked about platter originally released on the pre-MCA Uni, home of Neil Diamond, Elton John and the Lollipop Shoppe! So hey, why not give 'em another go via this brand new Cee-Dee reissue? I mean, nothing much else going on these days.

Richard Goldstein, the "original" and comparatively (at least next to the Masters) nebbish rock critic for THE VILLAGE VOICE back in the sixties described these guys as being a cross twixt the early Stones and early Dead. He might have a point, as the Druids, from their faux Jagger lead singer to the blues-unto-whitey musical backing, does tend to "borrow" from both the Stones and San Fran Clan. But still there is something quite stark, perhaps toned down about this group that veers far away from both sources. At times it works in their favor as it does on their covers of "I Put a Spell on You" and "Signed DC" which display a nice introspective view custom made for girls who collect autumn leaves and paste them in their scrapbooks. And the slow-burn intensity also helps tough-guy rockers who look upon the entire oeuvre of rock in a totally different fashion. Let's just say that CREATION has this great devil-may-care New York attitude that really wouldn't come to fruition for another seven or so years mixed with the baroque/classical stylings that were coming into fashion back when folks thought kids were listening to this stuff to razz the older generation!

Anyway for the more adventurous amongst you here's part one of the Druids' appearance on THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW from way back when (embedding for part two has been disabled though the video below might provide a direct link anyhoo). Kinda neet seeing the old fanabla himself introducing this legendary under-the-counter band who probably had to endure Franklin's schmoozing up to all of those old time entertainment personalities...whatever, this is GREAT STUFF which only goes to show you just how weird-y timewarped the late-sixties were with the energies of the 20s/30s/40s stormfronting with the long haired creeps of the day, and for a guy who was a kiddie when this stuff was happening all I gotta say is yeah, the late-sixties were kinda like living in the twenties, if tee-vee and rock & roll were around then, that is!