Poe – There Is A River / Your Prayers Have Been Answered / What Do You Want To Do / I Want To Heal The Sick (Medley)
Poe – You’ve Got To Try
Poe – Tune In
Poe – Sons Of Belial
For our final post of year four (tomorrow will mark exactly four full years since I began this blog!) I’ve pulled out this interesting psych record from out of Texas circa 1971. Ran into this at the beginning of the year at Burbank’s Atomic Records. I’m always on the look out for interesting psych records and I’ve found that material on UNI rarely disappoints, particularly when I know nothing about the group. In this case, Poe was a five-piece band from McAllen, Texas. I knew this band had to be from McAllen, even before I learned anything about them because they recorded this album in McAllen and there is absolutely NO reason for anyone to record anything in McAllen unless they were actually from there (Sorry those of you reading from Texas, spent a summer there with my wife while she was interning…I’m sure you’d agree there really isn’t any reason for anyone to stay in McAllen). Turns out the band used to be called the Playboys Of Edinburg, which would make you think they were from the UK or something but actually that’s another town near McAllen. For reasons unknown to me, the band shortened their name to simply Poe and released this album, which is a complex psuedo-concept album.
You might imagine that the name change to Poe might have led them (or had it suggested to them) to create a concept record based on Edgar Allen Poe’s writings, but no. The concept here is focused on a completely different Edgar, Edgar Cayce, a psychic, mystic or charlatan depending on who you believe, who perhaps is most famously remembered for his “visions” of Atlantis. The guys in Poe must have really been into his work, not only to dedicate an entire album to Cayce, but to even include a glossary of terms associated with him and the address of Cayce’s Association For Research and Enlightenment. It’s quite possible that the album was even commissioned by the A.R.E., but only the band members could answer that. The music is really sensational, often heavy, psychedelic rock. For a guy who listens to most everything through Hip-Hop ears I’d wish there was a instrumental version of this record. Just great guitar throughout and snappy drums too. A nice one to end our fourth year here at Melting Pot.
Cheers,
Michael