Information/Write-up
Seldom seen demo album in primitive packaging, apparently from the same Randy Bishop who was later in the Wackers. This shows a different side of the man, and proves that every rocker has a troubled, pretentious crooner inside him, just like Sean Bonniwell’s solo LP. The sound isn’t far from Bonniwell’s although less suicidal and more theatrical. Little emotion is withheld as Bishop paints vast panoramas of lost young women in peril, as well as his own restless lifestyle. Rich, varied studio arrangements (the percussion is particularly good) and a nice broad recording offer comfortable support for Bishop’s overblown Neil Diamond vocals, which hammer home every point so hard that he comes out peeping at you on the other side, wondering what went wrong. As an entertainment concept this could end up in a bad, wasted spot like the Marcus LP on Kinetic, but Bishop turns the screw enough times to grab your attention, in a John Ylvisaker or Rex Holman kind of way, although this is less psychedelic and more singer-songwriter, An usual, multi-layered experience, whose inadvertent irony may appeal to fans of Arthur on Two:Dot-Tumbleweed, especially the 4-part ‘tragedy’ on side 2 which goes into some dynamite passages where Bishop’s drama-of-life finds an appropriately majestic musical format.
-Patrick Lundborg, The Acid Archives
All songs Written and Arranged by Randy Bishop and Published by Soul West Music Co. (BMI)
Randy Bishop: vocals, guitars, keyboard instruments, bass, recorded, marimba, banjo
Steven Williams: percussion
William Feldman: electric guitar
Ron Adcock: acoustic guitar
Sandy D'Huus: accordion
Produced and Engineered by Rick Keefer
Cover Art by Genie Collins
100 copies made labeled as test pressings
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