05042014 - The Ceyleib People "Tanyet"

Today we go psychedelic! This 1967 album blends experimental blues with traditional Indian music and is at least as heavy on the sitar as the guitar, the latter partly courtesy of Ry Cooder. It has been described as Captain Beefheart meets Ravi Shankar, and I suppose that's not too far off. The album consists of two pieces, "Aton" and "Aton II", both divided into shorter parts, much like a classical composition. It is intriguing and mildly hypnotic at times, and some parts are pretty catchy, which is relatively impressive for an instrumental album! In addition to Cooder, there are musicians here who went on to play with artists and bands such as Bread, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond and The Dillards, to name a few. Psychedelia heaven for some, hippy hell for others, probably an amusing footnote to most.