Arthur Blessitt - Soul Session At His
Place
Original release: Creative Sound 1530, Los Angeles 1968
Narrated by Arthur Blessitt
Music by The Eternal Rush (O J Peterson, Jim McPheeters, J P Allen, Bill
Harris)
Director: Bob Cotterell
Producer: John Carter / Paul S Webb Productions
Art Direction: Jim Woodfin & Bob Paramore
Comments: Arthur Blessitt was a baptist pastor,
originally from Louisiana, who ran "His Place", a Christian centre
on Sunset Strip that catered to the freaks, drug casualties and runaways
lost in the Hollywood night. The LP features amateurish gospel rock from the
Eternal Rush, a lengthy musical sermon with Blessitt and the band, and a
16-minute speech that Blessitt held at a high school. The "Soul
Session" track is cringe-worthy and incredibly strange, while the
lecture is pretty hip and occasionally funny. Blessitt has a somewhat weak
voice, and his rants aren't far from the hippie teacher Mr Van Driessen of
Beavis & Butthead, but if prepared for a rocky ride this album has its
moments, especially as a document of an intense time & place. Drug
references are numerous, but generally come in passing as Blessitt launches
another pro-Jesus tirade.
©
Patrick The Lama 2008