Now Playing: Gene Zappaterreno
Topic: Addition
The outstanding Mad River demos that have been floating around on tape in closed circles finally see an official release via the Jersey Sloo mini-album from England's Shagrat label. There's an early version of "Wind Chimes" plus three unreleased tunes including the superb "Timothy". The other side is taken up by the title track, an atypical frantic rocker from the later, Paradise Bar & Grill era which has never been in circulation, although personally I get a bigger buzz from the '67 demos. In addition to the 5 tracks there's a massive booklet detailing the band's story by David Biasotti, and lots of rare and unseen pics. A very attractive and historically significant release, although I wouldn't have minded if they had added the San José '67 live tape and turned it into a full-length album. As it is, the San José tape (some 20 minutes in admittedly mediocre sound) remains available only on the ancient V.A California Easter bootleg (Penguin, Italy). A somewhat shorter version of the Mad River biography can be found in Flashback magazine #1, 2012.
MAD RIVER
Jersey Sloo 2011 (Shagrat MAD-1) [12-inch mini-LP; booklet]
Five unreleased tracks from 1967-68.
