Released July 28, 1998 Release date 28 July 1998 | Length 108:41 | |
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Recorded June – July 1967 at Venice Beach, Los Angeles and at the Berkeley Folk Festival, Berkeley, California Similar Coconut Hotel, Black Snakes, Malefactor - Ade, Japan in Paris in LA, Three Songs on a Trip to the | ||
Live 1967 is a live performance album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released on July 28, 1998 through Drag City. The two-disc set comprises the band's performance at the Angry Arts Festival in Los Angeles as well as their sets from various shows at the Berkeley Folk Festival during the summer of 1967. Like all the music played at the festivals it is dedicated to the troops positioned in Vietnam.
Contents
Background
Kurt Von Meier, a University of California art-history professor, became interested in the band after he heard tapes containing Coconut Hotel, Red Krayola's rejected second album. He was intrigued by the band's experimental and free-form music and invited them to perform at Angry Arts Folk Festival in Berkeley and the Greek Theater in Los Angeles in June and July. Meier also pushed to get the band to play in the Monterey Pop Festival, but was turned down by the festival's organizers.
Performance
The music played by the Red Krayola during their sets was completely instrumental and consisted of improvised drone and electronic music, comparable to early Velvet Underground. The first disc contains the band's performance at the Angry Arts Festival on June 6, 1967. The Second disc is made up of three separate performances which took place in the evenings between June 27 to July 4. During the festival the band met folk guitarist John Fahey, who accompanied the band onstage for a twenty-three-minute improv session on July 3. On the 4th, the announcer mistook the Red Krayola's music for an equipment malfunction and continued to talk several minutes into the band's set.
Reception
These performances received a lukewarm response from audience and critics alike. Berkeley's underground newspaper, the Berkeley Barb, dismissed the band as being the "bummer of the festival." Some of audience accused the music of being so abrasive that it was the direct cause of a dog's death during the festival. However, some of the audience appreciated the band's feedback-laden sound, some of whom can be heard chanting "More! More!" at the end of the band's performance on the 4th.
In reviewing the two-disc release, music critic Richie Unterberger noted his admiration of the band's dedication to experimenting in-front of an audience who expected more conventional music. He gave the album two out of five stars, writing: "The Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd, however, rarely stuck with this kind of inaccessible freakiness for more than a few minutes at a time on record, even at their most willfully obscure. This is all inaccessible freakiness."
Track listing
All music composed by The Red Krayola.
Songs
1Venice Pavilion Concert - Afternoon27:03
2Venice Motel - Evening: Piece One12:36
3Venice Motel - Evening: Piece Two4:16