SCARCE 1967 Orig KALEIDOSCOPE SIDE TRIPS CALIF EXOTIC EASTERN GARAGE PSYCH

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              1967 ORIGINAL = PSYCH/GARAGE/EXOTICA

                      Blue text back cover = first print!

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                    KALEIDOSCOPE

             Side Trips

\                         USA - (YELLOW) EPIC RECORDS - BN 26304 stereo LN 24304

! SCARCE Original with BLUE back cover printing = 1967 first pressing by the incredible exotic psychedelic tinged garage sounds of KALEIDOSCOPE with their Eastern oriented messages and instrumentalists in full swirl.

The Kaleidoscope (from the US, not to be confused with the band of the same name from the UK) is an oddity in the history of psychedelic rock: pulling in ideas from everywhere imaginable, they fused trippy psychedelia, sunny pop, snaky Middle Eastern melodies, heavy rock, and more into a concoction they played with humor, conviction and an unerring technical aplomb that belied a seriousness and dedication behind the cartwheeling exterior.

Led by vocalist Sol Feldthouse, whose piercing but versatile voice always seemed to have a wry smile to it, the original Kaleidoscope's debut album, Side Trips, contained not only some of the best, most unique psychedelia of that year but did nearly everyone else one better, by playing very non-rock styles of music and making the whole thing not just palatable, but entertaining and even instructional.

The band's instrumentalists were eager to get their hands on anything that had an interesting sound, and for every every guitar lick and drum beat on Side Trips you'll find a warbling oud or a gypsy fiddle. The band was certainly a product of its time, evidenced by the stunning and convincing psychedelic sounds of songs such as "If The Night" and "Keep Your Mind Open", but also had no interest in being constrained by the trappings of the then-new music.

Most of the songs on this album are unique — meaning, they don't even sound like each other. They do, however, all sound like they come from the same band, and the zigzagging around musical styles is never showy or distracting. There is a uniformity to the album, and even when the band began (as many bands of the era) to slowly evolve from spacy psychedelia into something else, the Kaleidoscope kept most of the sensibilities displayed on their debut. Later albums such as A Beacon From Mars and Incredible! kept the bar high, and the band's obvious enjoyment of their own music kept them from burning out or getting bored.

Major chart success, however, was never in the cards for the band, for even when the group's music happened to overlap with the sensibilities of the record-buying public, they didn't seem to really care and certainly never capitalized on it. Which helps make Side Trips a true lost classic; most people who would love it have never heard (or heard of) it, but it is luckily still available as a collectible.

The album is a manic pace of changes and features a huge range of musical styles rank it as one of the top ten classics of the early psychedelic era. (The band would keep things very efficient and quick on this debut; it would finally stretch out for lengthy psychedelic explorations on 1968's A Beacon From Mars.) Nobody else sounded like this, and most bands never had any songs quite this adventurous and well-played. Get ready — if you hear this once, you're likely to want to hear it another 100 times over...

• "Egyptian Gardens"
• "If the Night"
• "Hesitation Blues"
• "Please"
• "Pulsating Dream"
• "Keep Your Mind Open"
• "Oh Death"
• "Come on In"
• "Why Try"
• "Minnie the Moocher"

CONDITION: The cover: Solid all over, rated: VG+ visually: light use only, no alarming issues ... The back cover is the blue FIRST printing ... no writing, no split seams, no bends, no delete marks, ... remaining a scarce collection copy 49 years old!

The vinyl: lots of shine over both sides; CLEAN near "EX" (excellent to M- : expect clean mint audio play grade over all tracks ... also clean Epic yellow labels

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record

                    KALEIDOSCOPE

             Side Trips