Sandy Hurvitz LP Essra Mohawk Uncle Meat Frank Zappa

$

47

Verve/Bizarre Records V6-5064-X - Sandy Hurvitz - Sandy's Album Is Here At Last released in 1967. The condition of the record is still sealed in the original shrink wrap, mint. There is a small hole through the cover, visible in the scan of the back cover. The teenage Hurvitz, prior to becoming Essra Mohawk, made this hit and miss recording for Frank Zappa's Bizarre label. Zappa was the project's original producer, before various disagreements saw him replaced by Ian Underwood. The results suggest that Underwood was narcoleptic, or a perpetual absentee — it's hard to credit his input with a title so lofty as producer. Hurvitz's songs — long, formless, intense creations — may in all likelihood be of the very finest, but it's impossible to tell. All the cuts seem to have been recorded through a dense, woolen sock, and each is nearly impenetrable as a result. Apart from the occasional intrusion of a small band, and a flautist, it's essentially a solo recital — just Hurvitz and her piano — but even the songs most bare of instrumentation are clouded and marred by the rotten production job, which also succeeds in making Hurvitz' lyrics completely unintelligible. The song titles — "Arch Godliness of Purplefull Magic," "Tree of Trees," and "The Sun" — point towards a bright, sparkling imagination, but the sound quality of Sandy's Album means that even that cannot be verified. Personnel is: Jeremy Steig, flute; Jim Pepper, tenor sax; Donald McDonald, drums; Eddie Gomez, bass. Singer/songwriter Essra Mohawk (b. Sandra Elayne Hurvitz, Philadelphia, PA) is one of those unfortunate artists whose work is celebrated by critics and a small group of ardent admirers, but never by the public at large. In the course of a bumpy career she has made eight albums, each for different record labels. As a songwriter, she has enjoyed some measure of success, but over 30 years into her career she still remains a well-kept secret. Mohawk's first single was "The Boy With the Way" with B-side "Memory of Your Voice" on Liberty Records in 1964. She declined several offers of staff writerships, although the Shangri-Las and Vanilla Fudge began recording her material. In 1967, Mohawk met Frank Zappa, eventually joining the Mothers of Invention, where she reluctantly assumed the moniker Uncle Meat. Frank Zappa signed her to his Bizarre label (a Verve subsidiary) and her first album, Sandy's Album Is Here at Last, appeared soon after. In 1969, Sandra Hurvitz became Essra Mohawk and recorded her second album, Primordial Lovers, hailed as one of the best 25 albums ever made by Rolling Stone magazine. The album missed out on wider publicity and never charted. During her tenure with David Geffen, Mohawk languished unjustly in the shadows of Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell. In 1974, Mohawk moved to the Asylum label, where she released Essra Mohawk. Again, critical acclaim was abundant, but proper promotion and healthy sales were not. Two years later, the same fate greeted her fourth album, Essra, which appeared on Private Stock. Further albums, Burnin' Shinin' and E-Turn fared no better, but in 1986 Mohawk enjoyed a huge hit as the songwriter of Cyndi Lauper's Billboard number three hit, "Change of Heart," and later in that decade Tina Turner recorded "Stronger Than the Wind," again penned by Mohawk. Since then, she has recorded further albums Raindance and Essie Mae Hawk Meets the Killer Groove Band, to the rapturous applause of her ever-loyal following.