The BARRACUDAS A PLANE VIEW OF THE garage psyche LP 1967
$
148
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Description
This is a copy of the rare album by garage band The Barracudas titled "A Plane View of the Barracudas". It was recorded on the Justice label around 1967. It is the original 33 Hi-Fidelity LP on vinyl. The album plays great -- excellent condition. The cover/sleeve has no tears or splits on the edges; however it does have some corner wear and some wear on the bottom edge. Also, there are the beginning of foxing on the cover. All in all, the cover is in about vg+ condition, but look closely at the photos to make your own judgement. Shipping included in final price.
Here is a review of the album by Bruce Eder: One of the better albums to come out of Calvin Newton's Justice Records label, A Plane View of the Barracudas has been selling for big bucks in Europe for years, partly based on the fact that there weren't many more than a thousand copies pressed.....These boys may have been a little sloppy, but they were ambitious, and they had the skills to realize a lot of those goals. As an extended jam, the version of "I'm a Man" here may be the best rendition this side of the Yardbirds' classic, and adds a few layers of pyrotechnics that Jeff Beck and company weren't ready to ignite; lead guitarist Mike Parker has a field day romping and stomping over the basic material, and Sam Shaw's bass swells and surges beneath Parker's work. Donnie Thurston sounds like he's playing on cardboard boxes, but that's par for the course on a recording like this, and not necessarily a problem. "Shotgun" closes the album and CD, and is a pretty decent cover of a then current soul hit. The notes are minimal, but the music does truly speak for itself. Strangely enough, only their covers of Lennon-McCartney tunes like "I Call Your Name" don't come off too well (though their version of "All My Loving" is pretty cool), but overall, the mix of folk-rock, soul, and blues-rock works beautifully. This must've been a great record to play at dance parties. It's also easy to see why the Barracudas did well on the frat circuit in Virginia and other East Coast locales; they must have been great live.
The Barracudas were a garage band that might have been forgotten along with thousands of others of their kind playing on the East Coast in the 1960s, but for the fact that (a) they had a tight sound and rough but expressive singing, and (b) they left behind an album, A Plane View of the Barracudas, that's now considered a classic piece of garage rock and a choice collectors' item. They originated as a sextet (later reduced to a quintet) in Highland Springs, a suburb near Richmond, VA, in late 1964. The band's major influences were the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, and they could play bluesy rock & roll loud, hard, and fast, but this didn't mean they couldn't handle other styles. Their folk-rock debut, "I Can't Believe," is more evocative of the Beau Brummels or even the Monkees trying folk-rock than it is of any English band. With drummer Donald Edward Thurston's father managing them, the quintet played in various local "Battle of the Bands" competitions during 1965, and the following year they issued their first 45, "I Can't Believe," on their own Cuda label.
Despite their first release being in a folk-rock vein, the group's preference was very much weighted toward bluesy rock & roll and included "Gloria," "Blue Feeling," and "I'm a Man." In 1967, the band hooked up with Calvin Newton's Justice Records of Winston-Salem, NC, and recorded an entire LP, which consisted of those covers and the Byrds' "Feel a Whole Lot Better" plus a pair of original songs. The album, A Plane View of the Barracudas, sold well for a small regional release, more than 700 copies, and the band developed a following on the college frat rock circuit. The Barracudas' sound evolved along with the music around them, and by 1968 the band was making music closer in spirit toJimi Hendrix and Cream than to the Byrds or the Rolling Stones. The Barracudas broke up in 1969 after releasing one more single, "Days of a Quiet Sun" b/w "Apple Pie."
