(ProgRock) Fred - Fred (1971), US - 1971, APE (image+.cue)

Wonderous previously unreleased US bands recordings from 1970-1974. Coming across like a mixture of trippy folk and electric psychedelic rock in the vein of early It's A Beautiful Day crossed with later Mandrake Memorial, this CD is a revelation! Crystal clear sound quality and long trippy songs with electric violin, electric and acoustic guitars, harpsichord and mystical trippy lyrics.

The Fred album encapsulates the band's 1971-1973 period. Gathering together the 45 and seven unreleased tracks, Joe DeChristopher recounts the history of the band within the lavish heavy-duty gatefold.

DeChristopher had met Price in 1967 at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. and joined Price's band, Still At Large. Over the next three years the band picked up other students and evolved into Fred. Classmate Gary Rosenberg was the band's No. 1 fan, a college radio DJ and sometime poet - he occasionally performed with them on stage and became their lyricist. He was also their guide to other sounds around, introducing them to the likes of Procol Harum, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa and The Mahavishnu Orchestra whose songs they would cover.

In 1970 the band graduated (or left) BU and moved into a couple of farms near Lewisburg. They continued to perform at local clubs and schools. The first recordings, which make up the bulk of the LP, were done the following year and their debut 45 was released. In 1973 occasional member Peter Eggers joined the band permanently and marked the end of their formative chapter, with the departure of Gary Rosenberg. The liners announce that later recordings are forthcoming.

There's some fine fuzz solos and acidic leads with occasional wah-wah but despite being tagged as psychedelia elsewhere, there's a strong aura of mellowed, slightly trippy, pastoral rock that's coming from folk roots and gently drifting off in a prog/hippie direction. The violin adds to the non-urban vibe but is more like Curved Air than Mahavishnu.

A Love Song previously appeared on the 1982 compilation Pennsylvania Unknowns (LP).

There may be a further 45 on the Arpeggio label which includes a track called Killing Confusion, but its existence remains unconfirmed.

01. Four Evenings
02. Soft Fisherman
03. Salvation Lady
04. By The Way
05. I'll Go On
06. For Fearless Few
07. A Love Song
08. Booking Agent Blues
09. Windwords
10. A Love Song (45rpm Version)

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 3 from 28. July 2007

EAC extraction logfile from 15. March 2008, 2:23

Fred / Fred

Used drive : LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-812S Adapter: 3 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 12
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : No
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 6:42.00 | 0 | 30149
2 | 6:42.00 | 6:34.34 | 30150 | 59733
3 | 13:16.34 | 6:03.45 | 59734 | 87003
4 | 19:20.04 | 6:48.22 | 87004 | 117625
5 | 26:08.26 | 4:29.29 | 117626 | 137829
6 | 30:37.55 | 3:49.44 | 137830 | 155048
7 | 34:27.24 | 4:42.51 | 155049 | 176249
8 | 39:10.00 | 4:35.46 | 176250 | 196920
9 | 43:45.46 | 7:02.35 | 196921 | 228605
10 | 50:48.06 | 3:58.48 | 228606 | 246503

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Filename I:\kazzuzo_AW\Fred - Fred.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Range quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC FDAE288C
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