Jade - Faces of Jade (1970)
Cincinnatti's Jade were another one of those elusive early 70's psychedelic acts who left behind only one private pressing before vanishing into the mist. Virtually nothing is known about the band, but collectors have been swarming record fairs and pillaging eBay for years in the hopes of snagging this relic. So does the album live up to its hype? Mostly, yes...
Considering the modest budget of such a DIY undertaking in 1970, the mix is well done and the material is very well constructed. Blending the Beatles, Blossom Toes and a number of other pop/psych acts of the era, Jade create a formidable aural tapestry. With slight folk leanings, each track breezes along quite nicely throughout the duration of the album. The engineering trickery in places here are subtle reminders that Jade were foremost Beatles influenced. Perhaps the strangest track is "My Mary" which is absolutely mindblowing. This ingenius piece of music features backwards accompaniment along with warped vocals that sound deceptively reversed but are actually sung forward. The outcome is like a bent merry-go-round, wobbling in circular motion while the seasick vocals spill out over the arrangement. It's truly a sound to behold. The rest of the album is mostly just as satisfying and any lovers of quirky psych will find alot to enjoy in "Faces of Jade". Check out this sweet overhauled and tweaked vinyl rip and dig the sounds of Jade.
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12 comments:
Nice to see you back in the saddle my friend, i missed you over the last couple of months, Robots For Ronnie is always my first port of call when i log on.
I posted a couple of albums last night over at Live or Otherwise blog which might be of interest to you, the first Missouri and "Louisiana Rock & Roll" by Potliquor.
You may already have them of course, but if not it'd be nice to be able to give you something in return for all the great stuff i've gotten here. I also flung in a recommendation to the folks there to check out your site for more by Potliquor & Missouri, to let them know you're back in business.
Best wishes to you, and as always, many thanks for your great work.
thank you
Hey thanks for this, I've been looking for ages.
Anyone know anything about Maffitt/Davies or Hard Water? where could I hear their music?
Once again thanks!
The Faces of Jade lp is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! I was able to score a MINT copy awhile back. I also have 3 45s,"Wait Till I Come Home(mono)/Wait Till I Come Home(stereo)","My Mary/My Honey",and "Flying Away/Sunshine" (Sunshine being a non-lp B side).
Insanely excellent!! Like when you hear Apple's 'Otherside' or "Buffalo Billy Can" or Badfinger's 99% good-as-Beatles songs, some of these approach that level! Macca coulda done: 6. 'My Honey', & Lennon: 7. 'Rest of my life' or i'll eat my beret.
Yet they pull off arty objet-trouve backwards bongy genius with 'My Mary' also & will hook you baby after 2 spins of the upbeat music+dark theme of
Blue Ways.
See a neighbouring blog [sir psy] for more deserving gushing for this Pearl beyond price
Would like to see this re-posted if you have the chance. Sounds interesting. Thanks!!
any possibility of this being reshared?
Please reshare :)
I was really surprised when the bass player (Nick Root)called me last night and told me he had found our album on the internet.I am the drummer (Tim Nixon)on the album and was really glad to see after all these years that the music was still around
the musicians on the of Faces of Jade were all classically trained and were among some of the best musicians of that time I had read some of their biographies and they were very impressive I had heard cuts from various sources and was so glad to be able to finally find the CD it definitely is a collectors item unbelievable sound tracks thanks !
can we get a re-up on this share, I really wish to here this LP, thanks alot for a great blog.. J
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