Ultimate Spinach ( psych. rock, hard rock, blues / USA)

Ultimate Spinach was a psychedelic/hard rock/blues band, formed 1967, originally from Boston (USA). In their '60's heyday they specialized in lengthy songs such as "Ballad of the Hip Death Goddess", from Ultimate Spinach (1968) and "Genesis of Beauty", from Behold And See (1968). Since 1970 the band have largely abandoned the psychedelic sounds and have (since at least 1975) dropped all of the '60's songs from their setlists (with the exception of 'Ballad Of The Hip Death Goddess' and a few from the third album).



Description:

The Ultimate Spinach, composed of keyboardist/guitarist Ian Bruce-Douglas and singer Barbara Hudson was a band of Boston's alternative scene in the second half of the 1960s. The phenomenon of the "Bosstown Sound", (whose other top acts included The Beacon Street Union, also on MGM), was more a publicity stunt than a legitimate artistic movement.

Mindflowers:

(Ballad of)The Hip Death Goddess:

On the first two of their three albums, Ultimate Spinach was utterly dominated by leader Ian Bruce-Douglas, who wrote all of the material, sang the majority of the lead vocals, and played a wide variety of instruments, most frequently electric keyboards. 


First album: Ultimate Spinach - Ultimate Spinach (1968)

On Ultimate Spinach (MGM, 1968) the standout cuts are "Ballad of the Hip Death Goddess", with an instrumental interval for theremin (an early electronic instrument) and feedback and reverberation; the psychoanalytic folk-blues "Ego Trip"; the 4-part suite "Sacrifice of the Moon"; "Your Head Is Reeling"; and "Plastic Raincoats", somewhat in the style of Frank Zappa or the Velvet Underground.
Their self-titled debut, released in 1967, was a seriously intended psychedelic stew, with inadvertent comically awkward results. Bruce-Douglas' songs tended to be either dippily, humorlessly cosmic, or colored by equally too-serious fingerpointing at mainstream society. The music aped the songwriting forms and guitar/keyboard textures of West Coast psychedelic stars the Doors, the Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe & the Fish, but sounded like ham-handed pastiches. Bruce-Douglas created some sleek, weedy electric keyboard lines on tracks like "Sacrifice of the Moon," but was sometimes so imitative of Country Joe & the Fish's first album that he crossed the line into plagiarism, as on "Baroque #1," with its close similarities to Country Joe's "The Masked Marauder." There were more graceful touches in the occasional vocals by guitarist Barbara Hudson and a Baroque-classical tinge to some of the arrangements, and the album did actually sell fairly well.

Tracks: 


1. Ego Trip
2. Sacrifice Of The Moon
3. Plastic Raincoats/Hung Up Minds
4. (Ballad Of) The Hip Death Goddess
5. Your Head Is Reeling
6. Dove In Hawk's Clothing
7. Baroque #1
8. Funny Freak Parade
9. Pamela



Second album: Ultimate Spinach - Behold & see (1968):

More complex compositions, such as the suite in four movements "Genesis of Beauty" and "Fragmentary March of Green", two pieces soaked in mysticism, are included in the second album Behold And See (MGM, 1968). "Jazz Thing" and "Mind Flowers" experimented with even more unusual tempos and atmosphere, while "Gilded Lamp Of The Cosmos" exemplifies their psychedelic folk ballads. (A later re-release on the Big Beat label omits "Visions of your Reality" and makes liberal edits to other cuts.)
Behold and See, also released in 1968, was similar to the debut album but a little more even-keeled. That wasn't all good news: there weren't any keyboard-dominated instrumentals to rival "Sacrifice of the Moon," Barbara Hudson didn't have any lead vocals (although guest vocalist Carol Lee Britt took some), and Bruce-Douglas' songwriting was still embarrassingly high-minded and pretentious. The mysterious Bruce-Douglas disbanded Ultimate Spinach after the second LP was recorded, leaving Lorber holding the bag, as a third Ultimate Spinach album had already been scheduled for release.

Tracks: 


1. Gilded Lamp of the Cosmos 
2. Visions of Your Reality
3. Jazz Thing 
4. Mind Flowers 
5. Where You're At 
6. Suite: Genesis of Beauty (In Four Parts) 
7. Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse 
8. Fragmentary March of Green



Third album: Ultimate Spinach III (1969)

Upon release of the second album, Ian Bruce-Douglas quit Ultimate Spinach and a new band was formed with only Barbara Hudson as an original member. Tony Scheuren, Ted Myers, Mike Levine and Jeff Baxter were added and a third album was recorded. One of the musicians who played on the album was guitarist Jeff Baxter, member of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers. This album leaves behind the psychedelic effects that characterized the Bruce-Douglas period and displayed a generic sound more reminiscent of such acts as The Byrds, The Monkees and the '68-era Beach Boys.
The record was an undistinguished jumble of psychedelic, hard rock, and pop styles that sounded like the work of several different bands.


Reformation:

In 1970 the band reformed with no original members and have continued to this day, performing (generally in the Oregon area) and releasing several independent albums. This band has always remained underground and in recent years Bruce-Douglas has derided its existence.

Years later Bruce-Douglas created Azlbrax, with whom he released In The Valley Of The Shadow (Intergalactic, 1988).


Members:


Tony Scheuren
Jeff Baxter
Keith Lahteinen
Geoffrey Winthrop
Ian Bruce Douglas
Richard Nese
Ted Myers
Michael Levine
Barbara Hudson

Discography:

Ultimate Spinach (1968)
Behold & See (1968)
Ultimate Spinach III (1969)
Sacrifice of the Moon: Instrumental Music of Ultimate Spinach (2006)


Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Spinach
                http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ultimate-spinach-mn0000215843