An Extension Of Now - Unreleased

Description

"Underground" is a relative term. One could say that all the psychedelic bands from San Francisco in the 60s were underground because the music they made was so far removed from the pop and rock sounds that preceded them. But of all the bands in the scene, Lamb was perhaps the most underground of all. It wasn't just that their blend of rock, folk, classical, country, blues, and gospel was as hard to categorize as any other from that era. It was also their vibe. With guitarist and classic songwriting partner Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz's versatile voice infused material often imbued with an obsessive and mystical aura. Yet, they could also be earthy and rootsy, sometimes drifting into a spacey psychedelia with hints of raga-rock. Released in the early 70s, Lamb's first two albums, A Sign of Change and Cross Between, indeed offered some of the most intriguing and eclectic music of any rock band from San Francisco's psychedelic scene. But the story of Lamb predates the release of these records by a good twenty years. Mauritz and Swanson were so prolific that a number of their original compositions did not appear on their albums, even though these were often on par with the songs that were officially released. Unlike many bands of the time that had an abundance of surplus quality tracks, Lamb often recorded them in studios and in rehearsal conditions similar to a studio, as well as professional tapes of their live performances. Fortunately, many of these tapes have survived, including a good number of songs that did not find their place on their LPs, as well as substantially different versions of some that did. The best of them from the late 1960s are being released for the first time on An Extension of Now: Unreleased Recordings 1968-1969. This collection not only completes our picture of one of San Francisco's most underrated rock bands, but also serves as a first-class document of Lamb as they made their transition from a more standard rock band to a group that is hardly comparable to any other in the area, or even anywhere else. Our black vinyl and CD versions (with additional tracks, limited to 500 copies) feature liner notes by Richie Unterberger drawn from an interview with Bob Swanson, who also provided photos and memorabilia from his private archives. Produced by the renowned archivist of the San Francisco Bay Area, Alec Palao... if you're a fan of late 60s SF psychedelia, you need to hear this!