C. J. Walsh

Salvation - First album & Gypsy Caravan

 

Salvation- 1st album & Gypsy Carnival Caravan (Head 4497) German Import

 

Midwest stoners get a Magic Bus and head west in search of gurus, girls and grass. They started as The New Salvation Army Banned, later shortened to Salvation, presumably the charitable organization declined sponsorship. This two-for-one CD contains both their albums, originally on ABC.

Coalescing in San Francisco, Salvation played the Fillmore, Avalon and the Matrix with the greats and managed to cut two albums. The first album has them sounding like a looser Moby Grape without forgetting they’re a garage band. Singer, Al Linde uses his Dylanish drawl to great effect, especially on Cinderella and The Village Shuck. All the tools of the trade are present- clavichord, sitar and on She Said Yeah, industrial quantities of fuzz guitar. No Tobacco Road, no Hey Joe and no lifeless versions of Stones’ covers of R&B numbers. A very strong debut.

It seems bands in the sixties aged in dog years and Salvation was no exception. By the time of their second LP, Gypsy Carnival Caravan, they’d lost the thread, forgetting the necessity of having a song in mind before hitting “record”. Jams go nowhere on tunes dominated by sound effects and embarrassing lyrics. Their reach exceeded their grasp. The record is dominated by aimless freak out music ala The Mothers without the sense of humor.

The Caravan packed up stakes around the end of ’68 and the band called it quits.

 

 

Published in Ugly Things Magazine