The Open Mind

The Open Mind - The Open Mind - 1969 - Philips

A very good British sixties psychedelic/progressive rock album. The album has great vocals and guitar playing, and is well worth listening to. There are no dud tracks here. A well above average album of this genre, and a very enjoyable listen. Any info on this group would be very welcome by A.O.O.F.C

ORIGINAL TRACKS

A1.Dear Louise
A2.Try Another Day
A3.I Feel The Same Way Too
A4.My Mind Cries
A5.Cant You See
A6.Thor The Thunder God

B1.Horses And Chariots
B2.Before My Time
B3.Free As The Breeze
B4.Girl Im So Alone
B5.Soul And My Will
B6.Falling Again

N.B: This album was released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006, and included two bonus tracks, "Magic Potion ," & "Cast a Spell." ). Both tracks are included here -

13Magic Potion (Bonus Track) - Released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006
14.Cast a Spell (Bonus Track) - Released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006

BAND

Mike 'Bryan' Brancaccio - Guitar, Vocals
Timothy Du Feu - Bass
Phil Fox - Drums
Terry Martin, a.k.a. Terry Schindler - guitar, vocals
Jon Anderson briefly sang in the band but left to form Yes







REVIEW

As a defining point of the U.K. psychedelic/progressive rock crossover, the Open Mind's sole album is the perfect specimen. With a singing style rooted in the freakbeat era, rather than the operatic tenor screams hard rock ushered in, and acidic duel guitars, heavier than those of a typical psychedelic act, The Open Mind filled the gap between the beginning of one era and the end of another. "Magic Potion" is unarguably their greatest moment. Its monotonous rhythm guitar anticipates the stoner rock of Hawkind while double bass drum fills and doom-laden fuzz guitar ragas combine bombastic rock power with Eastern-influenced psychedelia. Magnificent! "Girl, I'm So Alone" — a remake of early Open Mind lineup, mod band the Drag Set's "Get out of My Way" — harks back to a 1967 feel, as do a number of other songs that show the band being not quite as progressive as they intended. However, both the heavier and mod styles work well, but where they fall down is on some rather laborious numbers that just don't take off. Unfortunately, "Magic Potion" is the benchmark that everything they wrote is compared to, and when a song is that good, nothing else measures up. Still, as a whole, this album is a solid product of the time. It might not merit the "classic" status dealers apply to it, but it won't disappoint either. © Jon 'Mojo' Mills, www.allmusic.com
A.O.O.F.C Note - The track, "Get out of My Way," mentioned in the above review is not included on this album issue.

BIO (Wikipedia)

The Open Mind were a London-based psychedelic rock band active in the 1960s and 1970s. The band was formed in the mid 1960s by four musicians from Putney, South London. Initially named The Drag Set, they released a little-known single in February 1967, Day and Night/Get Out of My Way. Shortly thereafter, they changed their name to The Open Mind and in July 1969 released a self-titled LP which has since become a highly sought-after collectible. The band, however, is best known for its druggy August 1969 single Magic Potion, which did not appear on the album. The Open Mind disbanded in 1973; its members wanted to move into jazz-influenced music, but The Open Mind was too well-known as a psychedelic band. The band members (minus Phil Fox) went on to form Armada, which lasted about three years but did not release any recorded material. Despite their paucity of recorded material, The Open Mind have proven to be influential in the psychedelic rock genre. The noted 1990s psych group Sun Dial paid tribute to the band with a cover of Magic Potion on their 1993 album Return Journey.