Friday, March 23, 2018

H.P. Lovecraft: Rockin' in R'lyeh


I first found out about H.P. Lovecraft (the band) from a mention in the Arkham Collector, a newsletter published by Arkham House, the small press dedicated the preserving the literary heritage of H. P. Lovecraft (the author) and other Weird Tales stalwarts. It pretty much said “the album is good if you like that kind of thing,” but it did result in my buying the band’s eponymous first album. Given my expectations of what their music would sound like, I was vaguely disappointed, although I liked The White Ship (the only song on the record with a direct Lovecraftian pedigree, albeit a story from his early Dunsany-like period rather than the later cosmic horror stuff) and the band’s version of Dino Valenti’s Let’s Get Together. Even so, I later bought H.P. Lovecraft II, but it largely went unplayed. Fast forward to a few years ago, when I began contributing to a best of the Sixties Facebook page. The first song I remember posting was The White Ship, followed soon after by Let’s Get Together. I’ve been thinking about them ever since, and recently decided to revisit the first album.

The band started when George Edwards (real name Charles Kenning), who played on the Chicago and California folk circuit, met David Michaels (real name Dave Miotke), a folk and jazz keyboardist-vocalist. Edwards was signed to Dunwich Records, whose co-owners were Lovecraft fanshence the name of the labeland who suggested the band’s name. Curiously, Bill Traut, one of the owners, actually knew August Derleth, the godfather of Arkham House, and got his permission to use the name. (Note: Given the murky history of the rights to Lovecraft’s work, who knows whether they needed his permission or not?)

Now to the musicI’ve been listening to this album a lot and really like it. Edwards and Michaels provide some great harmonies on the vocal parts and Michaels’s keyboard work is very effective. The White Ship, an Edwards original, actually does conjure up some of the spookiness of the original story. To my mind, the stirring Let’s Get Together is the best version of this song, with the vocalists’ yearning for a better world striking a particularly poignant note in today’s ugly political and social scene. Fred Neil’s That’s the Bag I’m In, perfect for a Monday morning, is another showcase for Edwards and Michaels. That’s How Much I Love You (More or Less) is a laidback, jazzy surprise, with some overdubbed wordless vocalizing (a number of tracks overdub horns, etc., which generally works well). Another favorite is Country Boy & Bleecker Street, a folk-tinged song with a strong ending.

Overall, the band and the record are excellentthey could have been way bigger if musicality were the sole criterion for success (ha!). Bill Graham must have thought so, because after hearing the record, he brought the band out to the West Coast and booked them opposite such star acts as Donovan, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. One of their performances is available as H.P. Lovecraft: Live, May 11, 1968, which I hope to discuss in the near future. The touring brought the band greater recognition but took a toll on them personallythe fate of all too many bands, past and present, as I’ll discuss when I review their second and last studio album.

Both H.P. Lovecraft albums are available on a Rev-Ola CD, along with excellent liner notes by Nick Warburton. However, the graphic designer who designed the booklet apparently thought that the goal was to make the notes as hard to read as possible, so he used a godawful, predominantly orange and yellow background for the tiny textmay the fungi from Yuggoth smite him!

Here are just a few of my favorite tracks from H.P. Lovecraft.






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