Color was made illegal in Michigan just after WWII, when an inexpertly-drafted law was passed and never revoked. "Public display and/or use of pigmentation in any form or media" was the blanket legal term, still in force today. In the late 'sixties, black-and-white T.V. coverage of the West Coast youth movement prompted many a teen to trek beyond the state line, and The Frost were among the first on the bus.
Their first album defines 'sixties psychedelia, from San Francisco dance hall freak-outs to swimmy raga-type trips. But the cover [left - Ed.], none more black at the band's insistence to allow sales in their home state, was totally misleading. If you've been as narrow-minded/discerning as I have, and missed out on this swell Pslab-o-Psych™, pick this up. Quality singing, for one thing, a surprise. Varied songs, for another, and everything as saturated with lysergics as this swell new cover, adapting a forgotten artwork by Rick Griffin, what I done yestiddy.
EDIT: A useful compendium of Vanguard psych, Follow Me Down, is added in the comments.
This post made possible thru th' patronage of Hymie's Hummin' Human Hymens©, Ann Arbor - "Th' Home Of Hummin' Hymens!"™
Youse bums need dis. I ain't axin', I'm tellin'.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, as it were, in Detroit, I was at the Grande Ballroom almost every weekend and saw The Frost as an opening band almost as often as the MC5 and Stooges. Don't tell anybody, but back in the day most of the four or five guys in my group thought the aforementioned groups sucked, but we would come in from the parking lot for The Frost. It was Dick Wagner and crew for one thing, and we believed they were the band most likely to break nationally. Didn't happen.
ReplyDelete"We would come in from the parking lot for The Frost ..." - does praise get any higher than this?
Deletethats the scene I growed up in
ReplyDeleteYou must have some stories to tell ... unless you were mostly with Hugh Candyside in the parking lot ...
Deletenot really left work at the steel mill fri dropped acid drove a van full of folk to the D watched great bands drove home sunday morning,I'm not reaslly a storyteller sort
DeleteThat's a Springsteen song right there.
DeleteWhy didn't they break nationally? My guess - first album came a few months too late - in '68 it would have done better. And it was on graveyard label Vanguard, out of NY. Verev, or Straight, in LA would have been a better bet. And it had that none-more-Spinal Tap cover, a whole year after the Velvets did it. And - again a guess - by the time it came out, the band were already maximum heaviosity live. I have that second album (again, with a "kill us now" cover) but I'm too scared to listen to it.
ReplyDeleteMotor City-style Stealth Link©
Their version of "House of the Rising Sun" is very good, high quality, not even embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteSad to think how much RECORD LABEL had to do with a band's success, but it seems true.
Country Joe & The Fish were Vanguard's only breakout rock group. Their first album was recorded in SF, absolutely at the right time, and was issued (after a mis-step) in the perfect cover. By the time Frost Music came out, the Fish were near to breaking up.
Delete(I have an interesting Vanguard comp, "Follow Me Down", should youse slobs be interested.)
I yam
DeleteInnerested I means.
Cheers,
obeyGRavity
Also interested--and thanks. For the story. The stories. The H/history.
ReplyDeleteVanguard's Maynard Soloman took a trip to Detroit with Samuel Charters on the recommendation of Joe McDonald and signed The Third Power and The Frost. Altho' neither band broke through nationally, Drew Abbott (TTP) later found success with Bob Seger and Dick Wagner (TF) did ok with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed! So you could say Vanguard found the talent but maybe a coupla years too soon.
ReplyDeleteI have a four CD box set of Vanguard recordings and I think you could safely describe their output as eclectic which left them with a bit of an identity problem. Some good stuff tho'.
Cheers, Peanuts Molloy.
I'm partial to their two 45's on Date records as Dick Wagner & the Frosts.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've heard those ... pretty please?
Delete
ReplyDeleteFollow Me Down
Per our moderator's request -- Dick Wagner & The Frosts' two Date 45's. A Rainy Day b/w Bad Girl, and Sunshine b/w Little Girl. A free bonus track is included, the Wagner written & produced (and played on?) I Cannot Stop You by the Cherry Slush.
ReplyDeletehttps://www46.zippyshare.com/v/kMzhjyyf/file.html
Thank you Sitarswami!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sitarswami. (Moderating is the only downside of this thing for me - I'd much rather not, but it's marginally better than seeing troll and spam posts here - your understanding and patience is appreciated).
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