Kaleidoscope (US)... Any love for?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mesfen, Aug 27, 2016.

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  1. mesfen

    mesfen Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    lawrence, ks usa
    i just heard these guys recently via the - cd compilation, Egyptian Candy. Wow! These guys were incredibly talented. How they threw together blues, folk, bluegrass,psychedelia, and middle eastern is impressive. Oud on a rock album! How they are virtual unknown is unfathomable. Reckon the stiff competition of the 60's buried these guys. There was a boot with them jamming with the original canned heat lineup at the Boston tea party which they held their own. Check 'em out
     
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  2. Walter Sobchak

    Walter Sobchak Forum Resident

    Amazing band way ahead of their time.
     
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  3. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yup. Big fan.
     
  4. SquaRoots

    SquaRoots The North Star Grassman

    Location:
    AM✫dam.nl
    There's obviously only one motto here:

     
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  5. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    I have all their CDs for each of their 60s albums as well as The Zabriskie Point CD SDTK which has two Kaleidoscope songs unique to this release. I also have the Pulsating Dream - The Epic Recordings 2 CD set that compiles most of their output (1967-1970) as well as some rare b-sides with the exception of the two Zabriskie Point SDTK tracks which are not included. Great band through and through. Even their last album "Bernice" is a great listen despite being criticized at the time.

    They had another album in the 70s "When Scopes Collide" which I have never heard before. They also did a reunion album "Greetings From Cartoonistan" (We Ain't Dead Yet) in the early 90s that I used to see at my local Media Play which has a cover version of Talk Talk originally by The Music Machine. I've never heard this album either, but have heard their version of Talk Talk.

    The Pulsating Dream - Complete Epic Recordings 3 CD set is very cheap and worth every penny. You can get it brand new/postpaid for less than $10. It was dirt cheap when it got it's third CD reissue on Floating World records which is the version I have. Two previous reissues of this compilation were reissued on Acadia records in differing packaging (one jewel case, the other a digipak) which was the one time sister label for Floating World records.

    The Egyptian Candy Collection is a great single disc comp. with a couple rarities. But the The Pulsating Dream - Complete Epic Recordings 2 CD set is essential and very cheap for a 3 disc set.

    Along with The Incredible String Band, Kaleidoscope are my two fave bands that have a wide variety of stringed instruments used in their music.
     
    ash1 likes this.
  6. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    Have loved them for nearly 30 years now. Was introduced to Side Trips Beacon From Mars and Incredible on the 80s Edsel reissues which I still own and cherish. Great great band apparently Jimmy Page was a big fan.
     
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  7. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    got into them about 40 years ago with Side Trips. the mono and the stereo are different mixes so worth checking out. One of my fave psych bands ever.
     
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  8. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Absolute love for. I have an original mono and stereo press of their US Epic debut, and the UK Edsel comp from the '80s (a great comp, by the way) and I would LOVE to get my hands on the other two US Epics but they are always priced sky high for ho-hum condition. I may break down one day and just pay up. They were a great, great band.
     
    ash1 likes this.
  9. Great band, also reccomend their support work on the Maxfield Parrish album.
     
  10. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    I don't know what the status is of Floating World records but they, like some reissue labels in recent years have not had a reissue in almost 2 years. 2015 was their last reissue but this 3 CD set looks like it's still in print and still cheap. If you want all 4 of their albums between 1967-70, plus all the b-sides and unreleased material that was on the Egyptian Candy collection, then this is for you. Amazon marketplace sellers have this 3 CD set for a little starting at under $6 plus shipping:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037TPHW...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1472346117&sr=8-1
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2016
  11. yesteryear

    yesteryear Wild Honey Laureate

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    Beacon From Mars still makes the turntable pulsate.
     
  12. mesfen

    mesfen Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    lawrence, ks usa
    Thanks for the heads up; ordered
     
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  13. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    Going on a Kaleidoscope binge this evening. The drums sound on ‘Lie To Me’ from Incredible! is tremendous. Also love the hypnotic B-side ‘Rampe Rampe’. Great, great band.
     
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  14. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    The extended suites get a lot of attention, but I like a lot of their shorter songs such as:
    Egyptian Gardens
    Pulsating Dream
    Why Try
    Keep Your Mind Open
    Elevator Man
     
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  15. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

    Location:
    Three Rivers, CA
    In some ways the "Kaleidoscope" are similar to "Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band" in my opinion. Not so much in the way they sound, but both were cultured in the Southern California area around the same time and and took blues, folk, ethnic, bluegrass, psychedelia and put their own unique finger print on it. They were both very much and amalgam of what was going on throughout Southern California at that time. Much the same way surf music evolved from the youth culture of era.
     
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  16. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Safe to assume that this 2010 reissue of "Pulsating Dream - The Epic Recordings"by Floating World uses the same mastering as the Acadia/Evangeline 3-cd set in 2004 (below)?
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2018
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  17. ash1

    ash1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    bristol uk
    Superb band. Think me and my Mrs have everything by them. Been a fan since I heard them in the 80s. Was spinning them wildly over the New Year, they still sound fantastic and adventurous and deserve a lot more recognition. Don't wanna necessarily paint them as psychedelic but they are even when they aren't, great variety of instruments, great songs, great singing and great musicianship all round.
    I often forget about them for some reason amidst my Beatle-ing, Smile-ing, Dylan-ing, Hendrix-ing etc... and then one of us puts on an album or cd and a couple of songs in we start talking about how they must be one of the best bands of the era. They really are that good.
    Like Mesfen wrote up top, "oud on a Rock album" ? Yep, that'll work.
     
  18. no time

    no time Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    A band out of the ordinary, one of my favorites. I have "Pulsating Dream" (3CD), "Egyptian Candy (A Collection)" and "Zabriskie Point". There is a collection with a rare track "Incredible Kaleidoscope / Bernice" HEAD 3697 that contains "I'm A Hog For You".
    At this link many informations:
    Kaleidoscope
     
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  19. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    Out of interest, does anyone know the story of why Jeff Kaplan was added to the band for Bernice? I can't find any info about him other than he OD'd in the early 70s and didn't have much else in terms of pedigree - he didn't write anything for them, and didn't play an instrument. It seems strange that the band at the time would add him when they were clearly on a roll with just the five of them.
     
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  20. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    I believe the mastering is the same between this first Acadia CD version and the later Floating World CD versions. According to Discogs, all the liner notes are the same between these 2 or 3 different issues of this compilation regardless of label.
     
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  21. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    I have no idea what happened. I would be interested in knowing as well.
     
  22. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    The Head CD is a pirate compilation but like other Head CDs I have heard the sound is usually very good and from a tape source. As far as "I'm A Hog For You", why that track was not put on any other official Kaleidoscope CD is baffling. Maybe licensing was a problem. I've never heard the song but would like to. Here's an older post with some info about this song:

    Kaleidoscope - Pulsating Dreams (The Epic Recordings)
     
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  23. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    Been a fan since their beggining in 1966.The debut "Side Trips" & their sophomore effort "Beacon From Mars" are essential to any comprehensive rock or psychedelic music collection.If you want good vinyl RI go with the Edsel 80s compilations "Bacon From Mars" & Rampe Rampe".The music after the first 2 albums is good but the original band began to fragment after "Beacon From Mars" and it shows.Bernice and subsequent albums began to have a heavy handedness that is not conducive to the Kaleidoscope sound.The originals sell for $$ NM.Someone really needs to RI those first 2 in audiophile analogue quality.They were admirers of the Beatles as were John&George admirers of them.Great 60s band in its original incarnation.The Pulsating Dream comp is a 3 CD box the collects all 4 albums through 1969 with singles &rareties that has good sound and worth owning.
     
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  24. no time

    no time Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I have a loss copy of "Incredible Kaleidoscope / Bernice" CD Head 3697, "I'm A Hog For You" is a normal R&R without eastern arrangement, between Lovin' Spoonful and Canned Heat. "Little Orphan Annie" is on "Pulsating Dream" (3CD) as "Little Orphan Nannie"
     
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  25. Ken Viola

    Ken Viola Forum Resident


    The Mono Side Trips should be ReReleased
     
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