As precursors
to International Harvester, Harvester, and Träd, Gräs & Stenar,
Parson Sound are of historical importance to the Swedish underground
experimental rock scene. These archival recordings date from 1966 to
1968, and except for part of "Sov Gott Rose-Marie," which appeared on
the International Harvester album of the same name, none of this has
previously been released. This double-CD offers up over two hours of
mind-bending music that draws on the Velvet Underground, West Coast
psychedelic bands, and Terry Riley and 1960's minimalism, as filtered
through a Krautrock-like angst and with some Swedish folk influences
thrown in. Most tracks are droning, lumbering raga-rock with moaning
group vocals and a prominent electric cello, coming off something like
early bootleg Velvet Underground trance jamming, with the band often
locking into a single repetitive riff for 15 or 20 minutes. At five cuts
per disc, most of the pieces are quite long, and most lack any song
structure. No Stones or Yardbirds covers here either, though the first
part of "Sov Gott Rose-Marie" does sport a "Wild Thing"/"Louie Louie"
type riff, though hyped up and with strange chanting. For diversity
there's the track "On How to Live," a weird acoustic folk instrumental
with bird noises, and "Blastlaten," with processed horns and flutes
similar to Terry Riley in his Poppy Nogood phase. There is also an early
solo piece by Parson founder Bo Anders Persson, "A Glimpse Inside the
Glyptotec-66," consisting of drones created by modified tape recorders
and voice. Most of the CD was recorded professionally, either by the
band or for Swedish radio, so the sound quality is very good for the
era, matching that of Träd, Gräs's Gardet 12.6.1970. Line-up / Musicians Bo Anders Persson/guitar,vocals Torbjorn Abelli/bass Thomas Mera Gartz/drums,vocals Arne Ericsson/cello,piano Thomas Tidholm/saxophone,vocals Jakob Sjoholm/guitar,vocals Urban Yman/violin Discography Pärson Sound 1967
1.Intro 2.Tio minuter 3.From Tunis to India in Fullmoon on Testosterone 4.India (Slight Return) 5.A Glimpse Inside the Glyptotec -66 6.One Quiet Afternoon (in the King's garden) 7.Sov gott Rose-Marie 8.Skrubba 9.Milano 10.On How to Live 11.Blåslåten
