Don’t think I can manage poker tonight
But will provide a dose
Another one with some unique instrumentation
This is 1969 British psych with a twist
The twist being tabla, a percussion instrument from the south asian subcontinent
Played in pairs
Sort of like congas
Sam Gopal was born in Malaysia and started playing tabla at the age of 7
Came to London to study in the early 60s
He put together one group called “Sam Gopal Dream” which never recorded
Reconstituted a new quartet and dropped the “Dream”
They put out Escalator, this bluesy, eastern psychedelia in 69
Very much a product of its period
Lot of psychoactives are undoubtedly involved here
Today, the album is mostly known as the early musical flowering of one “Ian Willis”
Who is on guitar, vocals, and responsible for most of the writing
He had been a roadie for Hendrix
But after this, switched to bass and became famous as “Lemmy”
(Supposedly, the name came from his constant drug-fueled needs for money, as in “Lemmy borrow a few quid”)
Not a lot here to make out the genesis of Hawkwind or Motorhead
And the critics don’t find much to praise here, either, apparently
Here’s the All Music Review: “You have to be a very good group to pull this off well, and Sam Gopal were not very good; they were adequate, at best.”
Uhh…Agree to disagree?
I love the whole album
Some other of my selections:
The incredible Sky is Burning, which starts out with fire and slow burns all the way
https://youtu.be/eqVRJtsJbzY
And Grass, with Lemmy’s guitar riff playing off the tabla beat and very 1969 lyrics
https://youtu.be/EtphQUSbeHk
Okay, I’m a late 60s guy, I confess
Sam got in a bad car accident which put the music on hold for a long time
In the late 90s he reemerged with some new faces and new music
Can’t figure out if he’s still active, or even alive
But Escalator is much more than Lemmy trivia, in my book
