Indian War Whoop
Holy Modal Rounders
ESP-Disk, 2008
1 CD
Catalogue #: 1068
EAN: 0825481010689
UPC: 825481010689
You save: 25%
Personnel: Steve Weber (vocals, guitar); Peter Stampfel (vocals, electric fiddle); Antonia, Barbara, Wendy (vocals); Lee Crabtree (piano, organ); Sam Shepard (drums).
Recorded in New York, New York in 1967. Includes liner notes by Urban Gwerder.
The Holy Modal Rounders: Steve Weber (vocals, guitar); Peter Stampfel (electric violin); Lee Crabtree (piano, organ); Sam Shepard (drums).
A wildly psychedelic departure from the wry, drug-influenced folk blues of their first two folk albums, the Holy Modal Rounders's 1967 electric rock effort, INDIAN WAR WHOOP, is a delightfully strange anti-establishment effort. From the spoken-word opener "Jimmy and Crash Survey the Universe" (gleefully ripping apart the 1940s movie serials of the duo's youth) through eyebrow-raising tunes like "Cocaine Blues" and the left-wing political anthem "The IWW Song," INDIAN WAR WHOOP makes SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND sound like bubblegum. The 2008 reissue features superior remastered sound.
Tracklist
Holy Modal Rounders
At the heart of the Holy Modal Rounders were Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, two hip young folk fans bewitched by the old-time sounds of folk, country, and blues artists as heard on Harry Smith's seminal ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC. Channeling the spirit of what critic Greil Marcus calls "the old, weird America," the Rounders created their own quirky version of that music. A couple of their albums in the '60s included more rock-oriented players (including playwright Sam Shepard on drums) and resulted in some mind-bending avant gardisms, but the folk format was always the Rounders' focus. After their breakup, Stampfel recorded numerous solo records, but at the end of the '90s he reunited with the ever-erratic Weber for live shows and recording.
