SIMON DUPREE AND THE BIG SOUND rain (1969)

album : part of my past
This is an amazing CD reissue, three times over -- for psychedelic music buffs, British R&B and soul enthusiasts, and fans of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant (which evolved out of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound). And it's also incredibly long overdue. Best-known for their Oriental ersatz pop-psychedelic classic "Kites," Simon Dupree & the Big Sound actually started out as a blues and R&B-based outfit, not too different from the Spencer Davis Group. This double-CD set covers their complete EMI output, most of which has never been reissued, and almost all of which is very impressive (and even manages to intersect obliquely with Apple Records' orbit). The group's early soul-oriented sides are killers, exciting, totally convincing pieces of British-made R&B that, in the case of "Love" and "Medley: 60 Minutes of Your Love/A Lot of Love," should have placed them head-to-head with the likes of Steve Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group. Even when they move into a slightly trippier sound, on "There's a Little Picture Playhouse," the group still utilizes a basic soul backing. And "Kites," coming along in the middle of the first disc, is such a radical departure from everything before it, that it's astonishing to hear in this context, even knowing the song well -- the rest of the CD is made up of trippy psychedelic ballads with Mellotron accompaniment, often with punchy acoustic rhythm guitars. It's all very pretty and inventive in a pop context, and rivals or surpasses the psychedelic sides of Rainbow Ffolly and most other EMI artists of the era this side of the Beatles and maybe the Move.

[@colincarroll7954]

Shulman brothers from Portsmouth later to emerge as Gentle Giant

[@grahamd5418]

What a great soulful voice Derek Schulmar had. Carried it through to Gentle Giant.

[@youngchool]

Wow, future Gentle Giant, Rutger Hauer and...whoa. I am surprised!! And Paul Verhoeven too?

[@Pertiminous]

Rutger Hauer, no less!

[@1groovychick]

Thanks for this. I love this song! What movie is this from? I want to see it!

[@OubaelPhoumet]

+1groovychick Paul Verhoeven, turkish delight, 1973.

[@OceanTopographic]

Oh boy! It's the young Rutger Hauer, I think!

[@kjelt1963]

Yup