#firlds

Stone Garden: Stone Garden (1998) [1965-1971]

File this one under “retroactive recovery/revival projects,” à la folk singer Sixto ‘Sugar Man’ Rodriguez, Detroit proto-punkers Death, or, soul man Charles Bradley, where fact and fiction get dangerously blurred in the rush to recognize and reappraise (and re-monetize) once overlooked talent.

Stone Garden were a late ‘60s beat/garage/psychedelic group hailing from deepest Idaho, whose long-forgotten recordings were first assembled and reissued on vinyl and CD in 1998, and later repackaged in this far more attractive (if musically identical) Spanish release from 2013.

Formed in Lewiston as a performing family troupe including brothers Gary (guitar), Paul (guitar) and Neal (drums and piano) Speer, they started out as The Three Dimensions, then added classmate Dan Merrell on bass and became Knights of Sound, as the British Invasion started taking over.

The earliest recording on this LP, the rather gloomy of name and sound “The World is Coming to an End” dates from this period (1965), and the name change to Stone Garden would only come two years later, at their manager’s suggestion, since it better fit the changing times and psychedelic trends.

The boys’ sound was changing accordingly, as evidenced by the only product that was issued during their existence, a 1969 seven-inch that paired a bluesy, harmonica-laden blues named “Stop My Thinking” with what most consider their signature cut, the acid fuzz rocker “Oceans Inside Me.”

This fondness for heavier psychedelics and roaring guitars out front is also reflected on excellent tracks like “Assembly Line,” the foreboding organ workout “Woodstick” (courtesy of short-termed band-member, organist Guy Pratt) and even the seemingly upbeat “It’s a Beautiful Day,” with its tribal feedback freak-out, midway through.

But Stone Garden also revealed a broader musical range AND a sense of humor on the frankly hilarious “SF Policeman Blues,” including lines like:

“Well I’m not trying to tell you, friend, that I don’t smoke a bit; But let me tell you this time, friend, they were full of shit! And when I was behind them bars it gave me time to think; About why some people starve, while others can wear mink.

Ohhhh, won’t somebody get me out of jail ... I’ve been here long enough, my cell is getting stale. Tell the judge I’m innocent and that I should be free; San Francisco policeman, came and busted me!”

Mind you, most of the band members didn’t graduate high school until 1970 (!), but after briefly trying their luck in Seattle and recording the remaining songs found here, Stone Garden broke up in 1972, and bassist Merrell was tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver that same year.

So, while I can’t vouch for the precise veracity of the above liner notes and the various sources I researched online, I can assure you that Stone Garden’s music is surprisingly strong and exciting given their impossibly obscure circumstances and geographic isolation.