Eela Craig

About

Originally released only in Austria by the ProDisc label. Apparently only 1,500 copies made, and in the 1990s original copies fetched $500 (Nowaday, I’ve seen copies turn up for way higher on EBay and other outlet, one for over $3,000) Eela Craig is one of the best known progressive rock bands came out of Austria, given the country did not have a big prog rock scene (Kyrie Eleison and Paternoster are a couple other examples). In 1971, they released their self-entitled debut, with a different lineup than their better known late ’70s releases (1976′s One Niter, 1978′s Hats of Gla, 1978′s Missa Universali, and 1980′s Virgin Oiland). Keyboardist Hubert Bognermayr, bassist Gerhard Englisch, and guitarist/flautist Harald Zuschrader are teamed up on this debut recording with guitarist Heinz Gerstmair, vocalist Wil Orthofer (who also handle sax here), and drummer Horst Waber. You can tell this was a band with a split personality, as Bognermayr, Zuscrader, and Englisch preferred progressive rock, while Orthofer, Gerstmair, and Waber preferred jazz and blues (in fact these three would shortly leave, only to have Othofer return around 1977). And it shows in the music too. OK, so the production isn’t the greatest, but then this is a band just starting, so don’t expect the professional polish of later album. This album really is very different from the Synth / Mellotron dominated albums they did in the late ’70. Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond organ are the only keyboards used here. Heinz Gerstmair tends to play more blues-influence leads on his guitar, and Wil Orthofer’s voice was rather bluesy, while Horst Waber gives some rather jazzy drumming (compare that to later drummer, Frank Hueber, whose more of a rock drummer). “New Born Child” features some rather psychedelic organ, than some really terrifying scream, obviously inspired by “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”, but while you expect the band to get more intense, they mellow out, with electric piano and vocal. The music does pick up with guitar and sax. “Selfmade Trip” shows that blues influence, with lots of great guitar and flute work, some slower passage, and then one of the themes played in reverse. “A New Way” shows a more jazzy side of the band, dominated by electric piano and flute. “Indra Elegy” is the most progressive piece on this album, going through four movement, including some atmospheric parts with electric piano and organ, to more intense organ passage, a vocal passage, then back to the original theme of organ and electric piano. The original LP appeared on the Pro-Disc label, and is without a doubt the rarest album by Eela Craig. Until this was reissued on CD in 1997 on Garden of Delight, many people either thought One Niter was their debut, or that talks of an album in 1971 was just a rumor (in fact I had nothing really to back it up until the Internet, and just at that time I was delighted to find out they did have an album released in 1971, and that it was finally reissued on CD). The CD reissue also includes four bonus cut. Two are from a 1972 collaboration with Dr. Alfred Peschek. Unsurprisingly the lineup changed, with just Hubert Bognermayr, Gerhard Englisch, Harald Zuschrader, and new drummer Joe Drobar. These two pieces are highly experimental, dominated by percussion, electronic, with a rather spacy feel, these two not released at the time, but apparently on a Dr. Peschek CD that was released in 1997 as a limited edition. The final two come from a single the band released in 1974, “Stories” and “Cheese”. By this point the band got themselves a Mellotron, and was put to great use on this single. Lineup changes again, this time new guitarist Fritz Riedelberger, and new keyboardist Hubert Schnauer, with Hubert Bognermayr, and Joe Drobar (strangely Harald Zuschrader sat this one out). There is no mistaking the symphonic direction the band had headed for here. The band obviously felt more comfortable in this style, as their following albums were in this vein. “Stories” has more of a ballad feel, with electric piano and tons of Mellotron, while “Cheese” is largely instrumental, but a slower passage with vocal. If you’re familiar with Hats of Gla, you know right away both were re-recorded, “Stories” became the final movement of “Hats of Glass” (the song) (if you own the Symphonic Rock CD, it was entitled “Grover’s Mill”), with new lyric, less Mellotron, and more string synth, while “Cheese” became all-instrumental (which I thought was an improvement, as the vocals weren’t the strong point of that piece). .

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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