Quintessence: In Blissful Company - 1969
I remember Quintessence from the early seventies because they always seemed to be playing at my local rock club, Friars in Aylesbury (I was too young to go at the time). It was from seeing their gig posters that I learnt the meaning of the word Quintessence.
I have always presumed them to be a prog rock band, without knowing much about them, but, in listening to them recently, have discovered that while they had a definite innovative proggery about them, they were also very psychedelic, Eastern-influenced and folky at times. They remind me a bit of Caravan in that respect. They are very much at the psychedelic rock end of early prog. I have to say that that is a sub-genre that I quite like.
They were also notable in their considerable Eastern/Indian influence. Obviously that whole George Harrison-inspired thing was de rigeur, but four of the band's six members went the whole hog, changing their names to Maha Dev (rhythm guitar), Raja Ram (flute, bells and percussion), Sambhu Babaji (bass) and Shiva Shankar Jones (lead vocals and keyboards). There's commitment to the scene for you! The other musicians were Jake Milton (drums), Allan Mostert (lead guitar).
Giants mixes hints of Status Quo's Pictures Of Matchstick Men with The Moody Blues' sound of the time and also features some Hendrix-esque wah-wah guitar in the middle. The high-pitched Eastern-style vocal adds to the general druggy, psychedelic freakout nature of the track. It's wild, man.
Mano Capac has an ethereal Traffic-style flute intro and that, along with its raw, slow rock sound screams "1968-69" so loud it hurts! Check out the flute, guitar, drums and bass interplay around the three minutes mark and beyond. It is excellent. The tracks segues straight into the upbeat, mysterious rock of Body, a track that sounds almost like late seventies/early eighties post punk in places. The high-pitched vocals put me in mind of Thijs Van Leer from Focus.
A similar haughty sound is to be found on Gange Mai, another experimental workout that, while not something that makes me want to return to it over and over is still highly intoxicating, mysterious and intriguing. The sound quality is excellent too - lovely period stereo, something that I love. It was 1969, so it must be time for some sitar-based stuff, surely, and we get that in the ghostly Chant, which mixes sitar with Gregorian chant. Those Within You Without You tablas are in there too, of course.
Pearl And Bird is a delightful number, featuring some lovely flute. There is an easy-going jazziness to it. There is something about the vocals that remind me of those of The Doors and typical post punk ones.
The first Quintessence track that caught my ear was Notting Hill Gate, when I heard it on a compilation. It is like early Jethro Tull meeting some Indian musicians somewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas. I really like it - the flute, the basslines, the hippiness. Great stuff indeed. This isn't really archetypal prog. It is sort of unique. It is up there with the best "serious" music that the late sixties had to offer in my opinion.
The album ends with the nine minute-plus Midnight Mode, which is a fine serving of jazz-influenced meandering hippy groove. Get a load of the mid-song guitar soloing too. It just makes you want to find a Janis Joplin lookalike girl and settle down on an Afghan rug, man. Love that stereo sound once again but it is probably about three minutes too long. They sort of turn into Can or Neu! at the end.
This is a highly interesting and much-underrated album. Sure, it is very much of its time but it was one hell of a time, wasn't it?
