Bubble Puppy - A Gathering Of Promises (1969)

Bubble Puppy - A Gathering Of Promises (1969)

Artist: The Bubble Puppy
Album: A Gathering Of Promises
Released: 1969/1993 Remaster
Collectables/COL-CD-0558
Genre: Rock/60's Psych/Psych Rock

Review:
A Gathering Of Promises by Bubble Puppy represents the hard rock side of American psychedelic music, greatly representing much of the Texas scene itself, which included the likes of Josefus, Joseph and the Moving Sidewalks, and adding a dash of the Hendrix inspired acid guitar. Yet, this album still has enough of a sixties feel to satisfy psych purists. A truly excellent album, full of great tunes and intelligent lyrics, Bubble Puppy would later evolve into Demian, repeating this formula for another worthwhile album, and then later in the late 70s they would evolve into Sirius, a very disappointing band playing less than average rock n roll.
If anyone out there is interested in Bubble Puppy, they should know that they were stand at the dawn of what it means to be psychedelic music, They were originally on International Artists, the same label as The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. They are one of the most unknown from that Texas scene...and I have to say they are not just good they are classic...must have. I realize that another viewer didn't like the album, but I would suggest thay are not hearing with new ears, because every song,in a very short time, transports the listener.

I had never heard of Bubble Puppy until just recently. A friend from another psych group's website mentioned them and trusting his taste in music, I decided to buy the cd and give the group a listen. Was totally blown away by what I heard! Felt like I had come back home and knew them forever. Every song got better and better. Got hooked on their unique style of sounds. Bubble Puppy is truly AWESOME!!!
http://psychedelic-music.net

One of the last bands signed to the legendary International Artists label, Bubble Puppy also gave the company its most substantial hit, "Hot Smoke And Sasafrass". Originally known as the New Seeds, the Austin, Texas, USA-based quartet comprised Todd Potter (guitar), Roy Cox (bass), Rod Prince (guitar) and David "Fuzzy" Fore (drums) and derived their new name from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. More mainstream than many of their contemporaries, their 1969 debut A Gathering Of Promises, showed traces of Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Moby Grape. An unstable unit, Bubble Puppy moved labels to ABC Records in 1970 and changed their name to Demian. Their eponymous album relied on progressive styles at the expense of melody and this aggregation was allowed to wither away. Prince and Potter re-established the band in 1977 under the title Sirius, and the resultant release, Rising, recalled something of the old unit's erstwhile fire. Ten years later Prince re-emerged with a reconstituted Bubble Puppy and an album, Wheels Go Round, which bore a kinship with ZZ Top.
www.oldies.com

From 1967 until around 1970 Roy, Todd, David, and Rod were The Bubble Puppy. We're in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in an exhibit called "One Hit Wonders" cause we were. Our Song Hot Smoke and Sassafrass reached number 14 in the national Billboard Magazine charts in 1968. We performed on Dick Clark's American Bandstand when we were just kids! We lived together in the country in Austin, or in big house in Houston, where we jammed, wrote songs, and had fun. We changed our name to Demian around 1970 because people associated us with Bubble Gum music, which we definitely were not! We had been touring with Steppenwolf. Their bass player became our manager and we moved to Los Angeles and changed our name to Demian. (Both Seppenwolf and Demian were written by the same author).

A Great Classic, April 26, 2002
Reviewer: Fred Rayworth (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews
In the sixties, I had a tendency to pick up albums based on the photo of the band, not what I thought I knew about their music. I pretty much hated pop music so looked for the underground bands. The longer the hair, the uglier, the weirdest dressed, that was my incentive. The Bubble Puppy were dressed weird. Not particularly ugly, their costumes were enough to fork over my hard earned dollar something for their album.
I heard Hot Smoke and Sassafras on the radio without realizing who they were until I bought the album. The song that really blew me away though, was Lonely. That guitar solo was the most awesome guitar prowess I had ever heard up to that time. It inspired me to play better guitar, but today I still cannot play it! I have a lot of respect for Rod Prince on that one. The influences on the album are plenty from hard rock to psychedelic, to tinges of country. It is a weird combination that makes them groundbreaking from my perspective. It disgusts me that they are not ever mentioned in the typical history of rock and roll books. Of course, to me most of the other really good bands never were either.

There is not a dud song on the whole album. The intricate guitar interplay between Rod Prince and Todd Potter adds little details that make the music interesting and very listenable. These guys were the best and never saw the credit they deserved. It is another one of my classic albums that I have worn out. I was really excited to finally find the CD. Though the CD is adequate, it is poorly done and on one song, they seem to have lost the speed regulator on the tape machine. Yet, the essence of the album, the songs, are still there. Boy were they good! What really rubs this whole thing wrong is that the band has probably not seen a dime from the CD. They were a classic case of a band being ripped off by their record company and management.

This is an essential album for anyone out to get to the "real" roots of modern rock and roll and is well worth the time to seek out. The CD version, though flawed, still displays their immense talent. By the way, the original LP is a collectors' item and can fetch more than a hundred bucks if it is in pristine condition. If only I bought two, so I could have saved one for the investment
www.amazon.com

Tracklist:

1. Hot Smoke And Sasafrass
2. Todd's Tune
3. I've Got To Reach You
4. Lonely
5. Gathering Of Promises
6. Hurry Sundown
7. Elizabeth
8. It's Safe To Say
9. Road To St. Stephens
10. Beginning