The Beat Of The Earth - The Beat Of The Earth (1967)

The Beat Of The Earth - The Beat Of The Earth (1967)

The Beat of the Earth - The Beat of the Earth (1967/2004 Remastered Edition) Album: The Beat of the Earth - The Beat of the Earth (Remastered Edition)
Released: 1967 (2004)
Genre: Psychedelic-, Prog-Rock
Radioactive Records - RRCD060

"If you're looking for psychedelic music, do not buy this album unless you're looking for psychedelic music."

BEAT OF THE EARTH - The Beat of the Earth (Radioactive Records 060) First ever reissue! One of the most desirable 60s-era artifacts that had remained un-plundered... - DMG Newsletter

Phil Pearlman, whose Relatively Clean Rivers album is well known to US '60's/70's psych collectors, assembled this 1967 free form outfit very much in the spirit of The Merry Pranksters and their legendary San Francisco Acid Tests. Made up of unstructured, stoned jams with a West Coast edge the two long tracks using a myriad assortment of acoustic and electronic instruments. This is an item of significance from the California '60s counter cultural rock scene and as the sleeve say's "If you are looking for psychedelic music, do not buy this record unless you are looking for psychedelic music". Very weird and fried! - Freak Emporium

The Acid Undergound writes (whom in inspired to make said purchase), "...One of the big discoveries of the late 1980s and it certainly is one trancey organ/guitar tribal surfpsych jam trip stretched over two full sides. Warning: this is too far out for many, though I certainly dig it - close to the heart of the LSD experience, even while the main creative force behind it was opposed to drugs. Essential." And, I couldn't agree more! - The Psychedelic Rock Tumbler

...The Beat Of The Earth was the first, in '67, and it sounds like Amon Düül transplanted to southern California an organ and mostly dippy lyrics. I'm a huge Amon Düül fan, but usually disappointed with anything else from the time that's 'free'/communal/improvised. This is one is as good as that stuff gets, though, and is probably more accessible than all Amon Düül records other than Paradieswarts Düül. Truly transcendent jams... - PsychReview

First ever reissue! "Phil Pearlman, whose Relatively Clean Rivers album (RRLP020) has received universal acclaim, assembled Beat Of The Earth in 1967 with this, their first, eponymous album, appearing on the Radish label (AS0001) in the same year. BOTE is often compared with their illustrious East coast counterparts, The Velvet Underground, an apt comparison given the Velvet's penchant for long, unstructured jams using a myriad assortment of acoustic and electronic instruments. This is the earliest incarnation of the band, and the one that is most familiar to collectors fortunate enough to own a copy of this incredibly rare album. The album consists of a single track per side, and this, the band's recording debut, is considered an unusual and singular item of significance from the California '60s alternative rock scene. Although guitarist Pearlman managed to keep Beat Of The Earth together for much of the remainder of the '60s, it is fair to say that no more 'proper' recordings were made, although Pearlman continued to add to his personal collection of studio recordings, drafting in new musicians for impromptu after-hours recording sessions arranged at short notice. Another fascinating psych album from a true musical innovator." - Forced Exposure

After being discovered by fans of underground psychedelia in the late 1980s, Orange County band BEAT OF THE EARTH's sole 1967 album has grown into a classic within the field, in spite of its rarity and lack of a reissue. The improvisational music on the album cannot be easily described but most who hear it agree that it represents a unique link between mid-1960s California teen sounds and the droning acid rock of the later era... - THE LAMA WORKSHOP - Beat Of The Earth

Beat Of The Earth was assembled by Phil Pearlman, who had earlier released a surf/hot rod 45 Chrome Reversed Rails (shown as by Phil and The Flakes, on the Fink label). One of the earliest known electric experimental bands, The Beat Of The Earth sound very similar to their East-coast counterparts The Velvet Underground... These two records were recorded live in the studio during the Summer of 1967 and consist of long, unstructured jams using a myriad of acoustic and electric instruments. This early incarnation of the band is the one most familiar to collectors and copies of the first album have been changing hands for hundred of dollars since the mid-eighties. The music the band produced during this period is not for everybody (compare to the long tracks on the first two Velvet Underground albums), but their debut remains an unusual and rare item of significance from the California rock scene.
During 1968-9 the line-up of the band was in constant flux and Beat Of The Earth made no known "proper" recordings, but Pearlman continued to add to his own collection of demos using local studios in off-hours via his friendship with the engineer Joe Sidore. At the end of 1969, Pearlman assembled The Electronic Hole strictly for personal use - specifically, to draft musicians for his new band. Several names are listed on the sleeve but I believe this is actually very close to being a Phil Pearlman solo project. The album is entirely different stylistically from the earlier one in that it abandons the freeform improvisational approach in favour of 'compositions' including a wild cover of Zappa's Trouble Comin' Every Day. None of the tracks are given titles on the album which complicates singling any out for commentary, but there are real highlights and the raw, unpolished feel only serves to make it utterly magical. Pearlman plays sitar on one track to great effect, and another has the thickest wall of fuzz guitars imaginable - an effect he created by running his Fender amplifier into the amp circuit of a child's chord organ ("sounded great for about two weeks, then it blew up!"). There are few albums I known of that have such an eclectic yet appealing sound. Had the story ended here it would have been a real tragedy, as Pearlman's finest hour was yet to come. Six years later (with who knows what in between), recording commenced on the majestic Relatively Clean Rivers album with an entirely new band and musical vision. - D.Glazer

Phil Pearlman
Ron Collins
JR Nichols
Morgan
Karen Darby

Tracklist:

1. The Beat of the Earth (This Is An Artistic Statement), Pt. 1 20:59
2. The Beat of the Earth (This Is An Artistic Statement), Pt. 2 20:54