LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Clear Light were a short-lived Los Angeles psychedelic rock group whose only album, Clear Light, was released in 1967 on Elektra Records. Although the band’s catalogue was brief, their sound captured the adventurous spirit of the West Coast underground, combining folk-rock, garage energy, baroque touches and darker acid-rock atmospheres.

The group featured vocalist Cliff DeYoung, guitarist Bob Seal, bassist Douglas Lubahn, keyboard player Ralph Schuckett and the unusual power of two drummers, Dallas Taylor and Michael Ney. Produced by Paul A. Rothchild, best known for his work with The Doors, the album sits naturally beside the era’s Elektra psych catalogue while maintaining its own distinctive, shadowy character.

Highlights include the jangling opener Black Roses, the fuzz-toned Sand, the eerie and extended reading of Tom Paxton’s Mr. Blue, and the melodic psych-rock of With All In Mind and They Who Have Nothing. Though the band dissolved soon after, Clear Light has become a cult favourite among collectors of 1960s American psychedelia.

1. Black Roses
2. Sand
3. A Child's Smile
4. Street Singer
5. The Ballad Of Freddie & Larry
6. With All In Mind
7. Mr. Blue
8. Think Again
9. They Who Have Nothing
10. How Many Days Have Passed
11. Night Sounds Loud