LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

• Packaging: Original artwork with newly written liner notes

Originally released by Epic in 1968, Dino Valente was the first and only solo album by Chester William Powers Jr., the singer and songwriter variously known as Dino Valenti and Dino Valente. Closely connected to the formative San Francisco psychedelic scene, he later became a prominent member of Quicksilver Messenger Service and was already known as the composer of the countercultural anthem “Get Together.”

Produced by Bob Johnston, whose extensive credits included landmark recordings by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen, the album places Valente’s highly individual voice within a spacious mixture of folk rock, country, blues and psychedelia. Acoustic and twelve-string guitars dominate the arrangements, surrounded by reverberant vocals, understated percussion and an atmosphere that moves between intimate reflection and open-ended improvisation.

Extended pieces such as “Something New,” “Children of the Sun” and “New Wind Blowing” allow Valente’s elliptical lyrics and unusual melodic ideas to unfold gradually. Shorter songs including “Time,” “Tomorrow” and “Everything Is Gonna Be OK” reveal a more direct side of his writing, while his distinctive interpretation of John Phillips’ “Me and My Uncle” connects the album to the wider American folk tradition.

Overlooked by many listeners at the time of its original release, Dino Valente has since become a sought-after document of late-1960s West Coast acid folk. This newly remastered vinyl edition returns the original ten-track album to LP for the first time in thirteen years, reproducing the period artwork and adding new liner notes.

Track listing:

Side A
A1. Time – 3:08
A2. Something New – 7:10
A3. My Friend – 5:53
A4. Listen to Me – 3:16
A5. Me and My Uncle – 3:58

Side B
B1. Tomorrow – 4:09
B2. Children of the Sun – 7:06
B3. New Wind Blowing – 6:13
B4. Everything Is Gonna Be OK – 2:50
B5. Test – 3:13