One of the first bands - if not THE first - to bring Indian raga into arock context, the Seventh Sons may not be the sole inventors of theso-called "raga rock" fusion, but they are undoubtedly one of itsearliest pioneers. These New York 'Sons' were experimenting withEastern rhythms and instrumentation when "most groups thoughtthat the sitar was an exotic automobile"(as the album's original linernotes state). In fact, originally recorded in 1964 (but not releaseduntil 1968), this album was made long before the Eastern musicrenaissance had what seemed like every rock band on both sides of the Atlantic grooving to the funkyIndian 17-string. Recorded on an Ampex 601 recorder in guest flautist Frank Eventoff's Baltimoreapartment (and featuring the only Kenyan signal drum to appear on an American recording that year) theSeventh Sons rocked this album straight into the future!
