LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Label: Now Again

Casebook 2xCD versio + 64 page booklet

It includes all of the music from the bonus second album of the vinyl edition. "Deluxe reissue of the legendary late '60s Los Angeles psychedelic masterpiece: restored/remastrestored/remastered transfer, pitch/speed corrected for the first time ever. Bonus second disc contains the entirety of Damon's '60s recordings, plus never-before-heard demos.

Extensive booklet with dozens of unpublished photos and images - a thorough investigation of this landmark album, through the prism of an extensive interview with Damon. Damon's "Song of a Gypsy" is generally regarded as one of the finest privately-pressed psychedelic rock records and has, for more than twenty years, been one of the most sought after late '60s American rock artifacts in the world, with the scant original copies that exist exchanging hands for thousands of dollars. It was as though this funky psychedelic monument was borrowed from nothing and sprung from nowhere. Damon's unique, introspective songwriting and the interplay between his spooky voice and lead guitarist Charlie Carey perfectly captured the last bloom of the flower power era as it decayed into the dark haze of the '70s underground. It could only have arisen from a spark of auspicious genius. But did it? Over the past seven years, Now Again have been obsessed with "Song of a Gypsy". This anthology is their attempt to put forth a convincing argument for the overwhelming importance of this album, a unique high point from within but also outside of America's psychedelic movement. We follow Damon on his 'predestined life as a gypsy' from his birth into a tight knit Italian American family in Rochester, New York, through the various Los Angeles communities that he would call home. We compile, and analyze the entirety of his oeuvre, from his first surf-rock single in 1960, through schmaltzy pop, convincing doo-wop, blued eyed soul and garage rock in the mid 60s. And we focus on the year 1967, the founding of his label Ankh, and his transformation from a pop hopeful to tortured soul. To that end, we've uncovered demo recordings and acetates that show an artist in transition, and we attempt to make sense of the seminal moments that made this transformation possible in a crucial moment in America's psychedelic high water mark."

Track Listing

DISC 1:

1)           Song of a Gypsy       
2)           Poor Poor Genie       
3)           Don't You Feel Me       
4)           Did You Ever       
5)           Funky Funky Blues       
6)           Do You       
7)           Night, The       
8)           Feel Your Love       
9)           Birds Fly So High       
10)           Road of Life, The       
11)           Oh What a Good Boy Am I       
12)           Song of a Gypsy [45 Version]       
13)           Song of a Gypsy [Demo Version]       
14)           Poor Poor Genie [Demo Version]       

DISC 2:

1)           Lonely Surfer, The       
2)           Don't Cry       
3)           Bowlin' Alley Jane       
4)           Don't Cry Davy       
5)           Face In the Crowd, A       
6)           I Lie       
7)           Cry       
8)           I've Got My Pride       
9)           Lovin' Man       
10)           They Call Me a Fool       
11)           Battle Hymn, The (Of the Republic)       
12)           Everything is Alright       
13)           Little White Cloud That Cried, The       
14)           I Wonder Why       
15)           Seems Like I Travelled       
16)           Dirty Daddy Blues