Sunday, April 02, 2006

Mountain Bus - Sundance (1971)

Reissue of the rare and great 1971 album by this Chicago band. Psychedelic country tinged rock, that has drawn comparisons with Grateful Dead, possibly for their own blissed out version of "I Know You Rider". Long jamming tracks with great spacey mid sections and liquid, twin lead guitar work...Freak Emporium
Tremendous early 70's psych out of Chicago with an obvious Grateful Dead influence. Starts out strong and gets stronger, with some really high quality space jams towards the end of the record. This band's version of "I Know You Rider" is perhaps the best version I've ever heard, blowing away versions by The Dead and Hot Tuna. Gorgeous vocal harmonies and searing leads make this the standout cut for sure. It makes the hair on my arms stand up! This album was recently reissued on Gear Fab records in compact disc format, and it sounds really good. There are quite a few bonus live tracks tacked on to here that I could really do without, as the vocals are mixed way low and the whole thing has kind of a murky sound, but the proper studio album comes highly recommended. chadkelsey

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was shocked to find Mountain Bus, in the late 60's and early 70's I would go to Chicago at least twice a month, it was a 300+ mile drive. I saw Mountain Bus several times. The album is great.

Chris Noto said...

I was a student at Loyola University, Chicago's Lakeshore Campus from January 1969 through 1972. I bought all of my records at the shop across from the campus, whose owner put up the money for Mountain Bus's recording. They were a regular fixture at Friday and Saturday night on-campus mixers, where I would wind up standing eight feet in front of the lead guitarist, hypnotized by everything the band was laying down. I bought Sundance when it was released, and still cherish that original vinyl, as I do my memories of the band. It broke my heart when Mountain's lawyers crushed their career in the bud. I wish them well, and offer thanks, every time I listen to their music, for the joy they still bring.

Guitarradeplastico,scraping oddities said...

Muchas gracias