TCCDM Pulls One Out..."The Cycle Is Complete" - Bruce Palmer (1970)

"The Cycle Is Complete" - Bruce Palmer (1970)

     "The Cycle Is Complete" doesn't fall into the category of rare albums, but I honestly have to question how many were pressed.  I rarely, if ever, see any in the wild.  The music on here is not the Buffalo Springfield country-rock sound that the colored headband Bruce Palmer sports on the front cover suggests.  The music hits the ears with a jazzy psych-prog shadow knocking at the door.  And it is a trippy, jammy, tranced-out experience when you let it all in.  Nothing found here would have received much radio play.  Nothing found here that the record company was hoping for or expecting, I'm sure.  But the underground would've eaten it up.

     Bruce Palmer was the bassist for Buffalo Springfield, and with similarities that recall Syd Barrett or Skip Spence.  No, he wasn't ill or violent, but Palmer definitely floated on his own clouds and was eventually replaced by Jim Messina in the Buffalo Springfield family.  On my first listen, I was thinking, "This is really good, but what the hell did I just listen to?"  After taking it out for another spin, with headphones and some active listening…oh…my…gosh.  If you enjoy the trancy, trippy kind of stuff, "The Cycle Is Complete" is a forgotten square right up your alley.

     The music has jam all over it.  However, I read somewhere that the added flavors of instruments and vocal sounds were layered on one after the other.  On this album, there are members from the psych band, Kaleidoscope, as well as a pre-"Super Freak" Rick Matthews…aka Rick James.  But don't misunderstand, the music does not have a 'throw it all together and hope for the best' commotion about it.  Bruce Palmer's "The Cycle Is Complete" is spiderweb deep, surprisingly ambitious, and a square that rewards with every spin.

"The Cycle Is Complete" - Bruce Palmer (back)

"The Cycle Is Complete" - Bruce Palmer (inside gatefold)

The album is really just a drop the needle and chill experience, but...
Favorites include:
"Alpha-Omega-Apocalypse"
"Oxo"

This copy is an original gatefold pressing on the Verve label.  There is a hole-punch in the bottom corner with minimal ringwear on the front.  The vinyl has an easy EX grade.  I picked this one up online for $40 plus shipping, which is getting pricey but still lower than the Discogs median.  The album has been reissued, but supposedly, there is a variance of sorts due to problems with the master tapes that differ from the original.  So this OG is the way to go.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

Verve Forecaste label

Cat #
FTS 3086
SIDE A  DEADWAX
FTS 3086  MGS 2360-1 Re.1  9 Sept: 70  E.O.
SIDE B  DEADWAX
FTS 3086  MGS 2361-1 Re  9 Sept: 70  E.O.1

"Oxo" - Bruce Palmer / "The Cycle Is Complete" (1970)

TRACKS:
A1  "Alpha-Omega-Apocalypse" 16:45
A2  "Interlude" 1:55
B1  "Oxo" 8:00
B2  "Calm Before The Storm" 10:12

PERSONNEL:
Bruce Palmer - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, production
Richard Aplanalp - oboe, flute
Templeton Parcely - violin
Rick Matthews (James) - vocals, percussion
Jeff Kaplan - piano
Ed Roth - organ
Danny Ray - congas
Paul Lagos - drums

Good stuff.

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