TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Blue Mountain Eagle" (1970)

"Blue Mountain Eagle" (front)

Blue Mountain Eagle was a one-and-done acid rock band from the West Coast, that had splashes of psych and occasional moments of a California country-rock vibe.  The album has plenty of tasty fuzz guitar, but not the dirty heavy fuzz.  Here, the fuzz is stinging and biting.  Almost surgical.  I love both.  The vocal harmonies work really well too and make for an altogether entertaining spin.  And my God is that album cover ever beautiful!  I can't nail down the shade of red, but whatever it is...I'll take all of it you got.

"Love Is Here" is a fantastic fuzz-driven opener and makes friends with you right away.  "Winding Your String" is another favorite I liked right from the get-go.  "Loveless Lives" is a ballsy fuzz-burner and "Sweet Mama" is a fun cranker with a proverbial drum solo that thankfully does not wear out its welcome.  None of the lyrics are deep or Dylanesque, but sometimes you don't want to think, right!?  There are also a couple of songs that bring to mind The Shocking Blue, as well as Skynyrd, but only briefly.  I'll leave those for your own ears to find.

"Blue Mountain Eagle" (back)

The founding member was Dewey Martin, the original drummer for Buffalo Springfield.  They were touring under the moniker...The New Buffalo Springfield...until Stills and Young...and a 'cease and desist' letter from their lawyer made him cut the crap.  Shortly after, Dewey was replaced by drummer Don Poncherto and told to take a hike.  They eventually took the name Blue Mountain Eagle and were personally signed by Ahmet Ertegun and then quickly went into the studio.

Overall, Blue Mountain Eagle's self-titled album is pretty good.  Nothing mind-blowing, but no duds, either.  Just a good spin.  According to Wiki, the band only sold a few thousand copies so that may explain the difficulty finding original copies for a reasonable price.  My original pressing was an eBay find after a few years looking in the wild.  The album has since been reissued by Rhino in 2015.

And this is kind of cool.  One of the guitarists and singers from the band...David Price...was once a stand-in for Davey Jones on "The Monkees" TV show.  I had no idea they needed stand-ins.  David is the one standing in the album cover photo.

ATCO label

ATCO company sleeve

"Love Is Here" - Blue Mountain Eagle / "Blue Mountain Eagle" (1970) 

TRACKS:
A1  "Love Is Here"  4:25
A2  "Yellows' Dream"  2:42
A3  "Feel Like a Bandi"  t3:03
A4  "Troubles"  3:07
A5  "Loveless Lives"  3:32
B1  "No Regrets"  4:08
B2  "Winding Your String"  2:55
B3  "Sweet Mama"  4:18
B4  "Promise of Love"  3:00
B5  "Trivial Sum"  3:08

PERSONNEL:
Joey Newman - lead guitar, keyboards, vocals
Bob "BJ" Jones - lead guitar, vocals
David Price - rhythm guitar, vocals
Randy Fuller - bass, guitar, vocals
David L. Johnson - bass, vocals
Don Poncher - drums, vocals

Good stuff.

 Casey Chambers
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