This combination reissue of Bethlehem Asylum’s two early-1970s Ampex albums is just a wonderfully weird look back into the musical and oddly melodic mayhem that was found in those hip record-store racks way back then.
It’s hard to explain, but the music industry in the ’70s just let a whole lot of creative people make really cool music. I bought records by Dust, the Stooges, Savoy Brown, If, Audience, Amazing Blondel, Wishbone Ash, Jade Warrior, with countless obscurities like Goose Creek Symphony, Seatrain, Blue Jug, and (the absolutely wonderful southern prog band) Leviathan.
Perhaps, amid all this glorious noise, good guy (and thanks for the fire!) Prometheus was given the grace to rattle his rebellious chains a bit. Bethlehem Asylum’s southern-rock vinyl groove was something like that because it, indeed, rattled chains.
Now … to the music: My download starts with Bethlehem Asylum’s self-titled 1971 second album, and it’s something quite different from 1970’s Commit Yourself, which has a jazzy vibe. That said, “Lady Author” drips with piano and acoustic guitar-graced folk rock. It’s a nice, jaunty ride. Then, “The Year’s Biggest Rain” continues in the country-rock folk vein with a nicely waltz-stepped tune with harmony vocals, flute and sax solos to add featherbed comfort.
Odd – “Another Time Another Place” is a brief keyboard interlude worthy of Keith Emerson. But then, to extend the width of the album’s circle, “I Know a Lonely Man” could (almost) be a demo from The Great Lost Kinks Album, with a passionate vocal not dissimilar from Sir Raymond Douglas Davies in his more sensitive moments. Ditto: “Ring My Bell” gets bluesy and wobbles like a tune from “Celluloid Heroes.”
But then, “Blind Man’s Bluff” injects a flute into a continued blues vibe into Bethlehem Asylum. Now, it’s not Jethro Tull’s “Bourée,” but it’s still pretty cool. Ditto (once again!) for the big finale “Tales from the Citadel: Vol 1.” The song extends its value into a concert-friendly showcase (such were the times!) with an extended bass and drum solo featuring even more jazz piano and great sax that, of course, eventually erupts with a return of the original almost funky-stormed big drama that throws the last firewood under the cauldron (to quote the great band Traffic) of “rock ‘n’ roll stew.”
The reissue continues with Bethlehem Asylum’s first album, Commit Yourself, in its entirety. This is an altogether different animal, as it pulses with jazz-rock obtuse certainty, with a 2001: A Space Odyssey comment that simply says, “Sorry Dave, I can’t do that.” Great rock albums often tend to say that very same thing.
It begins with innocence: “Child of the Mountain” is a delightful tune with harmonized vocals and lilting flute that recalls the glory of British folk rock in the days of Bert Jansch, and dances to same delightful “country honk” as Led Zeppelin’s “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.” And then things get really interesting.
“Sailboat Ride” glides with a nice sax riff and soft vocal that conjures once again the sound of Traffic. Then a flute darts about with catchy jazz steps and duets with that always reoccurring melodic sax, showcasing a certain nod to the very British Canterbury sound. But Bethlehem Asylum pumps the brakes hard as a tinkered piano introduces “Earth,” which continues the jazzy flavor that recalls King Crimson’s Islands. Big compliment, there!
Oh, a fuzzy guitar solo fizzes while the piano, flute, sax, and percussion create a “low spark of high heeled boys” with added jazz gusto. And (yes!) the tinkered piano returns for a moment of solitude, only to be joined with the big ensemble for a dramatic finale.
As Procul Harum once sang, “Still there will be more.” Well, “Sea Rider” pulses with jazz blood and then is interrupted with a really cool surf-guitar ride, only to be answered with a worm-hole sax trip, which then morphs into melodic piano pulsed groove that’s just a hell of a lot of fun. Then, in a nice juxtaposition, “Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” is just pop, with a Chicago (the band!) horn-style vibe.
The final song on Commit Yourself, “It’s About,” tumbles along with all of the above: Horns sing; the percussion is vibrant; the piano is a warm blanket; an electric guitar just plays with a moon’s loony melody; and the harmony vocals land softly on any receptive planet.
Source material for this reissue of Bethlehem Asylum and Commit Yourself from Liberation Hall Records was “taken from vinyl sources as the original tapes were destroyed by fire.” Sadly though, for people who enjoy the pops, skips, and surface noise of those old records that have now become popular, this re-issue simply contains a warm sound – sans all that stuff.
What remains, however, is a time-capsule glimpse into the sounds (to quote Don McLean) of “a long, long time ago,” and as he also said, “when the music used to make me smile.” Well, smiles should be all around, because these two Bethlehem Asylum LPs are a really nice treasure from the purity of all those long ago and way back rocking ‘n’ rolling years.
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