PRICE:
$26.00
LOW STOCK LEVEL
ARTIST
TITLE
A Fire Somewhere
FORMAT
2LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
LITA 088LP LITA 088LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
10/2/2012

Gatefold double LP version with download card for full album, plus liner notes and rare photos. "A hippie-fied, soul-rock, folk-rock, psych-rock gem lost in the vaults for four decades, A Fire Somewhere by Ray Stinnett (best known as a member of '60s outfit Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs) sounds as fresh as the day it was cut, and comes with extensive liner-notes detailing the fascinating life of a little-documented '60s rock voyager. By 1967, the summer of love, Ray left for Haight Ashbury in San Francisco with his wife and young son, taking up residence at the legendary Morning Star Ranch, where Ray focused on finding his true voice. Returning to Memphis a year later, Ray formed a working friendship with Booker T Jones, who produced Ray's unreleased Sun Tree at Pepper West album. Eventually, when Jones moved to Malibu and took a contract with A&M, he lined up a deal for his old friend. Still working in Memphis with (old) friends Jerry Paterson and Mike Plunk on bass, along with Booker T. and co-mixer/engineer Richard Rosebrough (Chris Bell, Big Star), Ray channeled his experiences in the pop machine, at Morningstar and beyond into the songs that would become A Fire Somewhere. It funnelled the vast experiences of this pop star, cosmic traveler and grounded, loving father. The songs contained the fried country twang and boogie-woogie grooves of his hometown and of his youth, but were also threaded through with the new psychedelia - shreds of distorted guitar, looping experimental jams and acoustic renditions. 'Art is a reflection of life,' says Ray of the making of A Fire Somewhere, 'and my life was full of reflection at this time.' And it's perhaps exactly that fact which kept this incredible record unreleased for all these years. By summer, the album was ready for release. By winter, it remained on the shelf. A&M reassured Ray that they were going to make him a superstar. Ray had already done that; he just wanted the songs released. Soon, they hit an impasse. Ray took his tapes and songs and went on with his life. In the end, A&M's loss is our gain. Listen, and enjoy, this message from another time, and from an old head on young shoulders. 'It's a torch that's been carried forty years through the desert, waiting for this moment to arrive,' says Ray."