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LP
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SVVRCH 068LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1960. During the late 1940s, enigmatic proto-hippie Eden Ahbez lived off the grid beneath the Hollywood sign, fueled by a raw food diet and dreams of a far-off paradise, scraping a living by writing songs like "Nature Boy" for Nat King Cole. Sole LP Eden's Island is a one-off, exotica wonder from 1960 that puts you in Ahbez's dreamy headspace through innovative sound design that fills in the blanks of his seascape, the vibraphones and piano capped by drifting choruses and Ahbez's disjointed spoken words. Definitely ahead of its time and apart from the later works by Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman, this is a must for all exotica fans.
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LIFE 010LP
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Life Goes On Records presents a reissue of Eden Ahbez's Eden's Island, originally released in 1960. It is 1960, rock n' roll has just lost a couple of its protagonists during this and the previous year, the time of the great balladeers has just begun but soon will run out due to the new and exciting beat invasion. In US mainstream the tiki culture has reached a certain peak and is about to collapse but still goes strong and with it comes the so called "exotica" music, a crossover between smooth jazz and swing, Latin grooves, haunting melodies that are rooted in the folkloristic sounds from different parts of this world plus weird sound effects that often create a spooky jungle or dreamy island beach atmosphere. It can even bend your mind that far you would see palm trees growing out of your speakers and witness monkeys and parrots having fun in your room. Eden Ahbez, born in 1908, passed in 1995, a man living an even more consistent dropout and hippie lifestyle way before the movement was born in the mid-60s, a beat poet and composer who wrote the hit tune "Nature Boy" that gave Nat King Cole his first big success in 1947, approaches the field of exotica music from a different point of view creating an epic concept album about a utopian society living in peace and harmony on an island far away from the modern western world. And indeed, you find many trademarks of the prototypical exotica music beginning with this relaxed groove combining easy listening swing and Latin patterns, peaceful, dreamy and even transcendental vocal melodies or tinges of folk music from around the world including powerful dances and a whole color palette of mind-expanding sounds giving the whole music an even greater depth and width.
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WLV 82136LP
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Wax Love present a reissue of Eden Ahbez's Eden's Island, originally released in 1960. It is 1960, rock n' roll has just lost a couple of its protagonists during this and the previous year, the time of the great balladeers has just begun but soon will run out due to the new and exciting beat invasion. In US mainstream the tiki culture has reached a certain peak and is about to collapse but still goes strong and with it comes the so-called "exotica" music, a crossover between smooth jazz and swing, Latin grooves, haunting melodies that are rooted in the folkloristic sounds from different parts of this world plus weird sound effects that often create a spooky jungle or dreamy island beach atmosphere. It can even bend your mind that far you would see palm trees growing out of your speakers and witness monkeys and parrots having fun in your room. Eden Ahbez, born in 1908, passed in 1995, a man living an even more consistent dropout and hippie lifestyle way before the movement was born in the mid-60s, a beat poet and composer who wrote the hit tune "Nature Boy" that gave Nat King Cole his first big success in 1947, approaches the field of exotica music from a different point of view creating an epic concept album about an utopian society living in peace and harmony on an island far away from the modern western world as we know it. And indeed, we find many trademarks of the prototypical exotica music beginning with this relaxed groove combining easy listening swing and Latin patterns, peaceful, dreamy and even transcendental vocal melodies, tinges of folk music from around the world including powerful dances and a whole color palette of mind expanding sounds giving the whole music an even greater depth and width. The latter being created entirely with real instruments such as Eden Ahbez's wood-flute. Some tunes are rather gentle and relaxed with the lyrics being narrated which adds much to the epic feel of the album. Since this is a really unique effort, it cannot really compare to any other musical piece of the genre but is definitely recommended to exotica aficionados who for example love Frank Hunter's White Goddess album from 1959. Psychedelic music before the term was even invented.
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OME 1017LP
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Fantome Phonôgraphique presents a reissue of eden ahbez's Eden's Island: The Music Of An Enchanted Isle, originally issued in 1960. Though he was originally from Brooklyn and raised by adoptive parents in rural Kansas, George Alexander Aberle, aka eden ahbez, is about as California as they come. He was discovered in the 1940s while working in one of Los Angeles' earliest raw vegetarian restaurants and was known throughout the '50s and '60s for being spotted on the streets of L.A. in full white robe, sandals, and beard, and legendarily camping underneath the first L in the Hollywood sign. After writing numerous hits for jazz and pop singers, including the iconic "Nature Boy" made famous by Nat King Cole in 1948, ahbez (who spelled his name with lower case lettering because he deemed only God and Infinity worthy of capitalization) recorded his only long playing record, Eden's Island: The Music Of An Enchanted Isle in 1960. A combination of exotica arrangements and beat era poetry, the album sold poorly at the time but has since become regarded as an exotica classic that transcends the trappings of the genre. Absolutely essential L.A. weirdness from one of the original L.A. weirdos.
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BAF 18018LP
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Gatefold sleeve. "14 rare/unreleased recordings. Guest appearances by Paul Horn, Eartha Kitt, and more. 180 gram vinyl. Fully annotated, with never before seen pictures. By now psychedelic music is a mainstay of popular taste. But questions of its origins still linger. As such, Bear Family Records now submits Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez as fresh evidence in the quest for answers. Over the past twenty years Ahbez has gone from cult figure to harbinger of the sixties flower-power movement. This notion is born out largely by his 1948 anthem of universal love, 'Nature Boy', and his rare solo album from 1960, titled Eden's Island -- one of popular music's earliest concept albums. Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez both expands the Ahbez catalog and deepens the notion of a psychedelic movement having roots in the 1950s. Side one acts as a compilation of music that Ahbez wrote in the aftermath of 'Nature Boy'. Inclusion of songs like 'Palm Springs' by the Ray Anthony Orchestra and 'Hey Jacque' by Eartha Kitt give listeners the chance to hear obscure cuts by big-name artists in the context of Ahbez for the first time. Side two shows the songwriter inching closer to Eden's Island and the actual hippie movement, with absurdist rock/exotica tracks like 'Wild Boy' and 'Surfer John', as well as sweet psych-pop like the unreleased Monterey (featuring Paul Horn on the flute). The album ends with an unreleased cut, titled 'The Clam Man', which Ahbez recorded as an ode to a fellow bearded hermit down in Baja, CA. In total, Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez offers seven unreleased cuts and as many rare singles to produce an overview of the songwriter's lost work from 1949-71. What Ahbez misses in hallucinogenic content, he more than makes up for with his primitive chord structures, expansive arrangements, and lyrics about travel, leisure, free-love, and spirituality. As such, the canon of psychedelic music and that of Hippie #1 just got bigger."
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