Hadn’t seen this noted here before. Sad to see that David Axelrod of “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” fame has died. I discovered his music late (I think from the “freak zone”), but regularly play “Experience”. Very much of it’s time which is a good thing in this case.
David Axelrod has left us.
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That’s a great shame. So many outstanding records. Not just his own ones but hundreds of great songwriting, production and arrangement jobs for others too.
(Lou Rawls – Monologue/Dead End Street)
Loved his stuff with the Electric Prunes (who weren’t, I gather, really involved.) anyone who knows the Easy Rider soundtrack will know the Kyrie Eleison. The whole album is better still.
After some initial success, Axelrod was hired by the band’s management to record an album mixing Gregorian music with psychedelic pop. In the end he mainly used session players and a Canadian group, The Collectors, to produce “Mass In F Minor” because the original band were unable to manage the complexity of the compositions within the time allotted.
They did play “Kyrie Eleison”, “Gloria” and “Credo” on the album themselves, and there was participation to some extent in recording the rest of the album from the vocalist, bassist and drummer.
After a disastrous attempt at a live performance of the album, the group disintegrated but the management still owned the name, so a new Electric Prunes lineup was formed and “Release Of An Oath” was made, again by session players including Carol Kaye & Earl Palmer. This time only the singer/guitarist of the new lineup was used.
“Mass in F Minor” is a great record. I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly heard “Release Of An Oath”.