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UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR DECEMBER 2009: BEAST
When I was still in high school, I joined a friend at one of his friend’s houses. I had just started listening to the local college radio station, and my own suggestions of songs (“ Triad” by Jefferson Airplane was one) earned me only disdainful looks – well deserved, too, once I started hearing his record collection. I was starting to gain some recognition as the first high-profile Bob Dylan fan in my age group, but this day showed me that I still had a lot to learn. It was one of those times in my life when I really wish I had been taking notes, but the band that stuck with me over the years was BEAST. Beast – also called the Beast and the Incredible Beast – was formed in Colorado Springs in 1968 and opened for the Who there in August 1968. The band also hosted the Battle of the Bands in Colorado Springs in 1969. Beast has a website, http://www.bobyeazel.com/Beast.htm, but scarcely any mention at all on Allmusic and nothing yet on Wikipedia. Beast released two albums, and as far as I know, neither is yet available on CD. The album I heard was released on Cotillion Records; to my delight, it was one of the first LP’s that I “rescued” from the Katrina debris. Despite a “warble” in the sound due to severe warping and ground-in mud, I have played it numerous times, and it sounds as great as ever. The album opens with what sounds like animal grunts (according to their website, the bandmembers were crowded around a mike chanting “Rush”), followed by a wild scream. Surprisingly, though, the songs that follow are quite mellow, with a hippie feel and some nice woodwinds. They had a later album with a very thin album cover; I managed to find them both, but they are quite scarce. I really don’t know why they vanished from the musical landscape so completely, but what can you do? * * * The Honor Roll of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands and Artists follows, in date order, including a link to the original Facebook posts and the theme of the article. Dec 2009 – BEAST; Lot to Learn Mar 2010 – BANG; Record Collecting I Jul 2010 – THE EYES; Los Angeles Punk Rock Mar 2011 – INDEX; Psychedelic Rock (1960’s) Nov 2013 – CHIMERA; Women in Rock II Jan 2014 – BOYSKOUT; (Lesbian) Women in Rock IV Apr 2014 – HOMER; Creating New Bands out of Old Ones Jul 2014 – MIKKI; Rock and Religion I (Early CCM Music) Sep 2014 – NICK FREUND; Rock and Religion III (The Beatles) Mar 2015 – PHIL GAMMAGE; Songwriting II (Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan) Dec 2016 – THE IGUANAS; Iggy and the Stooges; Proto-Punk Rock Jun 2017 – THE LOONS; Punk Revival and Other New Bands Dec 2017 – SS-20; The Iguana Chronicles
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