The Holy Modal Rounders
The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders

(Elektra 1968/Water 2002)

http://www.redhotjazz.com/hmr/index.html

"Oh, I've got a helmet. I've got a beauty", explains Jack Nicholson to Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in the 1969 classic Easy Rider. The scene breaks, and then, we see Nicholson wearing his aforementioned, gold football helmet, flapping his arms like wings on the back of Fonda's chopper as they ride down the highway. And providing musical counterpoint to this bizarre visual is "Bird Song", an eccentric, little acid-folk tune by a group of Greenwich Village nonconformists called The Holy Modal Rounders. Even though "Bird Song" is the only thing most people ever heard from the Rounders, by the time of Easy Rider's release, core Rounders Steve Weber and Peter Stampfel had built up a pretty impressive resume in the folk underground. By 1969, they'd already released two albums on Paul Rothschild's Prestige label that had been warmly received in folk circles, played on the debut album by their East Village friends The Fugs, released an album on the credibly underground ESP label (1967's Indian War Whoop), and put out yet another album on the major label Elektra.

That Elektra album, The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders, provided "Bird Song", but also offers a more fully representative overview of the different sounds and styles that were part of the Rounders' repertoire at the time. "Bird Song" opens the album, and, although its almost novelty style made it an unfortunate choice to represent the band in the collective consciousness, it actually is a pretty nifty and twisted rendering of folk and country, spiked with equal parts acid and absurdity. "One Will Do for Now" and "Dame Fortune" are both near-beautiful acoustic folk songs that feature fine guitar work, as does the largely instrumental "Interlude 2". The a cappella "Werewolf" is the quietest, starkest song on the album, but for those reasons is among the most arresting. And as the double-tracked vocals of "Werewolf" alternately blend and collide, the song gets a uniquely psychedelic feel.

The bizarre electric guitar work on "Mobile Line" provides another of the album's more psychedelic moments, and, combined with its eccentric vocals, makes the tune sound rather reminiscent of Captain Beefheart's early work. "Take-Off Artist Song" and "The STP Song" are both lighthearted, upbeat folk songs with some occasionally Zappa-esque lyrics exploring typical dilemmas of bohemianism (theft and hallucinogenic drugs, respectively), while "My Mind Capsized" provides a perhaps more sober expression of inner conflict, delivered alongside a compellingly sloppy instrumental backing. "Half a Mind" is probably the most full-scale "rock" production on the album, and it hints at the group's capability in pop as well as folk. "Interlude" (an idiosyncratic rendering of "Stars and Stripes Forever") and the album's closer "The Pledge" (a botched recitation of "The Pledge of Allegiance" with "America the Beautiful" as a backing) are unusual, seditious send-ups of Americana that complement the altered American flag incorporated into the album's cover art. Despite (or perhaps because of) its distinctiveness, The Moral Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders was not successful in terms of sales. And although Easy Rider and its soundtrack album were both enormously popular (the Dunhill soundtrack LP reached #6 in the album charts and went gold in 1970), this success didn't translate into much, if any, interest or sales for the Rounders, who continued to record intermittently well into the 70s. This recent reissue of the Moray Eels album marks its CD debut, and it includes liner notes by historian Richie Unterberger, as well as some very interesting and enriching commentary from Peter Stampfel himself. This album is an especially creative and unusual period piece, and it really has a lot to offer patient listeners.

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