Easy
Chair was a four piece band from Seattle Washington. Phil Kirby- Guitar, Vocals, jeff
Simmons- Bass, Lead vocals, piano, Peter Larsen- Guitar (lead vocals on My Own
life), and Albert Malosky- Drums. These
tracks were recorded in 1968 and released on a very rare one sided album. This
is the first official reissue ever. The first is called Slender Woman and is
mostly instrumental with a slow beginning with a lot of different changes some
focus on the guitar, the bass, the piano but eventually a cool stoney blues
feeling develops in the track. It has a bit of a Jefferson Airplane feeling also.
Jeff was for sure a fan of Marty Balin. My own Life is next and a more uptempo
track but still a bit jammed out with a nice wah guitar section. Easy Chair
ends this single album side. It starts with some piano and has some nice
harmony vocals. Quite a stoney sound… I really did enjoy this a lot but it is
not mind blowing stuff. I could image they were a really cool live band though,
if you ever got to see them. If you like West Coast stuff, early MAN, check it
out…
Would really dig a FLAC/LOSSLESS version to capture even more of this magical recording, mac
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ReplyDeleteA small quibble. There have been several bands called "Easy Chair". This is the most notable of them. They aren't Canadian. They were from Seattle WA. They supported the Mothers of Invention for a couple of concerts(Seattle and Santa Monica) and were signed to do an album on one of Franks new labels. (Straight/Bizarre). The album never materialized during the band's short life. Bassist/vocalist Jeff Simmons went on to become a full-fledged member of Zappa's "Mother's of Invention" during 1970-71 both in the studio and onstage. He's prominently featured on Waka/Jawaka, Chunga's Revenge and The Roxy and Elsewhe. Between 1972 and 1974 he also made sporadic appearances with the Mothers. Previous to that he had recorded and released two albums on Straight Records in 1969. One was a soundtrack and the other is the fantastic "Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind" The title song was co-written by Simmons and Zappa. Zappa produced the record. "Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind" was re-recorded (with an entirely new arrangement) on Frank Zappa's "Joe's Garage". Jeff remained friends with Zappa, even though he returned to the Seattle area and played in vaious bands there. He was active in the "grunge" scene that emerged in the NW during the late 80s and early 90s. The latest release of his I know of was recorded in 2004. I think it was called "Blue Universe"
ReplyDeleteBTW, the estimable 3-song, one sided EP was originally pressed in either a run of 500 or 1000 (reports vary) Although it has subsequently been re-released in several formats the original disc is highly prized. Sorry for the added info and corrections. It's just that I have been researching Jeff and Easy Chair for an upcoming post on my blog. Thanks for your good work!
Thanks for adding this additional information... Peace.
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