In Praise Of Our Father

Swordfish Records released a limited edition purple vinyl LP in September 2016 called In Praise Of Our Father, pairing the original record by that title (a.k.a. Yodship Suite 3) and Lovers Cosmic Voyage, both Sky Saxon-led releases from the 1970s made when Sky was part of the psychedelic earth cult known as The Source Family. Two more-recent bonus tracks are included. The LP was limited to 300 copies and includes liner notes from Family member Djin Aquarian, who appears on the track “In Praise Of Our Father”.

The source for the music on the LP is unknown. The two 1973 recordings may have come from the original tapes, from cleanish vinyl copies, or even from the MP3s that have been passed in secret around the internet for several years. As for audio quality, the main difference is that the music on the reissued LP is much quieter and even clearer, so the distortion that marred the commonly available MP3s isn’t much of a problem. Whatever the source, In Praise Of Our Father is a welcome upgrade for Sky fans.

For the two newer tracks, “Hope” and “Wolves And Dogs”, the sound is much more professional, recorded carefully and in stereo, and the performances are more obviously modern. Djin Aquarian’s liner notes (on a glossy insert) report that these were recorded at Mt. Shasta with a band that Sky called Weather, but doesn’t mention the date. Djin and Sky recorded A Spring Honeymoon With God & Family there in 2005; perhaps the bonus tracks date from around the same time.

The In Praise Of Our Father cover is glossy, featuring photos by Karl Anderson of a bearded and sunglasses-wearing Sky Saxon posing and holding a dog. The front cover, spine, and record labels use “Sky Saxon” as the artist name, but the front cover also refers to some of Sky’s other Family names: “Arelich Sunlight Aquarian”. Most of the text is in a hard-to-read gothic font.

The name of the album on the front cover is derived from the hand-drawn scan that also circulates on the web. It’s unclear if all copies of this record had unique hand-drawn covers, or if several covers were printed from one original piece of hand-drawn art (like the 1986 album Destiny's Children), or if the compilers at Swordfish even had access to an original copy – it’s conceivable that they had no choice but to use what they found online. This goes for the audio as well but it’s hard to tell if this is a new needle drop, a real reissue from the original tapes, or simply a vinyl pressing of the bootleggish MP3s found online, with some digital enhancement by Swordfish. Nothing is indicated in the liner notes so I lean towards the latter, but who knows.

At any rate, it’s nice to see Sky’s extensive legacy being looked after, however haltingly. Yodship Suite 3 and Lovers Cosmic Voyage are two of Sky’s most obscure releases, and for years people who wanted to spin their own vinyl copies were generally unable to – Lovers Cosmic Voyage may pop up for sale from time to time but Yodship Suite 3 is extremely rare, not even being included in the God And Hair box set. I’ve only seen evidence of three copies existing (the above hand-drawn version whence the common MP3 derives, a green vinyl copy sold on eBay in early 2016 that in fact had part of Lovers Cosmic Voyage on the other side, and a mention by an apparently separate owner of a copy in a Usenet discussion in the 1990s). I’m sure there are more but probably no more than a few dozen at best.

But now these strange and intensely psychedelic pieces can be available to a wider audience. And to have two new unreleased Sky Saxon recordings, and all on limited edition purple vinyl – thanks Swordfish! Keep ’em coming!

About the songs

1. “In Praise Of Our Father (aka Yod Ship #3)”
   (Sky Saxon & The Spirit Of 76)
   This is the title as rendered on the back cover. Djin’s liner notes describe this infamous 14-minute piece as “Sunlight singing accompanied by the Spirit of 76, the first Family rock band, recorded in our home studio in our Nichols Canyon garage. His righteous message to humanity from this 1973 recording is consistently pure.” My copy of In Praise Of Our Father has a couple small audio glitches in it but the sound is otherwise as good as might be expected under these informal circumstances. The music itself is Sky rambling and singing freely over groovy rock jamming, followed by a spliced-in performance during which Sky plays what Djin aptly calls “meandering, cascading, astral piano” as Djin and Zoroaster Aquarian offer occasional vocal support (“Yodship! Yodship!”). About thirty seconds of atonal feedback following Sky’s final vocals (“see the light in your father’s eyes”) in the electric first part have been edited out on the Swordfish release, and the splice has been smoothed over with fading.
2. “Hope”
   (by Sky Saxon & Weather)
   Quite a different trip than spacey Yodship #3 is this peppy, minor-key near-pop song by a band identified as Sky Sunlight Saxon (vocals), Vanda Boutte (keyboards), Rubin Lopez (guitar), and Dave Ballas (drums). According to Djin, “Sunlight rounded up a band on Mount Shasta and called it ‘Weather'”. Simple as that. The sound is softer and more controlled here, sort of like something from A Spring Honeymoon With God & Family without the psychedelic effects and with more conventional percussion. “Hope” is an accurate name for Sky’s lyrics, though at times it veers off into violence recalling The Seeds’ 1970 song "Did He Die": “But they shot ’em, as many as they could, they shot ’em in the head,” he intones, but this time he’s not maniacally scandalized but solemnly disappointed. As a vocalist Sky responds enthusiastically to the dramatic cymbals and the loose, jangly guitars that move easily through several changes; he outlines what he sees as goals (hope for the children, hope for the “wolfs and dogs”), problems to overcome (poverty and prejudice), and shoehorns in some asides about his own chemical philosophy (“there’s no drugs, they’re sacred substances”). The song fades out even though Sky and the band seem to still be going strong.

3. “Lovers Cosmic Voyage”
   (by Sunlight)
   Djin doesn’t say much about this one, except that it’s “an early 1970s solo recording of piano and vocals that speaks for itself…” This is a good-sounding copy of a 15-minute record released by Sky Saxon under the name Sunlight, recorded in 1973 and released sometime thereafter. It was split on original releases into Side A and Side Z; these references are gone here (as are the fictitious song titles of the original) but the LP has an audio fade and a visible gap between them on the vinyl so attentive DJs can cue up the latter section if so choose (Top 40 radio are you listening?). This immersive, flowing music features Sky playing random, echoey runs on a piano (either with someone else, or if Djin is correct and it’s truly solo, then likely overdubbed) and singing gentle, blissed-out words of love to his woman, his dog, his Father, and Venus. The abrupt splices of the original are again smoothed over with editing. My copy has some minor audio glitches (such as the very opening seconds) but sounds better than my scratchy original black vinyl copy from the 1970s.
4. “Wolves And Dogs”
   (by Sky Saxon & Weather)
   In a similar style to “Hope” is this dramatic closing piece, featuring prominent keyboards and based on another minor-chord acoustic guitar. Sky’s voice is mixed somewhat lower for this performance; perhaps it was decided that the band’s dynamism and forceful punches during the song’s choruses should be highlighted over Sky. Brief barking dog sound effects come in halfway through; I don’t know if that was done at the time or if someone at Swordfish added them but I think Sky would approve either way. Djin’s notes on Sky about this song are appropriate and loving: “Wolf is Flow spelled backwards and Dog is God and that about sums up his feelings for his furry family…” Indeed, Sky’s lyrics don’t just mention dogs as he often did; they are fully centered on our canine gods and their ancient noble loyalty.

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