HAPPENINGS FOUR + 1 - Long Trip - FRA Absinthe Limited Press - LISTEN - VERY RARE

An excellent, unfortunately almost completely unknown outside Japan, top-shelf rock classic! The fourth (and last), without doubt the best album by the Japanese soft-progressive (earlier pop-psychedelic) band with the organist Kunio Kawachi in the line-up. This LP, released in 1971 by Capitol, contained a much more serious, more mature, richly arranged and genuinely gripping mixture of psychedelia and early progressive rock with Kawachi's organ (known, among other things, from the superb LP "Kirikyogen" recorded in 1970 with the future musicians of Flower Travellin' Band) and the guitar of Kimio Mizutani (who from a session musician turned into the "+1" in the band's name) in the leading roles. This gloomy album, devoted to the themes of transience and death, but very elegant and full of class (sung in Japanese), brings to mind the work of early Procol Harum combined with The Zombies (from the "Odessey And Oracle" period). I confess that a few years ago there was a moment when, after buying the vinyl, I listened to this title for 2-3 weeks, and the longer I listened to it the less I could tear myself away from it! The 10-minute "Death" included in the YouTube link (poor-sounding...) is an absolute masterpiece of psych-progressive rock, though there are really no weak moments on the record! New, sealed. An absolute must! (JL)