D.R. Hooker

Hooker's The Truth might actually be one of those obscure lost gems that's worth the customarily inordinate amount of interest such period pieces are afforded.

D.R. Hooker was a man slightly askew with his time, from the robes he wears on the cover, to the

quasi mystical lyrics, he's very much connected to the hippie era, and given that this album was

recorded in 1972, in a time post-Charles Manson, he was brave to associate so strongly with all

the imagery pertaining to cults. Musically, Hooker looks beyond the parameters of the hippie

movement, dipping into a more ambitiously studio-oriented sound than Hooker's half-troubadour,

half-prophet image on the sleeve might suggest. The noisy, fuzzy elements are particularly

effective, and surprisingly intricate in their arrangement and recording.

'Forge Your Own Chains' takes this to an extreme, expertly deploying advanced loungey jazz

figures with an onslaught of brass. This all sounds far more ambitious and accomplished than the

vast majority of private press releases that tend to emerge, and there's certainly a strong case

to be made for this record being one of those precious few curiosities from the private press

movement to feel like more than a kitsch comic aside. Well worth your investigation.

~ by ChrisGoesRock