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Review by
ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
An unknown release of a little known band that I quite enjoy. A good old band I should say.
The Sacrifice show live from Black Widow released in 2007. It comes as a dual work: one CD and
one DVD. The CD for the car and the DVD for each home playing of course.
Before I talk about the content, let's have some historical facts about this very good band which hasn't
been very fortunate in their career to say the least. The liner notes that go along with this release is of
important historical matter. They are written by Clive Jones (sax & flute) and the information below
mostly come out of it (but not only).
It speaks about the genesis of the band which is well known from the devoted fans: the Pesky Gee
story, the pre-release of Sacrifice in 69 with Kay Garret on the vocals and the split of the band.
What is less known is that the band thought of a full show about the Sacrifice album and wanted it
very much to be as satanic as the lyrics. They asked the guidance of Alex Sanders (who was
incidentally voted king of the witches in '65) to construct the show and make sure that it was as
authentic as possible.
After a few shows, the press was quite shocked and titled don't let your kids see this show. This led to
a huge publicity for the band who were playing full house concerts. Still, the confusion came to the
minds of the people. Two bands with the word black in their names, both managed by the same
person (Pat Meehan). It was the start of the problems for Black Widow.
The second (and probably the most important one) is that Sacrifice was released the same week
as Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel). The latter one sold so much, that the record
company (CBS) only pressed BOTW for three weeks to supply the demand and so was the Sacrifice
album lamentably . sacrificed. It had climbed to the 32nd spot of the chart.
Their supporting US tour was cancelled because of the murdering of Sharon Tate. To have a band
promoting some black magic on stage was not really to the liking of the American authorities. And
guess which band replaced them? Sabbath!
In 2010, Damon and Brian Stout combined their love of Celtic music
with their passion for Pink Floyd to create a sonic offspring, the aptly
named Celtic Pink Floyd.
Growing up in Jackson, Michigan – which is, interestingly, a sister
city to Carrickfergus, Ireland – the duo were immersed both in their
Scottish-Irish ancestry, and in various forms of musical study.
The brothers began their journey as pre-schoolers, learning violin
and by the age of 7, and taking piano lessons with a Julliard-trained
neighbour. Later, they picked up the French horn and trombone,
performing with a German-based touring band as teenagers.
“A few years later came jazz, rock and other concert bands,” notes
Damon via email. “Additionally, with more influences around, we put
together a few garage bands playing for parties, talent shows or whoever
would have us. A life in music – with no backup plan, of course –
ensued.”
The idea for Celtic Pink Floyd, he explains, arose by chance.
“It was while hearing ‘On the Turning Away’ (from Pink Floyd’s 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason)
one morning that the light bulb first went on. It is essentially a folk
song, and arranging it to Celtic instruments sounded like an
interesting idea.”
That led the Stouts to a closer examination of Floyd’s music, unveiling more Celtic influences.
Within a year, the band of brothers had released their debut,
eponymous recording, which included classic Floyd tunes ‘Another Brick
in the Wall’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, and ‘Comfortably Numb.’
“We thought it might be interesting to take those existing Celtic
undertones and expand them to create a 12-track album,” says Damon.
“It is hard to go wrong with an iconic band like Floyd and their huge
catalogue of songs…adding Celtic instruments and arrangements seemed
like a fun musical challenge that could prove rewarding.”
With a nine member band, however, taking the show on the road was out of the question.
“The logistics and financial backing for touring would have been
prohibitive, especially since it was a first album and we had no idea
how the music would be received.”
While interest in the group grew, band members took on other
commitments that kept them busy over the next few years. When they
finally rallied to take a shot at a second album, the Stouts were now
living thousands of miles apart.
“I am in Los Angeles and my brother is in Chicago,” says Damon, “so
there are some frequent flyer miles being racked up. The other five
members – Mary Morales (keyboards), Bryan Dobbs (guitar, mandolin),
Rachel Grace (fiddle), Patrick D’Arcy (pipes) and Forrest Robinson
(percussion) – are in LA, which is where we are currently rehearsing.”
Recommitted to the project, the group started working on a new album
last year – titled ‘You Owe it to the People’ – which is scheduled for
release in 2018.
“During those recording sessions we decided to put out our ‘Live, In
Studio’ album first,’ says Damon. “It was originally only going to be a
rehearsal tool for upcoming live shows, and was put together in about a
week, but it came out better than we expected.”
In fact, the band was so pleased with the way the recording session
turned out, they resisted the urge to overdub any of the tracks, which
include ‘Have a Cigar’, ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, and ‘Set the
Controls for the Heart of the Sun.’
“We are fairly confident Celtic music fans will like it, and we are
really stoked by how many Pink Floyd fans have embraced us. It is a
great feeling to strike a chord with both fan bases.
“It is also quite rewarding when Celtic music fans tell us they
aren’t very familiar with Pink Floyd but, after hearing what we do, are
going to explore their music further. Equally exciting is when a Floyd
fan says they aren’t familiar with Celtic music and never suspected a
Celtic arrangement would do their music justice.”
The true test, says Stout, is when the band takes the stage.
“We recently opened for The Young Dubliners and that show helped to
solidify all our expectations that not only can we pull this off, but
the crowd really responded to our arrangements and overall take on Pink
Floyd.”
www.celticpinkfloyd.com
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