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Damon’s Song Of A Gypsy is generally regarded as one of the finest privately-pressed psychedelic rock records and has, for over twenty years, been one of the most sought after late 60s American rock artifacts in the world, with the scant original copies that exist exchanging hands for thousands of dollars.
Song of a Gypsy has remained high on its own plateau: out of reach and indescribable. It seemed that this homespun, funky psychedelic monument borrowed from nothing and sprung from nowhere. Damon’s unique, introspective songwriting and nuanced voice, the interplay between he and lead guitarist Charlie Carey and an atmosphere that so perfectly captured the last bloom of the flower power era as it decayed into the dark haze of the ’70s underground could only have arisen from a spark of auspicious genius. But did it?
Over the past seven years, we at Now-Again have been obsessed with Song of a Gypsy and have researched the album, and Damon’s life-arch. This anthology is our attempt to put forth a convincing argument for the overwhelming importance of this album, a unique high point from within but also outside of America’s psychedelic movement.
We follow Damon on his “predestined life as a gypsy” from his birth into a tight knit Italian American family in Rochester, New
York, through the various Los Angeles communities that he would call home. We analyze the entirety of his oeuvre, from his first surf-rock single in 1960, through schmaltzy pop, convincing doo-wop, blued eyed soul and garage rock in the mid 60s. And we focus on the year 1967, the founding of his label Ankh, and his transformation from a pop hopeful to the tortured soul who
would create Song of a Gypsy. We attempt to make sense of the seminal moments that made this transformation possible in a crucial moment in America’s psychedelic high water mark in this, the definitive reissue of this album.
Definitive reissue of the legendary late ’60s Los Angeles psychedelic masterpiece:
restored/remastered transfer, pitch/speed corrected for the first time ever. Extensive
booklet contains dozens of unpublished photos and images, a thorough investigation
into this landmark album, and an extensive interview with Damon.
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