Psychedelic Blues

1966.

I turned 9 that year.

My soon to be drafted older brother, who was a major influence on my musical taste and development brought "Projections" home by The Blues Project. It freaked me out. When he was out, I would go into his room and blast his stereo, which was way better than my little scratch-box record player that my Mom got me from redeeming “Plaid Stamps.”

From A&P’s website:

"One of the Company's most popular programs was plaid stamps. Introduced in the 1920s, and revitalized during the 1960s, the plaid stamps premium program encouraged customers to make frequent visits to the stores to purchase products and collect stamps. Many Americans may recall pasting stamps in coupon books and redeeming them for premium items such as snack trays and Lazy Susans."

Those guys on the cover were so damn cool, especially the one with the hat. I remember listening to "I Can't Keep From Crying," and thinking, “if my mother was ‘dead and gone,’ I’d wouldn’t be able to keep from crying either." 40 years later it remains one of my favorite examples of psychedelia.

From the album “Projections,” please give a listen to “I Can’t Keep From Crying.”