Bird Song (Live 1971)

The Holy Modals Rounders started out in the early 1960s as a twisted folk duo, and added members (and musical directions) as they went along. By the time of BIRD SONG: LIVE 1971, the group had already gone through its chaotic avant-garde phase, had the greatest success of its career (with the title song's original version, included on the EASY RIDER soundtrack), and was nearing disintegration. Fortunately, the seven-member version of the band was captured live in all its sloppily expansive glory.
Extended instrumental sections and solos are on offer here, but the endearingly amateurish vibe still reigns, as keyboard, guitar, and sax interludes frame the dirty, hairy sound that is the embodiment of underground cartoonist R. Crumb's Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Whether lovingly deconstructing '50s R&B tunes ("Smokey Joe's Cafe", "Willie & the Hand Jive") or enthusiastically digging into their own quirky catalogue, the Rounders proudly display the difference between "hippies" (the media-preferred term) and the more historically and culturally correct "freaks".|