Psychedelic-Rock'n'roll: Anonymous and J. Rider - Inside The Shadow and No Longer Anonymous (FABULOUS PSYCHEDELIC FOLK-ROCK US 1976)

Anonymous and J. Rider - Inside The Shadow and No Longer Anonymous (FABULOUS PSYCHEDELIC FOLK-ROCK US 1976)


Anonymous,Inside_the_Shadow,j_rider,psychedelic-rocknroll,matelic,sir_winston_commons,indianapolis,FRONT"ANONYMOUS - INSIDE THE SHADOW" and "J.RIDER - NO LONGER ANONYMOUS" (FABULOUS PSYCHEDELIC FOLK-ROCK US 1976)

FANTASTIC guitar-driven 60's-inspired Folk-Rock and West-Coast heavily influenced by the Psychedelic sounds of "The Byrds", "The Beatles", "Crosby Stills and Nash", "The Mamas and The Papas", "Buffalo Springfield".
Marvellous blend of male/female vocals, strong songwriting and some extraordinary guitar passages.


Formed from the ashes of the late 60's Garage-Psychedelic band "Sir Winston and The Commons", Anonymous were a four-piece studio band from Indianapolis.

Anonymous,Inside_the_Shadow,j_rider,psychedelic-rocknroll,matelic,sir_winston_commons,Come_Back_Again,We_re_Gonna_LoveSir Winston & The Commons: "Come Back Again" / "We're Gonna Love", 1966 Soma Records 1454

Anonymous,Inside_the_Shadow,j_rider,psychedelic-rocknroll,matelic,sir_winston_commons,One_Last_Chance,Not_The_Spirit_Of_India,Nauseating_Butterfly_2207Sir Winston & The Commons: "One Last Chance" / "Not The Spirit Of India", 1966 Nauseating Butterfly 2207

The songs on 1976's "Inside The Shadow", built around "Marsha Rollings"' lovely voice and "Ron Matelic"'s heavily Byrds-influenced guitar (the ultra-jangly "Pick Up And Run" could be an outtake from Byrds' "Fifth Dimensions"), are an impressive lot, with a stronger sense of melody and structure than the aimless jamming that typifies so many Psychedelic albums.

Anonymous,Inside_the_Shadow,j_rider,psychedelic-rocknroll,matelic,sir_winston_commons,indianapolis,band"Ron Matelic"'s songs are determinedly on the Poppy end of Psychedelia, with catchy choruses, soaring harmonies, and plenty of instrumental riffs to keep the listener's attention.
Even the nine-minute "Baby Come Risin'", with its extended jam middle section, sounds more composed than one would expect.

Anonymous,Inside_the_Shadow,j_rider,psychedelic-rocknroll,matelic,sir_winston_commons,indianapolis,REISSUE_1980Anonymous 1981 pressing (Thanks to Patrick The Lama)

There are few albums where a 1960's "The Beatles"-influenced songwriting sensibility moves seamlessly into the 1970's without sounding overly derivative.
"The Zerfas" and "Michael Angelo" are the only others that are in the same league as "Anonymous' Inside The Shadow" album, which, in terms of songwriting and execution is as good as anything released in the 70's by anyone.

"Inside The Shadow" is the lighter, and better, of the two; a nice blend of vocal harmonies, guitar hooks, heavy Psychedelic and acoustic, Byrds style guitar work.
"J. Rider"'s "No Longer Anonymous" (same Anonymous' lineup without "Marsha Rollings") continues the tradition, without mellower moments for a harder edged sound.

1 Comments :

MMR said...

Hey mate!

Great post! I don't agree with all of your opinions on this record...

I do love this one, and find it to be individual and perfect, a real treat to listen to! Their sounds are wonderful, and certainly harken back to the 60's, but I reckon this definitely sounds like it came from the 70's for sure. The '76 period Fleetwood Mac influence is way too strong to deny!

However, this is yet another reason why I love this album, because I love FWMac from that period as much as I do all of the 60's groups you make comparisons to.

Great detective work, I have always wondered who these folks were and where they came from!

Cheers,

Neil