JOHNNY BLACKBURN MARY LAUREN / Echoes of love's reality (Folk)

PRIVATE / USA / 1981

M-- / M- 270 €

Most would probably agree that this is one of the very best psych-style LPs from the 1980s. Not retro at all but (like Bobb Trimble) a piece of the late 1960s preserved from time's rust. Male/female vocals lament and serenade "the quest for knowledge of love and beauty" in an appealing soundscape, with lyrical guitar leads throughout, good use of mellotron, occasional tablas, flute and bells. The recording has a definite 1981 sound but (again like Bobb) this somehow becomes an advantage. The vocal blend is superb and may recall Anonymous and Bermuda Triangle, while the wistful mood and beautiful melodies is a bit like British band Ithaca or the melodic sides of Seventh Dawn. Moments such as "Beautiful Dreamer" go truly deep and there's not a questionable song on it. Obviously superior to "collectable" 1970s hippie couple albums like Susan & Richard Thomas, this is recommended to anyone open for a folkpsych trip inside the melancholy and bliss of romance; starry-eyed as a Valentine Day card written on LSD.