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2LP
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NA 5237LP
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"Definitive reissue. Lacquered by Bernie Grundman in an all-analog transfer directly from the master tapes. Contains an extensive, oversized booklet with rare photos, liner notes and annotation. The story of The Stark Reality's Discovers The Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop begins in Boston the late 1960s, with a wild jazz -- as psychedelic as they were modal, as funky as they were swinging -- band based in Boston landing a deal with Ahmad Jamal's nascent AJP imprint after the legendary jazz pianist heard their demo recordings. They had been tasked by the great American songsmith Hoagy Carmichael's son, Hoagy Bix Carmichael, to create interpretations of the elder Carmichael's children songs for a Mr. Rogers-themed show that the younger Carmichael was producing for local PBS affiliate WGBH. The quartet -- Monty Stark on vibes, Phil Morrison on bass, Vinnie Johnson on drums and a very young John Abercrombie on fuzz guitar -- recorded an album that flopped upon its initial release and went on to become one of -- as Mojo Magazine noted -- 'the most prized 'funk' artifacts of all time... a project that allies Hendrix-stoned guitars, heavily-fuzzed vibraphone and Bitches Brew rhythms...' Now-Again Records, who has kept the Stark Reality's music in print since 2002, presents the definitive reissue of The Stark Reality's Discovers The Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop. Lacquered by Bernie Grundman in an all-analog transfer directly from the master tapes maintained by the Stark Reality's photographer Jim Bourne, it's presented in a replica gatefold sleeve, and contains an extensive, oversized page booklet with rare photos, liner notes and annotation."
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3CD BOX
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NA 5094CD
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"Acting, Thinking, Feeling marks the first time that psychedelic jazz ensemble The Stark Reality's Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop album has been reissued in full (the 2003 Stones Throw Records anthology Now only contained half of the original album's music). The anthology also contains the band's out-of-print Roller Coaster Ride (first issued as 1969 on Now-Again in 2003), and a series of recently discovered, previously-unreleased tracks in a three CD 'complete works' box set. Besides the missing Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop songs, the most exciting additions to the Stark Reality's oeuvre are the three songs recorded between the earliest incarnation of the band -- the big band that recorded 'Theme to Say Brother' and 'Acting, Thinking, Feeling' in 1968 -- and the slimmed down combo that recorded the Roller Coaster Ride and The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop. These recordings display a band in flux, and color the development of Stark's genius. We hear the signature sound of his 'plugged in' vibes for the first time; we hear an early stab at the psychedelic 'Red Yellow Moonbeams' (and realize why his addition John Abercrombie and his fuzz guitar was crucial to his vision); we hear a subtle change towards a more funk and rock based sound. Contains 52-page booklet with never before seen photos, extensive liner notes and annotation."
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CD
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STH 2058CD
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"How to describe the Stark Reality's 1970 LP...It's been called 'the beat digger's holy grail.' It's been called 'overrated' (especially since copies have been selling in excess of $500 on eBay). 'Avante-garde'. 'Distorted'. 'Genius'. (Sometimes all in a row). The sounds on that uber-rare LP all depart from the sound one might expect to emerge from a late 60s jazz-funk quartet. The Stark Reality came to fame by impressing jazz legend Ahmad Jarnal with a six song demo, psyching out 'square' children's songs that famed composer Hoagy Carmichael had written in the 40s and 50s, and convincing Jamal to release 90 minutes of music on his private AJP label."
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