The Beat Of The Earth – The Beat Of The Earth

A hypnotic and mellow tribal psych blow out. Listening to this at night with a little indica makes for a real special treat. Nothing, I have heard from 1967 has been able to induce such a trance like state. Enjoy!

Nice sound for this kind of reissue/pirate bootleg. I suspect it is from a vinyl rip but it be may be digital also. Flat and quiet vinyl. Bass is strong and mix is good, stereo seperation is sharp, vocals are bright and clear. Yes the cover is cheap but i don't care about that as long as the vinyl plays great, which is the case. My copy was sold as new but wasnt sealed.

Not all copies include the mentioned insert. Purchased my copy sealed without insert.

This album took a very long time to be discovered by fans of '60s underground psychedelia in the late 1980s, and is the only formal album by the Orange County, California band Beat Of The Earth. Through all these years, the music has grown into a classic within the field, in spite of its rarity and far reaching mysteriousness. The improvisational music found on the album cannot be easily categorized or scripted, though most would agree that it favors an unusual link between mid 1960s California and the droning acid rock of the later eras.

From a preternatural surf era 45rpm and a local B-movie soundtrack, Phil Pearlman's abject ascent, decent and fractured imagery presents a fascinating slice of music history for anyone willing or demented enough to give the album a spin. I sincerely doubt that Pearlman and his band of merry pranksters were aware that they had unleashed a primal head record that astounds to this very day. Recorded in Hollywood during the heady summer of 1967, the albums has remained as fresh and inventive today as it did then.

The Beat Of The Earth sound very similar to their East coast counterparts The Velvet Underground in a number of ways, with the record being recorded (though perhaps ‘captured’ is a bette term) live in the studio, consisting of long unstructured jams using a myriad of acoustic and electric instruments. This early incarnation of the band is the one most familiar to collectors, where copies of the first album have been changing hands for hundred of dollars since the mid eighties. The music the band produced during this period is not for everyone or the faint of heart(compare it to the long experimental tracks on the first two Velvet Underground albums), yet their debut remains an unusual and rare gem, representing a significance musical point of view from the California psch rock scene.

*** Other than this 1967 vinyl copy, all others are bootlegs.

Review by Jenell Kesler

Timely vinyl reissue at $25+ of an amazing record and big bucks original. Audio is good, although likely not from original masters. Too bad sleeve is not a printed cover. It is a cheapo. The glued-on color paper copy of original artwork has poor resolution and is pixelized, credits on rear are not readable. Legit reissue or not, it looks like not.

Just purchased one of these reissues and have to say I'm very pleased with the overall product. The sound quality is spot on for a release of this nature, although not sure if this is from original masters. The cover is not a printed cover but a generic white cover with artwork glued on which is not a big deal considering you don't have to shell out big bucks for an original pressing.