Bobby Beausoleil & The Freedom Orchestra – Lucifer Rising

Not gonna lie: I found this for $1.99 at a Salvation Army in Toronto, Canada. Couldn't believe what I had found. While "Lucifer Rising" may not be an immediately indelible entry in the world of prog rock as far as its compositions go (it's rather loosely structured considering it is a soundtrack) the history and workings behind it are breathtaking and almost inconceivable to imagine. Essentially, Beausoleil arranges with Richard Anger to compose a soundtrack for his titular movie. However, a minor inconvenience of murder at the behest of Charles Manson finds Beausoleil locked up in prison in 1969 for what will still likely be the rest of his life. Anger and Beausoleil never give up the dream though. Through the support of the warden and backed up by a coterie of talented fellow prisoners, Beausoleil finishes recording his soundtrack in the late '70s, and has it produced and then cut for distribution by 1980. Never sold in stores, only 1000 copies were pressed for distribution during screenings of the film and to various friends. The history of this record itself is infamous and makes it worth a listen. But you'll quickly find that the music here is actually very, very good. How the Freedom Orchestra (oh the irony!) managed to pull off such a cohesive sound under their circumstances just goes to show how committed everyone was to getting this together, especially the warden of Tracy Prison, whom felt this was worth the investment of prison resources. An absolute mythical and even mystical record and one of the more interesting pieces of vinyl now in my collection.

Serious buyer looking. Cash in hand. Ship to central Canada.