ORISON

I know the sun is burning rich,
But richer still the halo’d moon
That gives away all it receives.
Meteor’d martyr in purest silver hewn.

The time was spent. My shadoes spins
Around the sundial every day.
Wind-whipped by life and chapped by time
My statue dreams are finally blown away
To follow after peregrine thoughts
Through where the ceiling crouches low
Through spectre’d days and white sheet nights
To where the peaceful and the happy go.

Grain of sand infinity, search
A moment in a timeless trance,
With just one sennight to senescence.
Please grant me seven days of merry dance!
When the weather changes warm
O please may I be swept along
To be a tide rider who wades ashore
In tempo with the swelling lighthouse song!


ORISON
Music by Birnbaum
Words by Medford

Nathan Birnbaum: Everett piano, Hammond organ, Arp synthesizer
Leslie Medford: voice, orchestral bells, Mellotron, sheet metal, woodblock, cymbals, cowbell, alarm clock, gongs, triangle.
Steve Palermo: electric and acoustic guitars
Brett Conrad: bass guitar
Stu Burruel: drums

Recorded October 11-12, 1975. Parkwoods and Heather Drives, Stockton, California.

For lovers of Prog. In particular, lovers of The Nice/Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1968-1974), Yes (1969-1977), King Crimson (1969-1974), Van der Graaf Generator (1969-1978), Genesis (1970-1976), Gentle Giant (1970-1976), PFM (1971-77) Henry Cow/Art Bears (1973-1980) and Jethro Tull (1972-1973). Orison springs therefrom! On one hand it is true juvenilia, too ambitious for the time allowed and its non-existent budget. It features an immature lyric, intoned with a fake accent by a fledgling singer having his very first go. The rhythm section had never heard the piece before the recording session! The lyrics and vocals aren't the best, certainly, but on the other hand, it is engaging and remember-able. The instrumental performance is of a high order, often bopping crunchily suddenly beautiful and grand.

Five American teenagers--in a living room and garage in little ol' Stockton--recorded this during the Prog Golden Era, in less than two days, at really no cost. (Due to bells and gongs, et cetera, borrowed from the high school and local college under one-day conditions.) Using a two-track reel-to-reel tape recorder, and “bouncing” mixes back-and-forth with another stereo reel-to-reel, this 2020 remaster is from the sole surviving cassette source, the only reel of Orison having been destroyed. Given all these handicaps the new listener is begged to give the imperfections a pass, and cajoled to listen, eyes closed, with an open mind and heart, to one of the very few examples of true American Prog.

Remastered by Carl Salbacka, January 2020