Mushroom - Early One Morning (1973, UK, progpsychfolkrock, Little Wing CDrip, single wav + cue, log, LW + vinyl artwork)

 *** Reviewed by great fellow Adamus67 ***

Pray the sticker that promotes this rare LP, one of those exquisite rarities born in the great “Emerald Isle”. This is the only work of “Mushroom”, in recreating a strong progressive-rock dye traditional irish-folk. In conversations with friends, discussing about psychedelic folk with a tendency in these discussions someone mentioned “Mushroom” …They're not afraid to whip out fuzzy solos or throw in straight celtic music though, so the mood varies pretty widely... the rest is history.

Formed in Dublin in the early 70’s, MUSHROOM were one of Ireland's leading pop bands from 70 to 74. In fact, they had a huge hit with their first single "Devil Among the Tailors" from their LP "Early One Morning" which reached no. 2 in the Irish top 20 charts in 1973, selling over a 100,000 LP’s and singles; another song, “Kings and Queens”, reached number 13 the following year. They band comprised five musicians among whom were violinist Pat Collins and guitarist Aengus McNally, son of actor Ray McNally; the other three contributed to the band’s acid folk sound with organ, moog, harpsichord, bass, drums, tin whistles, chimes, bodhran and vocals. As far as comparisons go,Horslips comes immediately to mind. Most easily compared to Horslips through its use of fiddle, bodhran, and tin whistle alongside its 1970s rock kit of guitar, drums, bass, and organ, (oh, and don’t forget that moog!), Mushroom also blended early seventies rock with traditional Irish songs and tunes. Among Mushroom’s more straightforward, (and frequently folksy,) compositions, ''Early One Morning'' shows the band integrating reels and hornpipes right into the songs, with a nice “acid-tinged” guitar, slurring all 70s-prog-like, right among the fiddle and surprisingly-Celtic sounding keyboards.

LP 'Early One Morning', originally released in 1973 on the Hawk label (HALPX 116) is a real one off, combining brilliant,heavy progressive rock and psychedelic Irish folk, with blazing guitar leads battling with fiddle attacks. The results are awesome, fully justifying the hefty price tag of an original.

Now here's something you don't hear everyday-Celtic tinged rock! Truly this is one of the most unique albums you will ever hear from a one-shot band. Based in Dublin, Mushroom combines some great, distorted guitar work with nicely understated keyboards and fiddle. Don't be fooled by the folksy title song that opens the album. It is in the glorious thunder of the following track, "The Liothdon" that the band's mission statement can be heard is a great example of this. This second track is where the band initially tips its hand on what’s to come. The keyboard takes the first run at the reel that this song sits on, followed by some nicely belted out vocals and an honest-to-goodness guitar solo. That is not to say that Early One Morning is a balls-out rock and roll album. It has its folksy moments as well, namely the title track, "Unborn Child", "Tenpenny Piece" and the frisky "Potter's Wheel". The funereal "Standing Alone" with its Moog solo could probably fit prog mode. But mostly this is a devil's dance of great music-and even if you somehow impossibly remain unconvinced of the brilliance of the Mushroom band. The same treatment and zeal is applied to the instrumental tracks "Johnny The Jumper", "The Potter’s Wheel", and "Drowsey Maggie", as well as the blistering CD closer "The King of Alba", and of course, the band’s big hit, "The Devil Among the Tailors", which uses the reel “The Devil’s Dream” as its main vehicle. Brilliant tune!
An album 5 stars in every sense of the word.
 Thank you so much Adam for that effort
   gigic2255

This rare album by this obscure early-'70s Irish folk-rock outfit is in some ways quite similar to the brand of British folk-rock pioneered by Fairport Convention in the late '60s and early '70s. Traditional Celtic folk-flavored melodies are given both delicate and hard-rocking treatments, the standard rock instruments given a British Isles folk tinge with embellishments of violin, electric mandolin, harpsichord, tin whistle, wind chimes, recorder, and bodhran. The similarity isn't extreme, however, as to start with, the production is far funkier and more homespun -- not a bad thing at all, but a trait that needs to be noted in case you're expecting something on the order of Fairport's Full House. Just as crucially, there are definitely more influences from pop, psychedelia, and progressive rock in Mushroom's particular spin on the British Isles folk-rock genre. While at times this is very much in the rapid-fire, lickety-split, ferociously rocked-up reels'n'jigs style that Fairport and such often used in the early '70s, there are also some nearly exquisite passages of melancholy Celtic folk balladry with a mild contemporary rock slant, such as "Tenpenny Piece" and the title track. Then there's the psychedelic guitar sustain and wah-wah weaving around the violin in "Crying," which otherwise would be a rather standard British late-'60s pop/rock song. And there's also the almost berserk keyboards of "Johnny the Jumper," where Fairport-style folk-rock meets the distorted roller rink sounds of early-'60s Joe Meek productions. It's far more naïve a record than Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span ever made, and less vocally and instrumentally accomplished, not to say more rudimentarily produced. Yet for those very reasons, it's a fairly nifty relic in the genre, if only because it's not just an emulation of obvious influences, but a somewhat odd and original twist on the format.
(~allmusic)  by Richie Unterberger

A fantastic album of Irish heavy folk-rock. Combines electric guitar with electric mandolin and other great things, and makes for a great listen. Very Irish yet very heavy and electrified throughout. A great combination.
(~rateyourmusic)  johndcoats

Tracks:

01. Early One Morning        02:37

02. The Liathdan        04:16

03. Crying            03:54

04. Unborn Child        03:45

05. Johnny The Jumper        03:06

06. Potters Wheel        02:22

07. Standing Alone        05:36

08. Devil Among The Tailors    02:45

09. Tenpenny Piece        03:29

10. Drowsey Maggie        03:57

11. King Of Alba        04:16

Mushroom - The Liathdan - 1973

Mushroom:

Aongus McAnally - guitars, recorder, tin whistle, vocals

Colm Lynch - percussion, bodhran, wind and wood chimes, vocals

Alan Brown - bass, twelve string guitar, vocals

Michael Power - organ, harpsichord, moog, vocals

Pat Collins - violin, electric mandolin, vocals

[Rip and Scans by gigic2255]

Link:

https://yadi.sk/d/9mwvdsaQNqU6f