8.14.2005
Electric Band
The Glass Family Electric Band LP (Warner Bros., 1968)
In the late Sixties, following the huge success of the Doors, record labels searched for the next big thing in psychedelia. They had minor hits with the Seeds and Love, but they still were looking for more. The frenzy was much like that in the late 1970s or early 1990s when almost anything new wave/punk (70s) or pop-punk/grunge (90s) was given a serious once over by the majors. Just as then , the late 60s saw a lot of one-off LPs by bands who never quite made it out of their hometown or commune. One of those bands was the Glass Family.
From the album cover which shows three guys standing in front of an old farmhouse full of people, you would guess that the Glass Family is some kind of commune. My bet is that the band was one of the many who stalked Sunset Blvd. looking for gigs or anyone to listen to their music. Someone heard them, slapped the name on them to capitalize on the hippie commune thing and found some dirtbags and an old house and snapped the photo. Why? Because the record is way more pop than hippie jam band. The songs are compact. Some drive hard; others are gentle and melodic. Garage/psych freaks rave about the fuzzed out songs, which are actually the most boring of the bunch. The magic in this record is in the pop, whether it be the punkish House of Glass or the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band-esque Do You Remember.
Despite being not very well known, it is not particularly hard to find. I got mine for five bucks, but then again I bought it from a record store that is run by imbitards.
# posted by Scott Soriano : 11:31
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Seems that Electric Band is the title of the LP, & that there is another one before, also on WB... Anyway, I may be wrong - House Of Glass is really fine, thank you!
# posted by 
: 09:10
: 09:10
I'm not sure. The listing I've found for it are the full name, though I've found a current band that goes by the name of Glass Family. Perhaps that is the confussion.
Yes, this band is just called the Glass Family. I just played it on the radio and did a search, and your blog just came up. I want you to know that I was not ripping off your blog again for ideas of what to play on the radio. I swear!
--Rick
--Rick
# posted by : 01:03
: 01:03
Oh, and btw...
"House of Glass" was comped onto a Nuggets compilation called "Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults" which has a lot of other great stuff. You can check this at KDVS.
"House of Glass" was comped onto a Nuggets compilation called "Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults" which has a lot of other great stuff. You can check this at KDVS.
# posted by : 01:05
: 01:05
I wonder if the name is a JD Salinger reference (The "Glass" family appear as characters in a number of his books).
The Glass Family Electric Band is the full name. I know this because David Capilouto is my boyfriends Dad. They still play under this name from time to time at private partys. 3-21-09 they are playing in Hermosa Beach, CA at a bar called Suzy's. As for the "frenzy" that they got picked up by in the wake of WB... The Glass Family played with the Doors, the Grateful Dead and others before signing with WB. All members of the band say the album is overproduced, and doesn't really sound like their live set at all. I agree the album is like a toned-down pussed out version of their live set. The house in the background of the record is David Capilouto's house in Silverado canyon outside Orange, CA. He rented it with the band. The people are their friends and girlfriends. These people are pre-hippie, believe me. Some of the coolest dudes I have ever met. This is a great album, but I wish they would rerecord now without the producers! Jim "Ralph" is in the record business nowadays.
Wendy - ask you boyfriend's dad if he could get it together and remaster this album. Most of the other obscure greats like Clear Light, The West Coast Pop Art...Band and HP Lovecraft have been already!
Get Sundazed records on to it! :)
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Get Sundazed records on to it! :)
# posted by : 05:19
: 05:19<< Home
