The album was released in a private edition of 300 copies and most of them were given away to family and friends. In the late 80s, one of those copies was unearthed by rare record dealer Paul Major, who was one of the first persons to appreciate the singularities of “Reachin’ Arcesia”. Since then, the album, which mixes over the top crooner vocals with late 60s acid-rock / pop arrangements is now considered a lounge-psych / real people masterpiece.
This album remained forgotten for a long time until New York DJ and musicologist Irwin Chusid brought it to attention by including the song "Butterfly Mind" in his collection of strange and exotic recordings, "Songs Of The Key Of Z." On February 11, 1917, a boy named Johnny Arcesi was born in Pennsylvania. As a young child, he heard recordings of Enrico Caruso and from then on, he decided he would be a singer. When he was sixteen or so, his family's house burned down, and he, with his father's blessing, set out to conquer New York City. By the mid-1930s, he was already known as a popular performer of all kinds. Around this time, he adopted the stage name Don Darcy, and his career took off. In the 1950s, John's star began to fade; he changed his name again and began producing other artists. But then the 1960s arrived, bringing with them electric organs, fuzz, and LSD. Mr. Arcessi, then in his 50s, suddenly embraced these cultural phenomena. He moved to Los Angeles and recorded the album "Reachin'" in 1971 (apparently dedicated to the recent death of his wife), released in November 1972 in a limited edition of 300 copies. The band that recorded the album, "Arcesia," never released anything else. Its frontman, quite pleased with the result, soon moved to Hawaii and spent nearly a decade writing songs and essays, creating graphics and painting. In 1983, shortly before his death, he returned to California, to the city where he had lived with his wife in the 1960s.
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