Mind Garage — A Total Electric Happening 1968 (USA, Garage, Heavy Psychedelic Rock)

Mind Garage — A Total Electric Happening 1968 (USA, Garage, Heavy Psychedelic Rock)

The band is considered one of the founders of Christian rock music. Their 1968 performance of "Electric Liturgy" was the first documented Christian rock service, and their self-titled debut album became one of the earliest Christian rock albums. Mind Garage formed after a rock band from Morgantown, West Virginia, called Glass Menagerie, disbanded in July 1967 while touring the Midwest. Among the musicians who left Glass Menagerie were Larry McClurg, Jack Bonasso, and Norris Lytton, who returned to Morgantown, where they were all students at West Virginia University. After meeting with two other WVU students, John Vaughan and Ted Smith, it was decided to form a new band. From its inception, the band was championed by a member of the University's Board of Trustees, the Episcopalian Reverend Michael Paine, who helped the group develop an appropriate religious repertoire. His wife, Victoria "Tori" Paine, suggested the name "Mind Garage." By early 1967, the band's final lineup of five musicians had been formed: Ted Smith, Norris Lytton, Jack Bonasso, John Vaughan, and Larry McClurg. In 1969, Mind Garage was invited to the Woodstock festival, but the musicians declined to participate. They did not sign a new contract, but quietly retreated from the music world and continued their lives as before. Only the band's drummer often played with other bands as a guest musician. In 1983, the band reunited to record a few songs, and in 2007, they performed at the Goodstock Music Festival. Although the term "Christian rock" hadn't yet been coined during Mind Garage's time, many critics consider the band to be within that genre. Others go further, confidently claiming that the term "Christian rock" itself, like the entire genre that followed, originated with Mind Garage.

Tracks:

01. B-52 — 0:00

02. Sale Of A Deathman - 0:52

03. What Shall We Do Till Norris Comes - 4:49

04. Water - 11:15

05. Star Goddess - 16:11

06. Circus Farm - 19:23

07. This Town - 22:11

08. Reach Out - 26:19

09. Asphalt Mother - 31:09


Personnel:

Larry McClurg - lead vocals
John Vaughan – Gibson Firebird guitar
Jack Bonasso – Hammond B-3 organ, Leslie Tone Cabinet model 147, vocals
Norris Lytton – 4- & 8-string Hagstrom bass guitars, vocals
Ted Smith — Premier custom chrome drums with double basses, vocals