A Sea For Yourself
Various Artists
// 1973 on Rural Records (RR 002)
Excerpt From "Aerials To The Earth Suite" (Darryl Dragon) / Space Shuffle (Dragons) / Stone Crazy (Bozone) / Drain Pipe (Ruchard Henn & Co.) / Peace Garden (Dragons) / Tyson Road House (Rockin' Foo) / Jumpin' With Jarvis (Al Oakie & Freinds) / Sugar In My Coffee (Bozone) / Zorro's Revenge (Bozone) / Hear The Truth (A.K.A. Everybody Needs) (Dragons) / Squeeze Box (Richard Henn & Co.) / Karma Cue (Dan Peyton) / Bahama Hop (Bozone) / Rain Ride One & Two (Richard Henn & Co.) / Wish I Knew (Little Marty Kaniger) / Nite Cruzer Two (Dragons) / Cataclysm (Dragons) / Fair Thee Well (Rockin' Foo) / Soul Teacher (Dragons) / Urantia Plains (Dragons) / Cosmosis (BFI) / Slidin' (Dan Peyton) / When The Money Comes (Micheal Raccoon) / Power Jam One & Two (Dragons) / Food For My Soul (Dragons) / Cholo (Richard Henn & Co.) / Rain Ride Three (Richard Henn & Co.)
2.5
Album Review:
A very rare surf movie soundtrack originally released in 1973 on Interfusion (Australia) and Rural (US) Records and re-released in 2018. It features Rick Henn of the Sunrays, Dennis Dragon* (brother is Daryl Dragon of Captain and Tennille), and others.
A Sea For Yourself is a wide mix of rock, funk, country, electronic, and the occasional surfy moment. ‘Karma Cue’ is reminiscent of the Astronauts’ ‘Baja’ with a classical synthesizer flare ala Switched On Bach. ‘Excerpt From Aerials to the Earth Suite’ is very ahead of its time with fuzzy bass synths and otherworldly effects; it’s a trip into musique concrète. The Dragons’ tracks are pretty cool, like ‘Space Shuffle’ and ‘Peace Garden.’ There are some truly awful moments here as well, such as ‘Sugar in Your Coffee’ and ‘When the Money Comes.’ ‘Slidin’’ sounds like it should be in a Barney the Dinosaur episode. Of all the tracks, the Rick Henn ones are the most interesting, with ’Drainpipe’ being the unquestioned highlight of the album. ‘Rain Ride’ is a distinctly Sunrays composition.
This soundtrack could’ve benefited from being one disc rather than two because if you cut out the weaker tracks, there’s enough strong material to make for a solid album. It’s a look into how Surf Music may have evolved if it hadn’t died in 1965. Of course, that conjecture places more cultural weight on this release than is probably warranted. Perhaps the music on this album should be just enjoyed for what it is - a creative fusion of several genres together under the umbrella of an early 70s surf soundtrack.
*Note:
The Dragons can be heard on another mega obscure surf-related release from December 1964 with Bruce Johnston called 12/5/64.
CHOICE CUTS:
Drainpipe / Rain Ride
