Track Listing

1. Fire-Fighter (Aries)
2. Voluptuary
3. Cool Eye
4. Moon Child
5. Lord Of Lights
6. Perpetual Perfectionist
7. Flower Child
8. Passionate Herd
9. Versatile Daredevil
10. Uncapricious Climber
11. Lover Of Life
12. Peace Piper

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108694 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

CD Description
The dozen signs of the Zodiac are ruminated upon during thepseudo-psychedelic COSMIC SOUNDS, a concept album was issued in late 1967 on Elektra Records. COSMIC SOUNDS narrator Cyrus Faryar's other credits include proficiencies as a bouzouki player, bassist, guitarist, and sometimes vocalist for a plethora of diverse artists, namely Dave Guard & the Whiskeyhill Singers and the Modern Folk Quartet, as well as guest spots on albums by Mama Cass Elliot, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Buffalo Springfield, Fred Neil, and even the Firesign Theatre. Faryar animates Jacques Wilson's suitably antiquated '60s hippie prose, depicting the various characteristics unique to the 12 respective zodiac insignias. Backing Faryar's narration is a loosely corralled and completely unnamed aggregateof L.A. session all-stars and Wrecking Crew regulars: CarolKaye (bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Bud Shank (bass flute), and Emil Richards (percussion)--who often performs several different instruments during the same song. Along with contributions from Moog synth guru Paul Beaver, the band churn out aseries of ersatz rock melodies--the likes of which might have been as incidental fodder for an episode of DRAGNET or from any of the late-'60s hippie/biker flicks such as PSYCH-OUT or HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS. The cinematic style comes via the talents of Julliard-trained pop composer/arranger/conductor Mort Garson--who may be best remembered for his collaborations with Doris Day, Glen Campbell, Rod McKuen, and Mel Torm . SOUNDS is a definitive timepiece and nostalgic relic reflecting the heavy marketability in the counterculture youth movement of the late '60s. Taken at face value, it righteously succeeds.

Customer Reviews

Must be played in the dark
I discovered this album in a charity shop (sorry Amazon but I do shop elsewhere).
Something about it urged me to buy it and, on reading the instructions on the back "Must be played in the dark" I followed my emotions and parted with some (but not nearly enough) money.
Put together in 1967, Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds is a perfect snap shot of the start of the psychedelic movement in California. And its contributers were a group of very square composers!
Some of the best session musicians in LA at the time (including Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye) appear on Zodiac as does the first Moog on record played by Paul Beaver who would later go on to record some fine Moog albums with Jean Jacques Perrey (check out the In Sound from Way Out). However, it is the perscussion that stands out. Played by Emil Richards there are enought strange man-made noises in every track to almost distract the listener away from the stange Moog-made noises.
Vocals are by Cyrus Faryar, a strange mix of pretensious actorly announcements ("Nine times the colour red explodes like heated blood") and tripped out nonsense ("jumping jupiter things").
Listen to this record with a jazz woodbine and you won't know whether to laugh or descend into the trip.
This is where exotica and psychedila meet - a strange place where every instrument is straining to get away from the norm only to find that the norm keeps following it.
Thoroughly recommended to all those who like soundtracks, exotica, psychedelia, electronica and humour.

astrological concept curio
This is an example of that rarest of beasties, an album that sounds like nothing else on earth. In fact, it sounds like it doesn't hail from this planet at all.

Conceived in 1967 by a studio executive with $$ where his eyes used to be in an attempt to cash-in on the general grooviness of the times, the fact that this sounds as tripped-out as it does is all the more remarkable for the fact that it was played by a hastily assembled collection of top-flight LA sessioneers all out of their minds on coffee and nicotine.

Each of the twelve tracks, one for each sign of the Zodiac, features a spoken word contribution from one Cyrus Faryar who delivers beautifully ridiculous psychedelic non-sequitirs in a manner reminiscent of Sir Ian McKellen on a high dose of mescaline. The music, which is trippily gorgeous and beautifully played throughout, features an extraordinary array of exotic instrumentation, the percussion being particularly noteworthy.

This recording is highly recommended to lovers of obscure psychedelia with a healthy sense of humour. A word of warning however; listening to this whilst under the influence of a major hallucinogen might well result in a lengthy spell in a secure psychiatric unit.

Enjoy.

Spiritual, psychedelic, trippy perfection! 90%!!!
"nine times the colour red explodes like heated blood...incendiary diamonds scorched the Earth..." Some of the first words spoken on this truly trippy concept album. The spoken-songs (for that is what they are) centre around the twelve star astrological star signs (hence Aries, Taurus, Mars, etc.), and this lysergic lyricism is accompanied by a variety of far-out music, plenty ahead of its time, carried off beautifully for the most part - the highlights for me are: Aquarius "In the friendly opal light of Uranus, all men can blend, yet still be what they are...", Aries, Libra, and Pisces-the peace piper. All beautiful - all guaranteed to help you on your cerebral journey!
Not that I would ever sell my copy - I had been looking for this album for about twenty years, not realising the artist name or album, just some awesome lyrics like "-and still the voice will say love"!

Buy it - now!!!

Also try Amazon for the following: Twink's Think Pink, or Silver Apples, or Timothy Leary's stuff (LSD or You Can Be...) Modern trippers may enjoy Porcupine Tree's Voyage 34, or KLF's Chill Out, or Trance Tripping, or The Beta Band's - The Three E.P.'s - All available here at Amazon!