First time here?

First time here? Please check out the FAQ as well as the General Discussion threads. Feel free to chime in or get in touch with comments, questions, corrections... Cheers! :)

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Music Emporium - "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo" / "Times Like This" [Mono 45]

Music Emporium - "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo" b/w "Times Like This"

Original 1969 mono 45RPM single
Sentinel – 4-501  (Discogs)
~ThePoodleBites rip in 96 kHz / 24 bit FLAC + full hi-res scans!~

Most collectors of late-1960s rock music are likely aware of the Music Emporium album, as although it is extremely rare in its original form, it has been reissued various times over the last few decades, including several excellent-sounding reissues from the master tapes on the Sundazed label, and has received a great amount of praise from listeners across the globe. Mysteriously missing from those reissues, though, are the mono versions of two tracks which were released on a 45 RPM single back in 1969 in conjunction with the album. This might lead one to guess that the tapes for that single have gone missing. After acquiring a copy of this 45 from the Record Phantom archives, I carefully digitally transferred both sides and discovered another possible reason: both songs, to my ears, closely resemble that of stereo fold-downs. Nonetheless, it was a simple clean-up job, so I figured it worthy of sharing on the blog here. 

Many thanks to C.F. for making this very rare single available for this project!

For those who might have not heard of this group before, the music is contemporary with late-1960s psychedelic pop-rock, and though it floats more towards the "psychsploitation" edge of the spectra in comparison with the acid-driven edge of some more well-known outfits, it offers its own appeal through, if nothing else, the convincing admixture of the era's typical ingredients: driving guitar-laden beats, an echoing church organ, male-female vocal harmonies, Eastern mysticism, thought expansion, synesthetic imagery, etc. In other words, it kicks ass, even if as a work of art it is unlikely to redefine the fundamental worldview of the listener.

As a (now) highly revered psychedelic outfit, much has been written about the Music Emporium elsewhere, including in the Sundazed liner notes. Therefore, rather than go into details on this group here, I'll simply provide a link to Klemen Breznikar's excellent interview with William (Bill) Cosby on It's Psychedelic Baby, which you can find by clicking here.

Of particular relevance in that interview are comments on the two tracks found on this single:

KB: How were the songs for the albums’ single “Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo” c/w “Times Like This” selected?
WC: We thought "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo" was our strongest song, and best represented Music Emporium. We thought that "Times Like This" provided a contrast, would be something to show versatility.

KB: Would you share your insight on the albums’ tracks?
"Nam Myo Renge Kyo"
WC: With a the proofing and everything else, somehow the ‘Ho’ was left out of Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo, however it was correct on the single. The suggestion for use of the Buddhist chant as well as the lyrics came from Thom Wade. 

KB: "Times Like This"
WC: Milt Bulian wrote Times Like This for Carolyn. A fellow student from California State College, Long Beach, Milt was one of her close friends and became a good friend of all the band members. Milt generally accompanied himself on guitar and my preference would have been for him to sing the song for the recording. But with time constraints and schedules, it didn’t happen. If there was a crossover song on the album it was Times Like This. My parents even liked it.

Vinyl condition: Near Mint (NM) / Mint Minus (M-)
Dynamic range
:
DR 10

Track listing:
1) Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo -- 2:38
2) Times Like This -- 2:00

Equipment Lineage:
– Audio-Technica VMN40ML stylus on AT150MLx dual moving-magnet cartridge
– Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB direct drive professional turntable (internal stock preamp/ADC removed)
– Pro-Ject Phono Box S2 Ultra preamp with dedicated Zero Zone linear power supply
– Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 MkII (96kHz / 24bit)
– Adobe Audition CC 2024 (recording)
– iZotope RX 11 audio editor (manual declicking, EQ subtraction, additional adjustments)
– Audacity 3.7.1 (fades between tracks, split tracks)
– Foobar2000 v2.1.5 (tagging, dynamic range analysis)

The flipside can also be heard on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7WE-WeEqR4

Thanks for taking the time to read my posts and check out my blog. I'd greatly appreciate it if you leave a small comment below. Notes from my readers are what inspire me to keep going. Thanks!
MEGA: https://mega.nz/folder/q1RSFI6S#ByRw-NHlM5Lj2cKDbNPS4A

Enjoy!  :)
 

No comments:

Post a Comment