Lost And Found Everybody’s Here 1967 US Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock

Lost And Found - Everybody’s Here 1967 US Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock Emerging from the same mid-60s Houston, Texas scene as label mates Thursday’s Children and The Red Crayola, Lost And Found were formed in 1965 and originally called themselves The Misfits, consisting of Peter Black on guitar and vocals, Jimmy Frost on lead guitar, bassman James Harrell and - after a succession of drummers - Steve Webb. Part of the nationwide explosion of local bands springing up in the wake of the British Invasion (and America’s immediate musical responses), the group busied themselves, with local appearances. They developed quite a following, often playing shows in Houston at the famed venue La Maison, where they became the house band alongside The Six Pents and Baroque Brothers. Later, they also frequented Love Street, which opened in June 1967. A pivotal moment in Lost And Found/The Misfits’ history came in early December 1965 when artist friend George Banks - who would later form the Flash Graphics company, producing most of International Artist’s artwork - took Harrell and Black to the Jade Room in Austin to see the debut performances of the newly-formed 13th Floor Elevators, who were to have a huge influence on The Misfits’ sound and approach to songwriting. The two groups’ friendship, sparked at a La Maison show early in ’66, would eventually lead to an introduction to the infamous International Artists label in Houston. At some point early in their career, the group, minus Jimmy Frost, split to Los Angeles with buddies Euphoria, hanging out on the West Coast for a couple of months until poverty and general apathy forced a return to Houston. Their time spent on the West Coast, however, was not entirely wasted, as the emphasis on melody and memorable hooks so common to the City of Angels clearly seeped into the boys’ songwriting, with elements of The Byrds and Love being most evident. Upon their return, at the start of a six month residency at Scott Holtzman’s Living Eye Club in Houston and later immortalized on their albuml, they attracted unwelcome notoriety as the first Texas group busted for LSD. However, the charges were supposedly dismissed, following confusion as to the drug’s legality - it had only just been outlawed a month earlier in October ’66. As paranoia and suspicion were already rife in the conservative Texan atmosphere with regards to the “longhairs“, it seems that one positive factor in the group’s association with International Artists was that owner-lawyers Bill Dillard and Noble Ginther could potentially offer support with regard to legal matters, as they were already doing and would continue to do with the Elevators! Around this time, and possibly due to the negative associations with their name following the bust, the group finally became Lost And Found. In August 1967, the group entered Andrus Studios in Houston to cut their one and only album, working with producer Lelan Rogers and engineer Frank Davis. Made up of mostly original material written by Harrell and Frost, except for a cover of the Elevators’ ’Don’t Fall Down’ from that group’s Psychedelic Sounds album, it’s a strong debut, melding the influences picked up on their LA jaunt with more esoteric elements picked up from the Elevators, and their mystical quest for pure sanity. Strong vocal harmonies and guitar interplay abound, with Harrell and Webb laying down a solid foundation. The album’s opening track ’Forever Lasting Plastic Words’ successfully lays out the band’s ethos - folk-rockesque melodies, matched with intelligent and meaningful lyrics. Standouts for this writoi include ’There Would Be No Doubt’, with its echoing of the sentiments of the Elevators’ ’Reverberation’, the pure teen-rush-mania of ’I Realize’ and the closing 7_ minute instrumental opus ’Living Eye’. The lattoi successfully combines elements of ’Eight Miles High’ and ’Smokestack Lightning’, highlighting the group’s instrumental prowess, and giving an indication of their on-stage majesty. Tracklist 1 Forever Lasting Plastic Words Written-By – James Harrell 0:00 2 Everybody’s Here Written-By – Jimmy Frost 2:12 3 There Would Be No Doubt Written-By – P. Black*, W. West* 5:14 4 Don’t Fall Down Written-By – R. Erickson*, T. Hall* 7:23 5 Zig Zag Blues Written-By – J. Harrell*, J. Frost*, P. Black*, S. Webb* 10:38 6 Let Me Be Written-By – Jimmy Frost 16:40 7 Realize Written-By – James Harrell 19:27 8 Stroke Blues Written-By – James Harrell 21:58 9 I’m So Hip To Pain Written-By – James Harrell 25:07 10 Living Eyes Written-By – J. Harrell*, J. Frost*, P. Black*, S. Webb* 27:45 Credits Bass – James Harrell Cover – Flash Grapics Drums – Steve Webb (5) Guitar – Jimmy Frost, Peter Black Producer, Liner Notes – Lelan Rogers Recorded By – Andrus Productions Vocals – Peter Black