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Maypole - Maypole (1970)

Track listing:
  1. Glance At The Past 1:25
  2. Show Me The Way 2:09
  3. Henry Stared 6:34
  4. Changes Places 3:40
  5. Under A Wave 5:48
  6. Johnny 4:26
  7. Come Back 4:28
  8. You Were... 4:26
  9. In The Beginning 2:53
  10. Dozy World 4:39
  11. Stand Alone 3:08
  12. Look At Me 7:14

Notes

This anonymous outfit's album, which has been likened to outfits like The Ill Wind and Neighborhood Childr'n, is now a minor collectable. In fact it's far heavier than either of these two and doesn't feature female lead vocals either. It does however merge psych and heavy rock, with some excellent Hendrix inspired lead guitar work on Johnny and Glance At The Past. All their material was original and it was produced by Pat Perticone at New York's A&R studios.

The long liner notes, written by Paul Welsh, state that their name came from the Maypole erected by the people of Merrymount in New England in the 17th Century to break most of the Puritan laws, stating that "Maypole intends to combine the techniques of literature in lyrics and structure with the feeling generated by our music to communicate the "real" to an unlimited audience".

The band came from Baltimore and were founded by Paul Welsh and Dennis Tobell. Dennis was the mainstay of the band, writing or co-writing the bulk of their material. He is still playing professionally as Demian Bell, and has played in Los Bravos amongst others. Prior to Maypole he was also a member of The Barbarians.

The band came from Baltimore. Lutzy was previously with The Progressions (on Scepter) and would be involved again with later incarnations of that band. Another member was in a group called A Taste (on Gazette).