LINK: A Belgian Review of Merrell Fankhauser

http://www.musicinbelgium.net/pl/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=5634

Okay, enough fun, we will now talk about serious things, a musician who deserves shoes off before the brightness of his genius and purity of his inspiration.

I named Merrell Fankhauser, an individual who does not necessarily awaken the collective unconscious of the crowds, but that has certainly put some beads in the great history of American rock of 60-70 years, psychedelic rock and folk sections rock. In your books, I tell you. Merrell Fankhauser was born in Louisville, Kentucky December 23, 1943. He was sentenced to country music for cowboy the rest of his life if his parents had not moved to California at the time of early adolescence. The sea air gives the desires of the young surfing Merrell soon founded The Impact , a classic combo of surf-rock, a genre that flourished in the years 1962-1963 following the examples left by the Ventures or Surfaris. In 1964, Merrell Fankhauser found at the head of the Exiles , a group he formed with Jeff Cotton and John French (who would later go play with Captain Beefheart). The group is more in the garage rock and soon to slide into the psychedelic, turning into Fapardokly (name formed from the first syllables of the name of each musician  : Merrell Fankhauser, Dan Parrish , Bill Dodd and Rick Lee). The band released an album that first passes unnoticed in 1967 but has been regarded as a wonder of the psychedelic era dawning  : communicants prepubescent voice, Byrds, Beach Boys Association, beatlesienne candor, fresh compositions. An original copy of this album is currently trading for the price of gross domestic product of Guatemala. Always curious and inventive, Merrell Fankhauser goes a step further with his new group HMS Bounty in 1968. The album "Things" knows a little success in the local spheres of Southern California, near Los Angeles where Fankhauser has its home. The cross between the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Spirit and once again made ​​this album a great testament to the musical richness of American psychedelia. But this is nothing compared to the album of MU , the new group of Merrell Fankhauser which marks the reunion with his fellow Exiles, including Jeff Cotton of Captain Beefheart back home. The band released an album in 1972 which made ​​a big impression on the local charts. Criticism sees one of the most innovative albums of the psychedelic rock of the time. Between Quicksilver Messenger Service, blues and folk delicate dreamer, the album "MU" is to hang the pantheon of great psychedelic albums.Those who are tired of always wander between Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane can broaden their psyche with this record remarkable in many ways. The name refers to the MU continent of Mu, mythical place of peace whose legend refers to that of Atlantis. Attracted by the culture that surrounds the new age myth of Mu, Merrell Fankhauser and his team to be moving to Hawaii in 1973. This is where MU recorded tracks for an album that will be launched in 1982 under the name "The last album" . Meanwhile, Merrell Fankhauser is rooted in the Polynesian culture and remains permanently in Hawaii. He continued his work, now much more oriented folk ballads and quiet and new age. This is what one finds on his first solo album "Maui" in 1976, where he operates with his wife Mary Lee on violin. Since that time 70 years, Merrell Fankhauser is still active and regularly released albums where he tirelessly explores the possibilities of folk and blues, with his talent unsurpassable. He will commit and albums "A day in paradise" (1985), "Doctor Fankhauser" (1985, with John Cipollina ), "Message to the Universe" (1986), "Flying to Machu Picchu" (1992), "Jungle lo lo Band " (1994), "Further on up the Road" (1999) or "Return to Mu" (2000). Discography of Merrell Fankhauser's a little hard to follow because the man released numerous albums on local labels in very limited distribution. Finally, a wonderful opportunity to discover the music of Merrell Fankhauser released today with the release of a "Best of" which traces the career of the master from 1963 to 2010. The first CD of this compilation focuses on the Exiles, Fapardokly, HMS Bounty and MU while the second is devoted to solo recordings and more recent, even unpublished.

This second part is less stunning than the first, with pieces of the 80 a little more commercial. T

This is the first record that is exciting here, but with too few selected songs for each stage of Merrell Fankhauser's career, as the years 1967-1972 are rich in his musical career. It should however not be too hard to face this set of tracks that are still in the music and the story of a great man, far from the mainstream but his boat leading with conviction, talent and personality.