The Souls of Inspyration (1970 Canada Psych Rock)

The "Souls Of Inspyration" were one of Canada's most obscure psych bands who recorded a real beauty back in 1968/69. Nice hammond / organ drenched psychy prog with some wonderful fuzzed out guitar and heavy vocals and psychy harmonies...what else could you ask for? At times this album really reminds me of early Deep Purple Mk 1 era with Geoff Mann like vocalizations (Twelfth Night Lead Singer). An excellent piece of Canadian Psych history.
(~ungerprog)

Red Lake, Ontario soft-psych rockers the Souls of Inspyration made the requisite bar slog across Central Canada before setting up shop in Sherbrooke, Quebec in late 1968. There, they recruited keyboardist Raymond Cloutier, morphed their sound into a murkier psychedelic mix and toured Quebec with the likes of Vanilla Fudge and Tommy James and the Shondells, thus solidifying their fan base across the belle province. A battle-of-the-bands competition at Montreal's Man and His World exposition in July 1970 won the band a fortnight slot at the Canada pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan.

Awash in accolades and promise, the band inked a recording deal before cutting their lone wax offering for the then-progressive Columbia Canada label (whose adventurous roster also boasted The Magic Bubble, Mashmakhan and It's All Meat). Peddling the same somewhat hoary riffs as their fellow Quebeckers Mashmakhan - breezy Hammond organ, airy acoustic guitar and buoyant but blinkered lyrics - The Souls of Inspyration lamentably founders more than it floats. There are pockets of potential here - 'Eyes of Nature' is blithe and spacious post-psychedelia, recalling Jerry Corbetta's brighter moments with Sugarloaf. However, much of The Souls of Inspyration - the drug-addled lyrics and limp songwriting to be specific - is best left to languish in obscurity. For psych completists only.

Tracks:
side one:
A1_Pursuit
A2_Stranger
A3_Sun Shines In The Winter
A4_Dil Kusha (Hearts Happiness)

side two:
B1_Of Lambs & Wolves
B2_Eyes Of Nature
B3_Seasons Of Change

Souls Of Inspyration:
John Maciejewski - Lead Guitar and Vocal
Raymond Cloutier - Hammond Organ, Piano, Background Vocals
Mark Paradis - Drums, Background Vocals

**
Don Wilson - Bass
(~canuckistanmusic)