Record Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ BEAT MUSIC FESTIVAL (EXPANDED EDITION) HED ARZI 520575 (Barcode: 7293372205750) ~ ISRAEL ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1968 Released: 2003 This album is perhaps the most important historical document from the early days of Israeli Rock. Recorded live in Tel-Aviv, it documents the first ever Israeli Rock festival, organized in 1968 by the left-wing radical "HaOlam HaZeh" ("This World" in Hebrew) weekly newspaper, owned and edited by Uri Avnery. Avnery, always a visionary, was among the first Israeli figures to recognize the culture of the new Israeli generation, including the new Israeli Rock, which was in its infancy at the time. The many Pop / Rock groups active at the time were completely ignored by the "cultural" establishment and operated in complete "underground", playing small clubs in the southern (poor and neglected) suburbs of Tel Aviv, as well as in the cities of Lod and Ramleh (also poor and neglected). The entire "club" scene was vibrant and immensely creative, but had little chance to reach wider audiences as the groups never got opportunity to record and their songs were not played on the radio. Therefore the Beat Music Festival was a first of its kind presentation of this new music to a wider audience and the album, capturing some of the evening´s performances, was the first recording done by the participating groups. Although only a very few of these groups managed to record full length LPs (The ChurchillsFind albums by this artist, who do not appear here, were a rare exception, recording their debut album in 1968 and Uzi And The StylesFind albums by this artist, who do appear, recorded their debut album only in 1970), the album´s bonus tracks bring a selection of singles recorded by the participating groups shortly after the festival, such as the Fats & ThinsFind albums by this artist, the Blue StarsFind albums by this artist, the StylesFind albums by this artist, Uzi And The StylesFind albums by this artist, and the New Blue StarsFind albums by this artist (their tracks are fantastic examples of early Psychedelic / proto-Prog efforts). Although some of the music sounds a bit dated, others are absolutely brilliant. The overall sound quality is not perfect, nevertheless as a document of the era this album has no competition and therefore stands out as a beacon and a rare window to Israel´s musical past, way beyond simple nostalgia. A blast from the past!

CD 1 Slipcase Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend