Mind Garage - Mind Garage (1969 Morgantown, WV) | Psychedelic Rock / Acid Rock | Full Vinyl Rip

Mind Garage is the debut album by Mind Garage, released in 1969 on RCA Victor, catalog LSP-4218. My copy is a Hollywood pressing - matrix stamps XPRS-5216 and XPRS-5217, deep groove labels, bottom line reads “Radio Corporation Of America” unabbreviated. Mind Garage formed in Morgantown, West Virginia in 1967, built from the remnants of a WVU student band called the Glass Menagerie. Larry McClurg on vocals, John Vaughan on guitar, Jack Bond on Farfisa organ, Norris Lytton on bass and saxophone, Ted Smith on drums. An Episcopal campus minister named Michael Paine approached the band about writing rock music for a church liturgy. His wife Victoria suggested the name. What came out of it was the Electric Liturgy - a ten-part rock worship service performed without breaks, first documented March 10, 1968. The band performed it in churches across the Eastern US, including Princeton University Chapel. They never charged for those shows. The Village Voice coined the term “theo-rock” to describe them in July 1968. Armed Forces Radio played their music for troops in Vietnam. On April 13, 1969, ABC televised the full Liturgy nationally from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in New York. Chess Records, Atlantic, and RCA all came calling - Atlantic wanted only Larry McClurg, who refused to leave the band. Manager Tom Surman signed the whole group to RCA. The self-titled debut was recorded at RCA studios in Chicago and New York. It’s the harder secular-facing album - “Life” is straight garage rock, “Doctor John” is the psychedelic centerpiece at over six minutes. RCA pulled “What’s Behind Those Eyes” as the single; it got no radio play. The band turned down Woodstock to play the Dick Clark Teenage World’s Fair in Cleveland - a decision McClurg later called “life changing.” They played the Fillmore East with Iron Butterfly and performed their 19th and final Liturgy in spring 1970. John Vaughan left for San Francisco in autumn 1969 and didn’t return. When RCA offered to renew the contract, the band declined. Norris Lytton on the breakup: “It was like exhaling.” Ted Smith went on to drum for the Spinners for decades. 🔥 Standout tracks include: Ruby Rose, Sweet Potato, and What’s Behind Those Eyes. 🎸 Sounds like: Iron Butterfly, Blues Magoos, Electric Prunes, Vanilla Fudge 🎧 Vinyl Finds Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj0yF7-9YQ9oSXuMGglp1N8SlbZUEtCJ7 🎧 Full Vinyl Rips Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj0yF7-9YQ9pEOi1yCUyAZikNmWVdz8Hn 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinyl_piper/ I sell my doubles and extras here: https://vinylpipershop.com/ 💿 Tracklist 00:00 Ruby Rose 03:27 Life 07:29 Back Down Home 10:43 Further Back Down Home 12:42 There Was A Time 16:05 Sweet Potato 20:10 Doctor John 26:30 Never Leave Me 28:19 Angel Asks 33:41 What’s Behind Those Eyes #MindGarage #PsychedelicRock #AcidRock #RCAVictor #WestVirginia #ChristianRock #VinylRip #VinylPiper