chris robison: MANY HAND private GAY acid archives RARE

$

40

chris robison: MANY HAND private GAY acid archives RARE
(Click to Enlarge) CHRIS ROBISON AND HIS MANY HAND BAND. 1973 ORIGINAL ON GYPSY FROG, PRIVATE PRESSING OUT OF NYC. CHECK OUT A COUPLE REVIEWS, BELOW.

COVER = VG++ TO EXCELLENT (IN SHRINK, SLIGHTLY WAVY)
VINYL = EXCELLENT (INAUDIBLE PAPER SCUFFING)

This early openly gay rocker put out this truly solo LP, playing all of the instruments and doing all of the vocals himself. The result is unique and wonderful. His tales of down and dirty NYC street life (characters include hustlers and runaways) are alternately sad and funny, always emotionally powerful. The music ranges from straight rock to folk to funky hippie weirdness, only going astray with the silly good-timey "Looking For A Boy Tonight." "Doctor Doctor" (about psychoanalysis that attempts to "cure" homosexuality) and the heartbreaking "Italian Boy" are masterpieces. At times, Robison bites off a bit more than he can chew musically, and this long album could maybe have been trimmed a bit, but it's still very, very good, and he has a marvelous range of vocal styles. It's surprising that Robison remains so unknown. (ACID ARCHIVES)

Chris Robison and his Many Hand Band, released privately in 1973 and reissued now on CD for the first time, was one of the world's first records by an openly gay songwriter. Coming just a few years after the Stonewall Riots of 1969, Many Hand Band is a dazzling feat of musical daring. But Chris Robison is not just a pioneering gay musician, he is an all-pervasive presence in New York rock from the late 60's onwards, having played with everyone fron Elephant's Memory and Steam to Kiss, the New York Dolls, John Phillips and Bob Dylan. Not only that, Many Hand Band is a totally freewheeling and unique album, coalescing all the sensory overload of downtown New York City life in the early 70's. It touches on folk, psychedelia rock, Latin funk and more, all filtered through Robison's sly and cheeky personality. There is no "woe is me" self-pity here, just an uplifting sense of fun and natural self-expression. Recorded almost totally by Chris himself late at night in a cut rate studio, Many Hand Band is one of the few remaining undiscovered classics from the period, gay or otherwise. Its difficult to appreciate now, more than thirty-five years later, how daring and how groundbreaking songs like Looking For A Boy Tonight and Italian Boy were on their release. In the CD's comprehensive liner notes, filled with rare photos and a frank interview with Chris, he talks of RCA records turning him down because they didnt want another "faggot" on their roster (aside from Lou Reed and David Bowie). Meanwhile he became a poster boy for the burgeoning gay lib movement, playing Washington Square Park with Bette Midler in front of thousands in 1973. After Many Hand Band and its followup Manchild (to be released by Chapter Music in 2010) Chris would go on to play with pre-Kiss group Wicked Lester, as well as join the New York Dolls for their Japanese tour of 1975. (ONLINE REVIEW OF THE CD REISSUE)

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