Notes
Bobby Beausoleil has created most of his musical recordings while behind bars. Yet regardless of his circumstances, or perhaps in spite of them, if not because of them, he has remained true to his musical vision and his passion, producing some of the most memorable deep symphonic psychedelia ever recorded. At the age of 17, possessed of some callow ability as a blues-oriented lead guitarist, BeauSoleil first founded then confederated himself into a quintet that became San Francisco's seminal electric chamber group, The Orkustra (1966), thus distinguishing himself as an instrumentalist with a unique musical vision. His subsequent recorded experiments in primal psychedelic free jazz-rock with The Magick Powerhouse of Oz (1967), and later with his prison band The Freedom Orkurstra (1975-79), became the foundation of his compositions for the soundtrack of Kenneth Anger's epic underground film, Lucifer Rising. Imbued with BeauSoleil's signature electronic guitar stylings and home-brew synthesizer textures, this groundbreaking recording has received worldwide acclaim for it's power to evoke moods that are by turns dark and brooding, playful and exuberant. The improbable odyssey continues in BeauSoleil's more recent albums. Recorded in the 90s and early 00s, Running With the White Wolf, Mantra, Orb, Dreamways of the Mystic, and 7 offer a series of rich soundscapes that amply display the artist's ongoing ability to escort the listener in wild flights of fancy to magickal realms with original music that cuts across eras and genres.
