Originally pressed in a small quantity and scattered along the California coastline in 1969, F.J. McMahon's first and only album, Spirit Of The Golden Juice, is a spell-binding blend of singer-songwriter emotion and spiraling guitar accompaniment with a raw, adventurous character all its own.
Spirit of the golden juice is a record described by Mojo magazine as feeling like "it's always been playing and you've just walked in the middle of it". It's brilliant, F.J. is something of an American Nick Drake. Basically, Fred (the F in F.J) was playing sunny, light-hearted West Coast pop tunes in local bands until he was called up to Vietnam, an experience which emotionally crippled him. He returned home and began to protest the war, even helping his friends dodge the draft. A couple of years later, McMahon scraped together a modest budget and spent an afternoon recording in a studio paid for by a local label. Somehow managing to channel the same tortured, beleaguered tone laid down by Robert Johnson, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson all along the way. The album is slow, measured and considered, but never once feels depressing, preachy or forced. Like a weary travelogue, describing an emotional landscape that outlasted the geography of the jungle.
This is the first 1998 private reissue of this masterpiece !
Listen : The full album - F.J. McMahon - Spirit of the Golden Juice
A true gem !!!
Record : EXC+
Cover : EXC+ (see pictures)
Price : 100,00 Euros (+ expedition costs - by registered parcel - calculated by the Belgian Post office)
Payment : PAYPAL only to etienne.reyser@gmail.com
Contact : etienne.reyser@gmail.com
