[The 60's-70's Vault] Psychedelic Rock in Spain (Barcelona chapter)

       

       Rock 'n Roll in Spain was developing in the 60s and by the end of the decade many bands and artists started to experiment and attach psychedelic elements on their music, obviously influenced by American and English acts quite popular at the time. Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain and can proudly claim that some of Spain's finest bands have emerged from this region. As the title suggests, we will only mention heavy psych and psychedelic rock bands given that there is a notable jazz rock and progressive rock scene as well. Already, by the late 60s, rock n roll in general was a big thing going on in Barcelona and bands like Brenner's Folk, Els 3 Tambors and Miniatura, had recorded full length albums, while some pop-rock acts indulged in releasing only singles. 5 albums will be presented here that according to me are the best and most interesting from 1970 to 1972. 

       One of the bands that embraced the psych folk sound was Agua De Regaliz, a band that released only one single before changing their name to Pan & Regaliz. The latter's self titled and only album, was released in 1971, clearly influenced by Jethro Tull and Sweet Smoke among others. The lyrics are in English, the music is quite varied, from psych rock to prog rock and the presence of the flute is very intense and frequent. Overall, a very enjoyable album from start to finish.

       A year before, Evolution recorded their self titled album. Formed in Castelldefels, a small part of Barcelona, its members came from Germany where they had a garage rock band called The Vampires. The album satisfies every rock fan. The mixture of hard rock and heavy psych is absolutely succesful but the band released only a couple of singles in 1971 and 1972 before disbanding.

       Maquina! is another example of a band with only one album released, in 1970. The songs on Why? are jammy and trippy, the keyboards have the lead and the two eponymous songs are the most interesting, with an almost krautrock feeling to them. 

       Psychedelic rock in its finest is Tabaco's Desintegracion album, released in 1971. Spanish and English lyrics are used on this one, as well as a couple of instrumentals. Piano, keys, harmonica and acoustic guitars fit well in the tracks and some blues elements are also present in  a couple of them.

       The last record presented here, is Tapiman's 1972 eponymous album. Perhaps the heaviest album of that period, it is a perfect example of heavy psych music. Just listen to the album and feel the powerful songs on it! Guitarist Max Sunyer was an established figure and later he would play in Iceberg, a jazz rock act, and would follow a successful solo career. 

       Many bands will follow in the years 1970 - 1979, most of them formed by previous members of the bands presented above. In the list below you may find some interesting albums coming from Barcelonian bands, of various styles of music.

Musica Dispersa - Musica Dispersa (1970)

Om - Om (1971)

Jarka - Morgue O Berenice (1972)

Max Sunyer - Babel (1978)

Iceberg - Sentiments (1979)

By Pijo