Elias Hulk
Unchained

It seems that the incredible Hulk actually existed and even had a name: Elias.

He barely made his way, despite his imposing figure, through the southern swamps of late sixties England, when the esoteric lesson of the great black bluesmen was sabotaged by the grafting of new shamanic practices such as hard rock and psychedelia, less respectful than the surgical operations of more ethically correct doctors like John Mayall.

This time the protagonist is "Big" Pete Thorpe, a lanky guy with long blond hair who wandered howling in the misty countryside. Together with guitarist Granville Frazer, he tried to survive by playing at concerts in the southwest of Britain as a supporting act for famous London bands like Spooky Tooth or Small Faces. The entry of the "townie" Neil Tatum on lead guitar made them less green and stronger, managing in 1969 to lead them to record this good "Unchained" filled with a rock blues of high psychedelic potential.

The album only manages to give an idea of what Elias Hulk could have been live: an absolute freak band at ease in hippie communes, where the great Magic Muscle would be born. The keystone is provided by the pair of guitarists, with Frazer supporting the rhythmic plots and Tatum launching his guitar into solos now lysergic ("Antology of Dreams") now heavy ("Nightmare"). "Big" Pete’s voice goes along with these two souls, managing to be wonderfully languid and delicate as well as energetic and hard. For example, in "Ain't Got You" governed by the pulsating bass and the wah-wah effects of the guitars or "Yesterday's Trip" supported by the fuzz bass that governs the heartbeat until the impressive awakening of the giant in a sabbatic dance.

Despite being a beast, this Hulk seems refined! How else to describe a ballad like "Been around too long" overlaid by the delicate jazzy tremolo of the lead guitar and the melancholic "Free", with the slide gently crossing the harmonic fabric of a song that stays in the mind like the acidic residue of a pill too strong. Listen to it in headphones during a walk on a winter beach and you’ll have the impression of being on the other side of the Channel while the sea recedes, leaving you master of the beach and therefore even more alone. But the surprises aren’t over because in "Delphy Blues" Neil Tatum with his electric guitar will give us the illusion of the sound of the sitar in an instrumental brought to a frenzy by the frantic rhythm of the percussion.

Today, we have to settle for the album and a poor production that fails to fully convey the lysergic impact of a band whose real dimension was the live one. And indeed "Big" Pete will soon tire of the recording rooms to move to the Costa del Sol and really become a full-time hippie.

Maybe if you meet him along one of those golden beaches, get him to tell you the story of Elias Hulk.