Oxford Circle
Live At The Avalon 1966

"Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, the Family Dog presents... THE OXFORD CIRCLE"

With these words, the speaker of the Avalon introduces the band from Davis (a small town a few miles from San Francisco), a true war machine. With only one single, "Foolish Woman b/w Mind Destruction" released in 1966, they were small stars in the Bay Area's underground music scene, thanks to their fiery live shows, where amidst a good number of original songs, they transformed many (master)pieces of British Invasion blues-oriented bands, so Yardbirds, Animals, and Them songs were crushed by a steamroller, mixed with acidic glue, and vomited at the speed of light. In 1997, Big Beat released one of their shows, specifically at the Avalon in San Francisco, which, thanks to an excellent recording quality, is truly a little gem.

The concert opens with Them's "Mystic Eyes" (Van Morrison...) which, for nine minutes, is an authentic emotional rollercoaster, where the original track is stretched and compressed, comatose slowdowns alternate with schizophrenic "hardcore" white-knight assaults, with Gary Lee Yoder's raspy voice roughening up the singing that once belonged to Van Morrison, and his guitar drawing distorted hallucinations. WOW. A fate not shared by another Them song, for which "Little Girl" is dirtier and more lascivious, except for an explosive ending. "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" remains fairly faithful, while "Baby Please Don't Go" seems like a runaway train without anyone in control. The original tracks show a wealth of ideas, technique, and performance admirable by many contemporary bands, ranging from the bluesy nervousness of "Since You've Been Away" to the psychedelic depths of "You're a Better Man Than I", five minutes of avant-prog hard and noisy crystalline splendor. "Today" is a soft lament, "Silent Woman" is the natural evolution of the traditional "House Of The Rising Sun" as seen by Eric Burdon with his animals, and "Troubles" seems to be a mockery of the Rolling Stones, with one of the sharpest guitars I have ever heard. The initial tremolo of "Foolish Woman" leads us through a murky and sexual blues, which halfway through takes a break to develop into an acid finale played at speeds unheard of at the time, only to return slick in the end.

A special mention for the two masterpieces of American blues with which Oxford Circle closed the concert, "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" is played with deep respect and almost manic devotion, while "I'm A Man" by Dixon is neurotic and psychopathic, with a truly jaw-dropping hardcore acceleration in the finale.

But the emotions are not over yet, because after the 14 tracks of the live show, Big Beat gifts us with 4 studio works, the two tracks from the released single, "Foolish Woman", which compared to the live version shows us a band more devoted to Eastern-tinged psychedelia à la Kaleidoscope (USA), although the finale's acceleration is still devastating, and the incredible 5 minutes of the B-side, "Mind Destruction", a true psychedelic ride, with Paul Whaley's drums (soon to join Blue Cheer...!!!!) pounding like a pneumatic hammer on the lysergic mantle drawn by the guitars. Simply monstrous.