From Scented Gardens Of The Mind
- Robban Larsson - guitars
- Patrick Erixcon - vocals, bongos
- Claes Ericsson - piano, organ
- Tjobbe Bengtson - bass
- Daffy Bengtson - drums
Asoka from Malmö were formed by the remnants of the excellent Taste Of Blues. This background was just detectable, as Asoka headed in a hard rock direction with loud guitar riffs augmented by hammond organ and eager percussion. They also had a decent vocalist, offering hilarious lyrics (in Swedish). Some tracks contained a kind of 'Latin funk' similar to the early Santana and Kvartetten Som Sprängde. Critical listeners will spot a lack of originality but nonetheless acknowledge the musical prowess of the players. Claes Ericsson and Robban Larsson later made two albums with the jazz-rock group
Lotus. Back in 1971.
Discography:
1.Asoka - Same 1971
2.Asoka - Takes off 2005 (unrealised tracks)
From Mike Musiclover
Claes & Patrik Ericson, there was members also on
Tast Off Blues group (Sweden 1969)
Highly Recommended
Both lp's Here
GET IT
(STEVE STEINBERG HERE AGAIN, CONTINUING FROM MY JUST-POSTED POST ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES AS MANAGER FOR TASTE OF BLUES, TAKE OFF, ASOKA:)
ReplyDeleteYou can only imagine how many times I urged the guys to go with the idea of making a "live" recording.
Well, actually, eventually, we (i.e., as ASOKA) gave it a shot once, at a modest venue, but the sound-recording equipment just didn't do it justice, so I opted for recording our first full ASOKA album at a great studio of a great musician & colleague, BO WINBERG, of the internationally renowned Swedish group "The Spotnicks". And it worked! Maybe not quite as exciting as the sounds these guys created in a live show or when they were just "jamming" for the hell of it, but, still, it was quite something.
(And, for that matter, in one of the LP's song's choruses, which went -- as I recall -- "Oh my Lord, tell them not to fight; Oh Lord, let the sun shine bright!", perhaps, if you listen VERY closely, you can discern -- yes it's true -- MY voice and the sounds of MY hands clapping!
I wonder, does that make me a "star"? Or a "sound effect"? Hmmm...
And that story of how and where we produced that album, by the way, is just a little behind-the-scenes "secret" behind why, if you take a look at the image of the guy who's "flying the plane" on the ASOKA album-cover, you may recognize in the image -- you guessed it -- Bo Winberg!
Bo, a master musician himself, invested superb sensitivity into recording, mixing, tweaking, the sounds that these guys created for that album. And, the original, multitrack, tapes he produced, sounded sharp, powerful, fantastic!
But, to my disappointment, the record company's tech's, whoever they were, then apparently ran the tape-signal through "limiters" and/or "compressors" in arranging for what would actually be pressed onto the final LP's -- and so the resultant sound-quality, on the LP's, lost the REAL impact of the group's ACTUAL sound. But, unfortunately, by then it was out of my hands and there was no correction possible. What a shame.
But still, as I think even "Rockin-Hood" would agree, the album is nonetheless something creative, rich, and special, and stands out not only as a "time-capsule" of a great time but also "on its own" as a highly listenable musical touch of excitement.
And now? Now it's -- egad -- almost 40 years later; me, I'm in journalism and TV and still interested in the music business, but do you care? But I did read, awhile back, that a couple of the guys from ASOKA had gotten together, in Malmö, to give a reunion concert. Where are they now? I'd have to check. Or maybe you, "out there", know something?
P.S. - Also, if anybody who's read the poem on the back-cover of the TASTE OF BLUES album SCHIZOFRENIA even wondered who that poem's author was: it's ME.
And so now, the secret is out! ;-)
-- Steve Steinberg
X-10@DAZZLE-UNLIMITED.NET
04 November 2011
Hi, Rockin-Hood!
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who's interested here, I was the Manager for TASTE OF BLUES, then TAKE OFF, and for a period, ASOKA, back in those exciting days of creative, imaginative, talented musicians and music bursting onto the Swedish music scene.
These guys were tremendously talented and their music was a thrill to experience. And I guarantee to you, they were far more fantastic and screamingly able to launch their musical creativity "beyond the envelope" in live shows than is evident on their LP's. Just one of the reasons that the audiences typically "went wild" at the group's performances.
I even recall one particular concert performance that TAKE OFF gave at the huge -- and packed-to-the-rafters -- Helsinki student concert hall; we even had kids sitting ON-STAGE and UNDER THE PIANO, it was so jammed. And the cheers and encores -- wow!
And I -- yes, even I, the Great El Moi -- even got to go onstage to introduce the group at the start, and got cheered! (Oh well.)
And, in that same show, the group had the audience in such a state of thrill that, at a certain point, Rolf Fredenberg, TAKE OFF's amazingly creative lead-guitarist, and Don Washington, the group's smooth-voiced talented singer, even received a "special" applause as Rolf accidentally broke a string, causing the music to suddenly (temporarily) come to a halt,
as Don -- with me giving a whispered hint to Don from behind-the-curtain -- then announced with infinite cleverness: "That's Rolf Fredenberg. He's fixing a string".
Well, maybe it was a Maharishi moment. ;-)
But it worked. And soon the music, and the cheers, ramped to new heights once again.
(MY RECOLLECTIONS, AS MANAGER OF TASTE OF BLUES, TAKE OFF, ASOKA, CONTINUE IN THE FOLLOWING POST. THIS SPLIT IS DUE TO THE WEBSITE’S POSTING-REQUIREMENTS. –– Steve Steinberg, 4 November 2011.)
Dear STEVE STEINBERG
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments and infos.
In this blog I try hard to post records , artists and bands that I beleive everyone must listen at least , one time in ours life.
Thanks again
Keep Rockin
Mike for rockin-hood.blogspot
Hello again, Rockin-Hood!
ReplyDeleteIt's me, Steve Steinberg (original manager of TASTE OF BLUES, TAKE OFF!, and ASOKA -- with a CORRECTION to one inadvertent error I'd made in one of my above posts:
I'd incorrectly written that the Helsinki concert, in which singer Don Washington brilliantly declared to the audience "That's Rolf. He's fixing a string", was by TAKE OFF! In actuality, the performance was by TASTE OF BLUES.
My apologies for the error.
Now, if anybody "out there" happens to know who stole the group's specially-produced, fabulous, two, large, actual glossy photo-posters that were posted outside the Helsinki concert venue, please don't hesitate to let me know! ;-)
-- Steve Steinberg
x-10@dazzle-unlimited.net
12 November 2011
repost or....? i am looking for the bonus tracks that came on the asoka cd rerelease that has the live take off and taste of blues cuts.
ReplyDeleteNew link http://www.mediafire.com/download/c946f2gnzek3zql/Asoka.rar
ReplyDelete