I had never heard of Perry Leopold back in 1970. In fact, it was only a few years ago when I stumbled upon this song, "The Absurd Paranoid," which hailed from an equally obscure album, "Experiments in Metaphysics." Apparently this fellow paid to have 300 copies of his album printed in 1970 and then proceeded to give them away on a street corner in either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, I forget which.
If you want to know what the Sixties were like, that action, taken in June of 1970, perfectly exemplifies the addled mindset of the time. I recall that at the Isle of Wight Festival, held in September of that year, concert goers rioted over the fact that they had to pay to get in to the festivities. "Music should be free!" was the refrain. They tore down the fences and knifed a security guard. Hard to hold the moral high ground when you behave like that.
Anyway, there's something sort of cosmic about this song, which is why I'm including it. Also, the style of guitar playing reminds me of Robbie Basho, who was riding a bit high at the time, and I wonder if Perry Leopold had been listening to Basho's early albums.
So, another splash of color in my pastiche of 1970.
