Although formed in Davis, California, Kak were based in San Francisco for a good part of 1968, when they recorded their only album. Lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Gary Lee Yoder and lead guitarist Dehner Patten had been in the Oxford Circle, an obscure early Northern Californian psychedelic band that had cut one garage/psych single ("Foolish Woman"/"Mind Destruction") and played some shows on the San Francisco psychedelic circuit, while bassist Joe-Dave Damrell had been on a 1965 single on Scorpio Records with Group "B".
The self-titled Kak LP was minor-league San Francisco psychedelic rock colored by a lot of influence from bigger Bay Area bands, particularly Moby Grape; the vocal harmonies and curling guitar work on tracks like 'Disbelievin'" and "Everything's Changing" in particular sounded like a more pedestrian Moby Grape. There were also more distant echoes of Quicksilver Messenger Service (in the guitar work) and the Grateful Dead (in faint traces of country-blues-rock). Kak were best, and least derivative, at their quietest, as on the gentle country-tinged rocker "I've Got Time, " the good-time wistful psych-folk-rock of "Lemonade Kid, " and the harpsichord-decorated ballad "Flowing By, " which was as derivative of Donovan as much of their other songs were of Moby Grape.
Kak's album was barely promoted and sold little. It didn't help that the band played less than a dozen shows before breaking up in early 1969, Damrell having already quit prior to the split. Yoder did a single for Epic and and then joined Blue Cheer. The Kak album eventually became a pricey collector item, and was reissued on CD by Big Beat (with the new title Kak-ola) in 1999 with plenty of bonus cuts, including previously unreleased acoustic demos and Yoder solo tracks from the late sixties. ~ by Richie Unterberger.
Personnel:
- Joseph Damrell (bass, sitar, tambourine, vocals),
- Gary Lee Yoder (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar),
- Dehner E. Patten (lead guitar, vocals),
- Chris Lockheed (drums, tabla, harpsichord, maracas, vocals)
Tracks:
01. HCO 97658
02. Everything's Changing
03. Electric Sailor
04. Disbelievin'
05. I've Got Time
06. Flowing By
07. Bryte 'N' Clear Day
08. Trieulogy
09. Lemonaide Kid
10. Rain (Bonus Track)
11. Everything's Changing(Acaustic Demo) (Bonus Track)
12. I've Got Time(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
13. Medley:Bye Bye/Easy Jack(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
14. Bryte 'N' Clear Day(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
15. Medley:Mirage/Rain(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
16. When Love Comes In(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
17. I Miss You(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
18. Lonely People Blues(Previously unrelease) (Bonus Track)
19. Flight From The East(Bonus Track)
20. Good Time Music(Bonus Track)
Tracks 1 to 15:
*Dehner C. Patten - lead guitar, vocals
*Gary L. Yoder - acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
*Joseph D. Damrell - bass guitar, sitar, tambourine, vocals
*Christopher A. Lockheed - drums, tabla, harpsichord, maraccas, vocals
Tracks 16, 17 and 18:
*Gary L. Yoder - guitar, vocals
*Bruce Stephens - guitar
*Paul Whaley - drums
*Richard Berger - flute
*Ralph Kellogg - keyboards, bass
*Jim Keylor - bass
Tracks 19 and 20:
* Gary L. Yoder - guitar, vocals
*Pete Sears - keyboards
*Bryn Haworth - guitar
*Paul Whaley - drums
*Jim Keylor - bass
*Billie Barnum - backing vocals
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