Hippies vs. Punks: Contact High with the Godz

With my current situation -- increased pressures at work, reduced stamina because of ever-eroding physical conditioning -- it is becoming apparent to me that I will never be in a position to post Hippies vs. Punks unless I cut it short.

So here goes. The Godz first album, Contact High with the Godz (1966), is worth checking out. I'm reading Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, and he's got an essay in there devoted to the eccentric label, ESP-Disk. One of the bands ESP featured was the Godz.

Yesterday, wiped out and in bed with Scott Jurek's Eat & Run, I listened to Contact High with the Godz repeatedly. It is available on YouTube.

It is a folk music send-up by a bunch of music store clerks who can barely play their instruments; yet it nonetheless taps into a hoodoo vibe that is real and replenishing. Check it out.