Balaklava [50th Anniversary Restoration]

The East Village folk-rock group Pearls Before Swine was basically songwriter Tom Rapp and a shifting cast of friends. Their first album, ONE NATION UNDERGROUND (with its famous Hieronymus Bosch cover), is an erratic affair, but 1968's poetic antiwar BALAKLAVA is quite possibly one of the greatest New York folk-rock albums ever recorded. It perfectly captures the surreal acid-drenched atmosphere of the city's then-hippie milieu: speed freak paranoia leavened with a kinder, gentler Jesus freak spirituality. Their version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" is perhaps the most visionary realization of that classic song ever recorded, and that includes Cohen's own performance, not to mention Judy Collins's. Jazz musician Joe Farrell provides lyrical flute and oboe accompaniment throughout.