In the early seventies there were rumblings of an incredible band hailing from St Louis Missouri. They went by the name of ‘Pavlov’s Dog & The Conditioned Reflex Soul Revue and Concert Choir’ and after they were snapped up by ABC/Dunhill for the unheard of advance of $650,000 (around $10,000,000 in today’s value) the name was chopped to the more reasonable Pavlov’s Dog.
The first album ‘Pampered Menial’ features strongly in every chart of the greatest Prog albums of all time and is still spoken of in hushed tones amongst the cognoscenti today. David Surkamp’s vocal style was – and is – unique and in Siegfried Carver they had one of the finest violinists and viola players in rock, but the whole band worked together to create an album that, to my ear, bears comparison to anything produced before or since and I would say that there is nothing being made today that outstrips it for intensity and quality – truly a classic. There are nine tracks and from the first moments of ‘Julia’ to the last echoes of ‘Of Once And Future Kings’ you find yourself entranced. Unfortunately egos started to raise themselves after the first album was released and Mike Safron and David Hamilton left the band along with Siegfried Carver.
For the second album, ‘At The Sound Of The Bell’ a number of major talents were brought in – Bill Bruford from Yes on drums and Andy Mackay from Roxy Music on sax but the album didn’t receive the same plaudits that ‘Pampered Menial’ did. It is actually a shame that the second album is so commonly overlooked because the songs are actually quite excellent and Surkamp’s voice is in fine fettle. The variety of styles and themes that characterised the first album are still there and while it feels more like a collection of songs than a whole pice the standouts such as ‘She Came Shining’ or ‘She Breaks Like A Morning Sky’ are the equal of anything from the first album and ‘Valkerie’ is simply magnificent with mellotron and underlying bass creating a tense and dense atmosphere – the theme of “Bring Back The Good Old Days” harks back to Arthurian times.
When the band finally played here last year I was worried then that the intervening 37 years would have made the music sound dated or stale but none of it then and with these re-issues you get two of the finest prog albums that America ever produced.
‘Pampered Menial’ should be in every collection but ‘At The Sound Of the Bell’ has a deserved place there too.
