About Fire Water Air
Artist Biography
The musicians in Fire, Water, Air had previously been in Yahowa 13, one of the most enigmatic psychedelic cult groups of all time. Based around a cult leader-type figure, Father Yod, Yahowa (and a previous incarnation, Father Yod & the Spirit of '76) cut nearly ten incredibly strange limited-circulation LPs mixing raw psychedelic musicianship, the quirky mystical philosophies of Father Yod, and the atonal vocals of Father Yod himself. (See entries on Yahowa and Father Yod & the Spirit of '76 for more details.) Father Yod died in 1975, spelling the end of Yahowa 13. But a couple of years later, a few of the musicians that had been involved with Yahowa 13 assembled as Fire, Water, Air, and released a rare eight-track tape, Golden Sunrise, in 1977.
This was similar to, and slightly (but only slightly) less odd than the average Yahowa/Father Yod albums, primarily owing to the absence of Yod's lyrics and vocals. The insistent, unpredictable rhythms and spiraling, distorted guitar of Djin Aquarian elevated this slightly above-the-typical amateur private-press psychedelic album, and the inclusion of a couple of Neil Young acoustic folk-rock tunes near the end added a bit of diversity. What really attracted the attention of some psychedelic collectors, however, was the presence of Sky Saxon on some of the vocals (although the credits, as were usually the case with Yahowa 13, were not specific as to which exact ones were graced by his presence). The album, all but impossible to find in its original incarnation, has been reissued as one disc of the 13-CD God and Hair: Yahowa Collection box set, which assembles the complete known works of the Yahowa/Father Yod & the Spirit of '76/Fire, Water, Air/Yodship/etc. musical endeavors associated with Father Yod. This box set also includes a disc largely comprised of previously unreleased material of unspecified vintage by Fire, Water, Air. This is similar to, but not as strange as, their 1977 album, and often more song-oriented in conception; Djin Aquarian and Sky Saxon share lead vocals. ~ Richie Unterberger
Genre
Rock
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