John Braheny - Some Kind Of Change 1968

Singer/songwriter John Braheny's most well-known song is "December Dream," recorded by Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys for their second album. An unreleased version was also done by Fred Neil in the late '60s, and was issued about 30 years later on the compilation The Many Sides of Fred Neil. Braheny also did an interesting, extremely obscure solo album on the small Pete label in 1970 that included his own version of "December Dream." The LP was quite eclectic and eccentric for the singer/songwriter genre, also containing some off-kilter psychedelic-influenced material without sacrificing a folk-rock base. Some Kind of Change is an odd mixture of folk-rock, California singer/songwriter, and very slightly unhinged psychedelia. While there are songs here and there that are un-eyebrow-raising, Southern California 1970 singer/songwriter rock, the more interesting tracks suggest an anxious man being pushed toward a dazed and distraught state of mind. Think of more normal, far less worrisomely troubled acid folk in the Skip Spence mode, and that's somewhat along the right track. Odd psychedelically treated voices, reverb, and effects decorate about half the cuts, effectively weaving around Braheny's tense and yearning voice. "Don't Cry for Me" is quality spooky blues acid folk, with its constant haunting refrain "Don't cry for me/I'm free" suggestive of a man who's obtained freedom at some cost to his grasp of reality. "Free Fall" is another highlight, somewhat reminiscent of Tim Buckley's stranger earlier numbers like "Hallucinations," but not imitative. Other weird detours, not all of them successful, crop up, like the eerily bittersweet blues-psych instrumental "Silver Cord," and "Tour Line Ladies," built around the narrative of a Hollywood tour guide that goes on at least twice as long as it should. In a less offbeat mood, this also has his own quality version of "December Dream," an outstanding melancholy folk-rock love song. This is an LP deserving of a CD reissue, although that prospect might be unlikely given that it doesn't fit into any comfortable niche of rock that's been revived for the collector market. AMG.

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