The Group Image - A Mouth In The Clouds (Reissue) (1968/2007)

The group Image was a Manhattan, NYC group community enterprise that lasted some two years, and who recorded some album, after some years of park gigs and regular shows with nightime ballroom association. It might be so that in the time of 1968 when the record was recorded, that its project was at this stage, over its highlight, but I can imagine with tracks like the freaky wall of sound track “Hiya” what effect they could have had (-a shorter version of the album track was also featured on the Pebbles, Vol. 14 compilation-). They had some come and go participators, which had featured on its stage people like Tiny Tim, Wavy Gravy & Diggers, and they shared stages with the Grateful Dead.

With one of the lead vocalists, Sheila Darla, Jefferson Airplane could come easily to mind, although the songs have much more jam feeling to it, and sometimes are slightly bluesy. The songs themselves have something more of the community and don’t bring one particular singer or song much to the fore, except in a stage-light fashion, where the whole group thing presentation has equal importance. It is the groove and community jam, combined often with its returning harmony vocals that is the more true presentation.

On “Aunt Ida” the instrumental jam energy increases well the energy of the song harmonies. The rhythms just now and then have the tendency to speed up like a train, which in combinations with the arrangements gives moments of a rather nervous, sound overwhelming effect, while the slower parts bring more peace, while there seems to be something going on stage all the time. On “Banana Spit” the bass wrinkles on, smoothly and groovy, but at no time do the rhythms provide lead guidance.