Sometimes when a great private press record resurfaces out of obscurity, it can feel like a heroic event — an epic writing of wrongs, a forgotten genius now placed on the pedestal where they belong.
In the case of singer/songwriter/Air Force vet F.J. McMahon, this feels exactly wrong. Though his sole LP, 1969’s Spirit of the Golden Juice, is the sort of beautiful, impeccably written & recorded album that deserves to cherished for all time, it is also a radically modest set of music. Like many cultishly beloved, underappreciated albums, one feels like they have a private audience with McMahon as he draws us gently into his very particular and direct version of sleepy, Southern California psych-folk, weighing it down just enough with memories of the then-still-raging war in the Pacific.
Spirit is now getting a big re-issue from our friends at Mexican Summer via their Anthology series, on real nice vinyl with a gorgeous insert full of photos and thorough liner notes. Stream album track “Early Blue” below and go snag the record now.
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