Sagittarius
(Sundazed)
I had often wondered if there was ever a follow up to Sagittarius' spell-binding debut, Present Tense (which Sundazed reissued in 1997). That record pitted the talents of Beach Boys producer Gary Usher with The Millennium's Curt Boettcher and it was 20 songs of psychedelic soft pop of the highest order. On this sophomore record, originally issued on Together Records in 1969, as Usher is quoted in the liner notes, he was experimenting with the Moog quite a bit and with different keyboards so the finished product here is different than Present Tense but apparently it was much closer to Usher's heart (Usher also goes on to say in the liners notes how he was in bad shape, emotionally, as he was having acid flashbacks).
The record opens inexplicably, with a trippy Beach Boys cover of "In My Room" and then drips into a Boettcher composition, the harpsichord-heavy "From You Unto Us" and onto the gentle, soaring "Will You Ever See Me?" Elsewhere, the title track, written by Usher and other Millennium member Lee Mallory, is one of the most poignant and beautiful songs on the record. A few of the songs dissolve into their own ambitions like the quirky "Lend Me a Smile" and the hippy dippy "I Sing My Song." Of the four bonus tracks one is a Harry Nilsson cover while two others are mono single versions of "In My Room" and "I Can Still See Your Face." While not the masterstroke that Present Tense was, The Blue Marble is still a welcome addition to the collection of any fan of psychedelic pop.
Standout Tracks: "Will You Ever See Me?", "The Blue Marble", "Gladys" TIM HINELY
