Just another night in late 1960s SF…
Decades before Spacemen 3 put their druggy, time-bending guitar visions to tape, an artist named Sandy Bull recorded similarly rich mantras of string and reverb. Not satisfied with just playing guitar like many of his peers, the artist is pictured on the cover of his 1968 album “Inventions” lovingly embracing a whole family of stringed instruments, including bass and oud.
Bringing those pieces to a live setting, Sandy Bull played an hourlong set on February 14, 1969 at the Matrix in San Francisco—a recorded performance available as Still Valentine’s Day 1969. While the Latin jazz standard “Manha da Carnival” and rock & roll favorite “Memphis TN” sound less impactful here than they do on the studio album (mostly due to the weakly-pumping backing tracks), Bull’s playing is quality as ever. The highlights are where we find him solo: In the brief Bach “Bouree” he opens with, the electric reflections, and the oud improvisations. He sounds otherwordly, melding classical guitar, jazzy blues, and non-Western traditional sounds into a freeform sonic consciousness.
