HEADSTONES " Wish She Were Mine / 24 Hours (Everyday)" 45 (Pharaoh , 1966)

Questo è un altro piccolo capolavoro from Texas 1966. Gli HEADSTONES provenivano da McAllen (Pharaoh Valley) e incisero (per la Pharaoh rec.) 2 soli 45 giri (il secondo dei quali vedeva sul lato A la fantastica "Bad Day Blues", poi coverizzata splendidamente dai nostri SICK ROSE nei mid 80s).
Questo invece è il primo 45. "Wish You Were Mine" è una splendida pop song sorretta da sottili alchimie di keyboards. "24 Hours (Everyday" è chiaramente ispirata a "Gloria" ed è "speziata" da un acidissimo a solo di chitarra.
KEITH PETTIPAS (ALL MUSIC Guide) , ha tracciato una breve storia degli HEADSTONES e del loro percorso musicale successivo:
"(in the late 60's) ..Groups like Josephus, ZZ Top, and Mariani were changing the face of Texas rock.
Music was becoming heavy, and many former garage bands were experimenting with new sounds and techniques. One such band was the Headstones, from McAllen, TX.
Formed by Dave Williams in the mid-'60s, the Headstones earned quite a bit of success locally. The band evolved into Meat in 1968, but a marijuana-possession charge landed Williams in jail, and the band split. When he was released in 1970, Williams teamed up with Patrick Rockhill and Bill Reid to form Seompi(an acronym for "self expression on musically potential instruments").
They were signed to the Black Star label, for which they recorded the single "Summer's Comin' on Heavy," and recorded another single for the Yin Yang label the same year.
Although the band never recorded an album, a number of their songs were recorded, and they became favorites on the Texas hard rock circuit. A.W.O.L. is the first collection of Seompi material gathered in album form. The 17 songs here were selected from nearly six hours of tapes.... "
Anche Stanton Swihart (sempre di "All Music Guide") ha ricostruito la vicenda dei SEOMPI, l'hard-psych band formata dal vocalist degli HEADSTONES Dave Williams:
"SEOMPI came together as a unit in 1970 in McAllen, Texas, formed by former Headstones and the Meat frontman and bassist Dave Williams, who had just finished a one year stint in Texas state prison on a marijauna possession charge. He rounded up bassist Patrick Rockhill and drummer Bill Reid for a peculiar dual-bass, no-guitar sound. SEOMPI cut and released their first 45, "Summer's Comin' On Heavy," with that dual-bass attack intact.
Later they recut the song with the addition of guitarist Mitch Watkins, and Watkins became a part of the band from then on, moving it toward a more accessible, driving rock sound. In 1971, SEOMPI moved to Austin, which remained their home base throughout the rest of the band's existence.
They developed a sizeable local following and were one of the very loudest bands around thanks to an awesome sound system put together by local soundman David Gardner, who would often record the band's rehearsals. The band dedicated themselves during the next few years to playing live gigs including opening spots for ZZ Top, Buddy Miles, and Foghat, a period that saw a few lineup changes with Billy "Skid" Rowe replacing Watkins and Lee Manley joining on drums.
In 1974, SEOMPI called it quits. Reissue label Rockadelic assembled an album in 1997 from the more than six hours of source tapes SEOMPI had recorded. Gear Fab followed in 1999 with a reissue of the same material on CD. (~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide).