01	Northern Hemisphere						05:04
	02	Isadora						04:32
	03	Waterways						06:50
	04	Centaur Woman						07:11
	05	Bathers						04:58
	06	Communion						04:03
	07	Moth						03:54
	08	In The Stable Of The Sphynx						08:33
	09	Waterways [demo]						06:40
	10	In The Stable Of The Sphynx [demo]						11:12
	11	Eight Miles High						06:51

East of Eden - "Mercator Projected" (1969) The first and supposedly best album by this Early-British progressive rock band. They had quite a style of their own, and they mixed both eastern and jazz- influences in their what otherwise would have been quite normal sounding Early British progressive rock. Mostly electric violin, flute and sax dominate the arrangements. The album is actually very varied. From the mystic beauty of "Waterways" and "Bathers" to the raw energy of "Centaur Woman" and then to the more jazzy instrumental "In the Stable of the Spinx". There are also a lot of sound effects on the album, which makes it quite amusing. Judging from the photos of the band, they took their eastern image a little bit too far. But their music was both original and interesting, so this album should be a good purchase for anyone into early progressive rock.


East of Eden - Mercator Projected (1969)

The British proto progressive style doesn't get a whole lot better than this. East of Eden's 1969 debut, Mercator Projected, can be emphatically dubbed a classic, and vital predecessor to the prog renaissance of the early 70s. From a musical standpoint, it would be easy to put this on par with contemporary works like King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King or even Van der Graaf Generator's The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other. Yes it's that good. Working with the kind of eclectic cross section of influences that would come to typify the progressive genre, East of Eden mixes experimental and avant rock noisiness in with enchanting folk rock, psych and coy Eastern motifs. What might initially come off as overreaching, half baked even, gradually sinks its teeth in over time, thanks to the subtle, smoky gobs of fuzz laced melody and the rich, textured atmosphere.

Based around David Arbus' violin and his crystalline, charmingly Anglo-colored vocals, the band also brings an addictive exoticism to the table, courtesy of pentatonic melodies and charmingly ambiguous, vaguely occult-ish lyrics. Cheesy? Perhaps at times, but it's all part of the vibe. Evocations describing "giant serpents interlaced" and "gilded wings to Babylon", delivered in Arbus' wry English drawl, provide an air of disarmingly brilliant naivete. Indeed, with the possible exception of the hokey "Centaur Woman", every cut is a winner. The lurching guitar/violin riff the opens "Northern Hemisphere" immediately heralds the band's heavier side, while the jaunty flute intro of "Isadora" couldn't be more fascinating in its departure. The syncopated, off-beat guitar rhythms and intertwining flute melodies in the solo section further demonstrate the band's penchant for clever dynamics. If I had to pick a favorite, the nod would probably go to "Communion", based on a relatively simplistic, yet completely sublime, violin motif and an equally addictive vocal refrain. Simply a beautiful song. In sum, Mercator Projected is an enchanting slab of embryonic progressive rock that is quite frankly essential for anyone into the early stuff. Though Snafu, the band's next album, would come close to matching their debut, Mercator Projected remains not only East of Eden's defining work, but a benchmark of early Bristish magnificence. - Greg Northrup [February 2002]


1. Northern Hemisphere - 5:02
2. Isadora - 4:32
3. Waterways - 6:49
4. Centaur Woman - 7:09
5. Bathers - 4:57
6. Communion - 4:03
7. Moth - 3:54
8. In the Stable of the Sphinx - 8:30

Dave Arbus - Violin, Flute
Ron Caines - Sax
Dave Dufont - Drums
Geoff Nicholson - Guitar
Steve York - Bass

Repertoire Records - PMS 7040-WP - 1998






East of Eden [UK]
Updated 12/12/00

Discography
Mercator Projected (69) Snafu (70) The World Of East of Eden (71) New Leaf (71) Another Eden (75) Armadillo (9?) Kalipse (96, Reunion album)

Mercator " ... is East Of Eden's first LP (sic) called Mercator Projected. Take one electric violin which blows rock and Bartok, add one flute from the East, mix in Sumerian saxophones, bass, drums, guitar and liquid word-pictures - mark East Of Eden." That is the claim on the liner notes that accompany this release from 1969. The music is very much in the early seventies UK progressive rock camp, organ/guitar dominated rock, with melodic ballads interspersed with more aggressive passages, using a variety of instruments. The music is similar in spirit to Gryphon, and, perhaps, groups such as Cressida, early Rare Bird, Fields, and the like.

About Mercator Projected: this is one of the best early prog albums, it's quite good for times, when bands were swaying around, not actually know how to play or sound like. Perhaps the sound is not prog yet, but approach is. Tracks on Mercator are reminiscent of KC, Colosseum, the obligatory Moody Blues, etc. The track "Communion" is progrock remake of one Bartok's theme and sounds very good even today. There are also some weird electronics in the begining of that Bartokian track. The track "Isadora" is also very good with very fine flute and sax alternated and unisono playing. "Northern Hemisphere" and few others has cool violin playing. One minus point is the "pleasant" reading (in Chinese or Japanese - I understand everything there) in the inlay of Deram CD, it seems that Euro-version does not exist. For the beginning, it was very successful and almost as good as In the Court of Crimson King. I didn't hear other albums, but overall this is very decent album. -- Nenad Kobal

Pioneering British band whose music encompassed jazz, blues and folk influences (they had a minor hit with the Celtic-influenced instrumental "Jig-a-Jig"), and featured then-exotic instruments such as violin and flute (both played by Dave Arbus) and saxophones (played by Ron Caines). Mercator Projected and Snafu were their most adventurous albums. To me, the music on these sounds, at various times, a little like early Jethro Tull, or perhaps a tiny bit like Soft Machine (circa Third). East of Eden were more weird and jazzy than Tull ever was, though (... and not quite as weird and jazzy as the Softs, for that matter). Keyboards are pretty much absent, and there are quite a few instrumental stretches with lots of violin, flute and sax solos, (which is fortunate because the vocals are on the weak side). There were lots of personnel changes, and their later releases (especially New Leaf and Another Eden) were much more conventional. New Leaf is essentially a straight-ahead hard-rock LP, with some vaguely folky and progressive trappings around the edges. Think Uriah Heep with taste and chops. Both Snafu and Mercator Projected are fine albums of eclectic early British progressive rock. Dave Arbus played the violin solos on the Who's Who's Next album. -- Dave Wayne

===============


East of Eden

Personnel incl:
DAVE ARBUS violin, flute A B C D E
RON CAINES sax A B
DAVE DUFONT drms A
GEOFF NICHOLSON ld gtr A B
STEVE YORK bs A
GEOFF BRITTON drms B
ANDY SNEDDON bs B
DAVID JACKS vcls C D F
JIM ROCHE gtr C D
JEFF ALLEN drms D E F
DAVE WELLER sax D F
MARTIN FISHER E
JOE O'DONNELL violin E
GARTH WATT ROY gtr E
LES DAVIDSON gtr F
PETER FILLEUL keyb'ds F
DEAN FORD vcls F
GEORGE HOWDEN trumpet F


ALBUMS:
1(A) MERCATOR PROJECTED (Deram DML/SML 1038) 1969 SC -
2(B) SNAFU (Deram SML 1050) 1970 SC 29
3(C) EAST OF EDEN (Harvest SHVL 792) 1971 SC -
4(D) NEW LEAF (Harvest SHVL 796) 1971 SC -
5(-) WORLD OF (Decca SPA 157) 1971 -
6(-) JIG-A-JIG (Deram NDM 674) 1971
7(A/B) SNAFU/MERCATOR PROJECTED (dble) (Deram SDM 30131 2) 1975
8(E) ANOTHER EDEN (EMI 97101) 1975
9(-) MASTERS OF ROCK (EMI 06295117) 1975
10(F) HERE WE GO AGAIN (EMI 06298065) 1976
11(-) THINGS (Nova 628367) 1976


NB: (1) reissued on CD 199? (2) reissued on CD (Deram 820 617-2) 1990. (6) and (11) German only compilations. (8) German only release. (9) European compilation. (10) European only release

45s:
1 King Of Siam/Ballad Of Harvey Kaye (Atlantic 584198) 1968 -
2 Northern Hemisphere/Communion (Deram DM 242) 1969 -
3 Jig A Jig/Marcus Junior (Deram DM 297) 1970 7
4 Ramadhan/In The Snow For A Blow (Deram DM 338) 1971 -
5 Boogie Woogie Flu/Last Dance Of The Clown (PS) (Harvest HAR 5055) 1972 -
6 Sin City Girls/All Our Yesterdays (United Artists UP 35567) 1973 -


A 'progressive' band formed in Brighton in 1968 by violinist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Arbus. Their novelty hit with the instrumental Jig A Jig was completely untypical of their usual musical style, progressive rock with lots of hard rock guitar and Dave Arbus' wild violin work.

The band were very popular in London's underground clubs. Their debut album came in an outstanding sleeve and was the best example of their Eastern-influenced rock. Guitarist/vocalist Nicholson left after this along with drummer Dufont and bassist York (who joined Manfred Mann's Chapter 3).

Snafu veered more towards jazz-rock but was their most successful album commercially getting into the Top 30. It was also a big success on the Continent as was their Ramadhan 45.

In 1970 they signed to Harvest but their first album for them was rather mundane having sacrificed their earlier Eastern influence for a country sound. New Leaf was slightly better and certainly the opening cut Bradshaw The Bison Hunter is worth a spin. After this Arbus quit though he later reappeared on Roger Daltrey's self-titled solo album. The band carried on replacing him with former Mushroom violinist Joe O'Donnell. This line-up recorded a couple of further albums which only appeared on the Continent before splitting up in 1978.

Hemisphere can also be heard on Rubble Vol. 12: Staircase To Nowhere (LP) and Rubble Vol. 6 (CD). It was based around a distinctive guitar riff topped with Arbus' frenetic violin work and has a rather hypnotic ending with good flute and effects. Earlier in 1971 Harvest Bag included Ain't Gonna Do You No Harm and two years earlier Communion was featured on Wowie Zowie! World Of Progressive Music.

Geoff Britton later played with Wings, whilst Joe O'Donnell made several solo albums in the seventies and eighties, many of which feature guest appearances by Rory Gallagher. Les Davidson ended up doing session work in London in mid '80s.

For more information check the folowing website: http://skymarshall.com/htd/east.html

(Vernon Joynson/Tom Wilkins)


==============


East of Eden
Formed 1967
Disbanded 1978

East of Eden is a perfect illustration of the futility that Decca Records in England faced in cultivating progressive rock (apart from the Moody Blues. A critically acclaimed jazz-fusion band with a strong Eastern music influence, they were a natural for stardom during the late '60s; indeed, they might've taken the wind out of the sails of the Mahavishnu Orchestra very fast, but they never became more than a cult act in England, with a strong local following in London, especially on the underground scene, even as they attracted serious audiences in continental Europe. The band was formed in Bristol, during 1967, by Dave Arbus (flute, sax, trumpet), Ron Caines (alto sax), and Geoff Nicholson (guitar, vocals). Caines and Nicholson had previously played together in an r&b-based band, and the Caines and Arbus had been playing together for a couple of years. Future Wings member Geoff Britton was their original drummer, although the group's rhythm section was never an essential focus of their work, and went through quite a few musicians. Arbus had been trained in the violin, but it wasn't until he saw Jean Luc-Ponty playing on stage in Paris that he realized the possibilities that the amplified instrument offered. He add the electric violin to his repertory, greatly broadening the band's range and sound, and the following year they moved to London. The group was signed to Decca's progressive rock imprint Deram label in 1968, and cut two LPs, Mercator Projected and Snafu, of which the latter made it into the British top 30, while a single, "Ramadhan, " got to number two in France. Their one big hit in England, "Jig-a-Jig, " made the Top Ten there and became something of a stylistic albatross around the band's neck, since it didn't resemble their usual sound or anything else they normally played. Caines and Nicholson left the band as the '70s began, and Arbus kept it together. They jumped to the Harvest label, but their work there never caught on, coinciding as it did with a change in style and a veering away from Eastern music to a country-ish sound. Arbus left in the early '70s and was replaced by future Rory Gallagher collaborator Joe O'Donnell. The band carried on thru the mid 1970's as almost exclusively a European act, recording and releasing albums in Europe only. The three original core members reunited in 1999 for the recording and release of the album Kalipse. — Bruce Eder


1969 Mercator Projected Deram
1970 Snafu Deram
1971 New Leaf Harvest
1971 The World of East of Eden Decca
1975 Snafu/Mercator Projected Deram
1975 Another Eden EMI
1976 Things Nova
1976 It's the Climate EMI
1978 Silver Park EMI
197 Jig-A-Jig Decca
1999 Kalipse Transatlantic