Request
"Justine" (UK Psychedelic Folk-Rock 1970)

by Mark Coyle:
Justine were a band of five vocalists and two guitarists augmented in recording by orchestra and further musicians. They sit between the psychedelic folk-rock sound of LA (Mamas & Papas, Loving Spoonful, Byrds), UK (S F Sorrow or Piper At The Gates of Dawn) and progressive rock. The five vocalists weave in harmony providing a rich sound and it is this that binds the album. The songs are soft early folk rock like Donovan's 'Gift From A Garden To A Flower' with psychedelic electric guitar and effects. The first track 'Flying' lives up to it's title with flute fluttering, swooning strings and tight harmonies. The songs mix the innocent, quirky and strange to heady effect. The songs are fairly unique in folk as they mix in horns which expands the mix giving a warmth that folk sometimes finds hard to achieve. In the last track they create a classic that lives up literally to it's title of 'Amazing Journey'. It starts with folk guitar, introduces fuzz guitar then wah wah builds to a crescendo and drops back to a delicate folk ballad within the first minute. It builds up introducing 'A Day In The Life' style strings and massed vocals. Towards the end it explodes with a staggeirng number of layers that Roy Wood in The Move was expert at. Strange effects come in, wild guitars solo, flutes, horn and strings abound and a propulsive rhythm section drives the whole thing explosively as the singer moves from folk whispers into Robert Plant style wails. An excellent track on a most enjoyable album which shows the link between the earlier psychedelic sound and the later musical indulgence of progressive rock.

Original - UNI UNLS 111 (UK 1970)
Reissue - Elegy E6401 (UK 2004)

Keith Trowsdale: vo, g
John McBurnie: vo, g
Valerie Cope: vo
Bethlyn Bates: vo
Laurette Stivers: vo
Dougie Wright: ds