line up 1 (1966-67)

- Glenn Cass (aka Glenn Kastner) -- bass backing vocals

- Norman Cass (aka Norm Kastner) (RIP 2012) -- vocals, rhythm

  guitar, backing vocals

- Rich Cliburn (aka Rich Clyburn) -- vocals, guitar keyboards,

   backing vocals

- Jerry Cole (aka Jerry Kibrak) (RIP 2008) -- vocals, lead guitar, 

   dulcimer, backing vocals

- Don Dexter (RIP 2018) -- drums, percussion

- The Animated Egg (Jerry Cole)

- The Black Diamonds (Jerry Cole)

- The Blasters (Jerry Cole)

- The Champs (Jerry Cole)

- Glen Cass (solo efforts)

- Jonathan Cloud (Jerry Cole)

- Jerry Cole and the Country Boys (Jerry Cole)

- Jerry Cole & the Stingers (Jerry Cole)

- Jerry Cole and His Spacemen (Jerry Cole)

- The Detours (Glenn Cass and Norm Cass)

- Dave Dudley and Glenn Cass

- The Gee Gees (Jerry Cole)

- The Generation Gap (Jerry Cole)

- The Hornets (Jerry Cole)

- The Kickstands (Jerry Cole)

- The Knights (Jerry Cole)

- Jerry Kole and the Strokers(Jerry Cole)

- Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos(Jerry Cole)

- The Projection Company (Jerry Cole)

- The Scramblers (Jerry Cole)

- A Band Called Smith (Rich Cyburn)

- The Stingers (Jerry Cole)

- The Stone Canyon Rock Group (Jerry Cole)

- T. Swift and the Electric Band (Jerry Cole)

- Them (Jerry Cole)
 

Genre: psych

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Title:  The Inner Sounds of the Id

Company: RCA Victor

Catalog: LSP-3805

Year: 1967

Country/State: Los Angeles, California

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: stereo pressing

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 4532

Price: $60.00

Cost: $1.00

Not to be confused with a similarly named mid-1970s Texan band (yes I  have a review of that album as well), here's an outfit I wish I knew more about.  

While there's considerable online information about The Id, much of it is questionable, contradictory, and you tend to see fragments of the same material repackaged time after time.  What does seem clear is the group was formed in Los Angeles, though the member's roots were in Green Bay, Wisconsin). The concept was apparently the brainchild of Paul Arnold (aka Arnold Sukonick), with the band members taking Arnold's overarching ideas and turning them into discrete performances.  

Lead guitarist/singer Jerry Cole had been working as a professional musician since the mid-1960s.  As a studio musician he played on hundreds of songs and his own recording catalog is extensive, if poorly documented.  Looking at his catalog, there doesn't seem to have been a musical trend (rockabilly, surf, hot-rod, etc.) Cole wasn't ready to jump on in pursuit of sales. Having participated in some early Byrds recording sessions, in line with that "music-as-a-commodity" approach, The Id seems to have been a crass attempt to get an early jump on the burgeoning consumer interest in psychedelia.  Yeah, consider it one of the first in a wave of psychs-ploitation albums.  With Cole on vocals and guitar, the rest of the line-up featured long time friends and fellow sessions players Glenn Cass on bass, rhythm guitarist Norman Cass, and drummer Don Dexter.  Singer/guitarist Rich Cliburn was briefly a member of the band .  He was pictured on the album cover photos, though not credited on the liner notes.

With Arnold credited as creator and producer, 1967's "The Inner Sounds of the Id" is certainly different.  Musically it offered up an engaging mix of top-40 pop ('Baby Eyes'), blue-eyed soul ('Don't Think Twice'), crazed Baroque-folk ('Butterfly Kiss'), hyperactive rock ('The Rake') and psychedelic touches (the extended title track).  Interestingly, when I first heard the album it didn't strike me as the year's most original package.  There was a certain distant and "corporate" feel to the material.  It was like watching a production line kitchen preparing food for a school cafeteria.  Everything was calculated for quantity and consistency, rather than unique artistry.  The songs were professional and interesting, but  just didn't have the vibe you'd expect from a bunch of young, stoned California hippies.  On the other hand the songs were weird, varied and enthusiastic.  Even if it was a throw-away project, the album contained more than its share of successes, particularly where the different genres collided - check out the blue-eyed soul-meets Eastern  freak out 'Wild Times'. The ten minute title track, complete with Cole's extended pseudo-sitar-sitar, Dexter's marshal drumming and earnest chanting was must-hear hysterical. The fuzz guitar propelled 'Boil the Kettle, Mother' with "Elijah's son-of-Dracula spoken word lyrics was one of my favorite slices of psychedelia.  Naturally, the set vanished without a trace and today stands as a minor collectable. Curiously, one of the major psych reference books describes the set as "Beatles influenced".  There are some nice group harmonies scattered throughout the set, but otherwise I just don't hear the comparison.  For what it's worth, this is one of the few albums in my collection that I'd give a four star rating.

In return for $25,000, producer Arnold signed to The Id to RCA without bothering to let the band know.  Completing the album  RCA sent the band on the road.  They opened  with a handful of showcase performances at The Happy Medium Theater.  Unhappy with their lack of financial compensation, within a couple of weeks band parted ways with manager Arnold, returning to L.A.  And that was the end of The Id.

As mentioned, the amount of on-line speculation about The Id is overwhelming.  I stumbled across a fascinating "review" of the album by former rhythm guitarist Glenn Cass.  Cass' comments  provide the most unbiased overview of the band's history I've come across.

Glenn Cass's Truth to the ID and Inner Sounds of the ID... ... (amazon.com)

The Id are another band with a high morality rate.

- 68 years old, Norm Cass passed on in May, 2012

- The 68 year old Cole died of a heart attack in May, 2008.

- The 80 year old Dexter passed on in October, 2018.  You can see a nice memoriam to the man at: Donald "Don" James Dexter Obituary (1937 - 2018) - Canon City, CO - The Canon City Daily Record (legacy.com)

"The Inner Sounds of the Id" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) The Rake   (Paul Arnold) - 2:03   rating: **** stars

Geez, how would you describe 'The Rake'?  Dance music for serial killers?  Music for group psychosis experiences?  This one's frightening when you hear it sober.  Can't imagine trying to listen to it while under the influence of some illicit substance, or it you had significant emotional issues. The stereo panning effects made it even weirder.  Even more of a surprise was RCA's decision to tap the tune as the album's second single.  You just had to wonder what they were thinking given the album had some far more commercial choices.

- 1967's 'The Rake' b/w 'Wild Times' (RCA Victor catalog number 47-9195)

2.) Wild Times   (Paul Arnold - Jerry Cole - Elijah) - 3:02  rating: **** stars

And speaking of commercial options, powered by Glenn Cass and then Rich Cliburn's growling voices 'Wild Times' started out as a catchy rocker with a great top-40s edge.  And then out of the  track shifted into meltdown Indian influences.  How'd they get those sounds out of their guitars?  And you thought George Harrison and Ravi Shankar got there first   Nah, it was Jerry Cole with a dulcimer treated to provide the sitar-like sounds.
3.) Don't Think Twice   (Glenn Kastner  - Jerry Cole) - 2:41  rating: **** stars

As mentioned earlier, some of the online reviews draw a comparison to The Beatles.  For the most part I just don't hear it, but  the ringing guitar figure that powers 'Don't Thing Twice' is one of those exceptions.  If nothing else, this was one of the album's most conventional and commercial tracks.  With a great Glenn Cass blue-eyed soul vocal, awesome group vocals, and propulsive melody, it would have made a great choice as a single.  Naturally RCA picked two less conventional songs for 45s.
4.) Stone and Steel   (Paul Arnold) - 3:30   rating: *** stars

With a pretty, if overly sensitive melody, 'Stone and Steel' reflected an unusual folk-rock-collides-with- psych flavor.  The tear jerk lyrics and heartbreaking delivery were okay, but to my ears the overall effect was marred by Arnold's over-the-top earnest lyrics.  
5.) Baby Eyes   (Paul Arnold) - 2:47  rating: **** stars

Powered by some tasty Glenn Cass bass and his bouncy vocals, 'Baby Eyes' demonstrated these guys had mastered commercial, top-40 pop.  This is the track I would have tapped had I been employed by RCA's marketing arm.  
6.) Boil the Kettle, Mother   (The Id - Elijah) - 2:55  rating: **** stars

Although it's one of the album's most infamous tracks, 'Boil the Kettle, Mother' sounded like studio jam that went off the rails after someone dumped acid in their water bottles.  Credited to Elijah, the haphazard, son-of-Dracula spoken words only added to the song's bizarre, throw-away feeling.  As referenced above, Glen Cass revealed Elijah to have been television producer Jack Good.  Good wrote the album's short liner notes and although he apparently had no creative role in the song, Good was listed as the co-writer under his Elijah alter-ego.

(side 2)

1.) Butterfly Kiss   (Paul Arnold) - 2:29   rating: **** stars

I dare you to listen to 'Butterfly Kiss' and not at least crack a smile.  Built on a sweet, classically-inspired melody, this one sounded like the band had overdosed on a heavy rotation of The Left Banke and The Zombies styled-pop-psych.  Credited to Arnold, the classical influences made sense given he has a background as a classical trained violinist.  Shame the song was so short.  Extra star for being so fey ...
2.) Short Circuit   (Paul Arnold) - 2:56   rating: **** stars

Another track powered by Glenn Cass' pounding bass line, the weird, jerky time signature and song structure made 'Short Circuit' one of the album's most interesting performances.  The tune's dark feel was underscored by Glenn Cass and Cole's intertwined vocals.  Once again Cole's treated dulcimer (giving the instrument a sitar-like sound) added a cool psych-flavor to the tune..  All I can say is it was a weird choice as a leadoff single:

- 1967's 'Short Circuit' b/w 'Boil the Kettle Mother' (RCA Victor catalog number 47-9136)
3.) Just Who   (Jerry Cole) - 2:36   rating: *** stars

'Just Who' was another example of the band's fascination with unusual timings and song structures.  A weird mix of garage, rockabilly and jazzy moves, Glenn Cass' semi-spoken vocals were a hoot.
4. The Inner Sound of the Id   (Paul Arnold) - 10:29   rating: *** stars
It's always been cool to hear Cole's dulcimer-as-a-sitar backing on the title track.  Jack Gold's goofy, increasingly urgent spoken word segments added to the general chaos.  You had to wonder how many stoned folks thought they saw the "answer" while listening to this one.  "This is your music ... you have summoned it ..."  Good grief.  Freud would have laughed himself senseless hearing the senseless ramblings about psyche, libido and the id.  And about seven minutes into the track you got to hear a repeat of the opener 'The Rake.'  I'll deduct a start for recycling the earlier track.

The lone album by the Id, 1967's The Inner Sounds of the Id, came together when producer Arnold Sukonick decided to put together a concept album centered around Freud's notion of the id. He gathered up a tight knit crew of studio vets that included guitarist Jerry Cole and bassist Glenn Cass and set them loose to come up with songs. What they came back with doesn't have much to do with the id, but it does have all sorts of garage rock toughness, psychedelic frippery, and left-field weirdness to make it a prime example of late '60s indulgence. While most of the songs could probably have had a home on the soundtrack of a biker movie, or in the case of the pounding dance track "The Rake," glued to a particularly lurid nightclub scene, some have a nice bit of folk-rock jangle, Stones-y sneer, almost bubblegummy hooks ("Baby Eyes") and or in many cases, enough sitar to make Ravi Shankar blush. It's a weird balance of tones and sub-genres, one that makes space for both the bratty put downs of "Just Who" and the theatrical baroque punk of "Butterfly Kiss." Not to mention the epic title track which meanders through many long minutes of sitar picking and off-beat jamming with over-the-top narration by Shindig! producer Jack Good layered on top before breaking out into a reprise of "The Rake." It's a truly silly, totally charming mock psychedelic excursion that's somehow topped in the weirdness stakes by the album's shining moment of brilliance "Boil the Kettle, Mother." Thes gem is a biker rock rave up with Cole shredding his fingers and speaker cones at once over which the vocalist delivers a devilishly hissy, wacky incantation. It's a wonder that song hasn't shown up more times on garage rock or psychedelic compilations over the years as it has more pizazz than 99% of the songs that can traditionally be found there. Perhaps it wasn't in demand due to the reputation the album seems to have collected over the years as some kind of psychedelic cash-in instead of the obscuro classic it is. Sure, it was a cynical move by the producer to make hay while the psychedelic sun was shining and the Id aren't really a band more than they were a diversion for the studio cats. The results bely their origins and all that should be judged in the end is the music and The Inner Sounds of the Id is a gas from beginning to end