Formed from the fruitful ashes of two of the UK underground’s most persuasive pop-psych bands, The Mirage and Turquoise, Jawbone should have been more successful. This sole long-player, released on the influential but cash-strapped Carnaby label in 1970, contains 15 clear reasons why they deserve another shot.
How’s Ya Pa, the first of three singles, shows the heavy influence The Byrds and The Band had on bandmembers between this and their earlier projects; indeed both bands are written through this album like words in a stick of rock. A rather flat version of The Beatles’ Across The Universe is an overt display of the other major influence here, and there’s no denying they handle the crossfire of pop, country, rock and psych with considerable aplomb. The stand-out has to be a reworking of a Mirage track, Ebaneezer Beaver (here titled Jeremiah Dreams), on which Ray Glynn’s acid licks are simply faultless.
Updated here with three bonus tracks and a decent biography, this edition is one shade away from being a bona fide classic.
