The Golden Dawn

The Golden Dawn

Legend of the Dawn: Live 2004

The story of the Golden Dawn is a little-acknowledged chapter in Austin psychedelia. The Dawn recorded the highly regarded Power Plant in 1968 for Houston's International Artists. The album was delayed to accommodate seminal psych band labelmates the 13th Floor Elevators' Easter Everywhere. Subsequently, the Dawn were heard as an imitation of the Elevators though history has lately treated them kindly as a cult band. After founder George Kinney recently revived the band for local gigs, he embarked on a tour and live recording, Legend of the Dawn: Live 2004. Kinney has an affinity for classic Stones-style rock & roll ("Take Her to Your Heart," "On the Run Too Long"), while three Roky Erickson numbers ("You're Gonna Miss Me," "She Lives," "Splash 1"), plus Powell St. John's hypnotic "Slide Machine," make for four Elevators covers. Kinney's arrangement of "You're Gonna Miss Me" emphasizes the organ, but it's difficult to not mentally mix in the percolating jug. Structurally, Kinney's music is as simple as the instrumentation: three-chord garage/blues-rock ("Step Down Satan," "Starvation," "I Don't Fit In") with psychedelic overtones played on two guitars, bass, organ, and drums. The mix itself sounds a little flat and unsophisticated, but the spirit of the music is vibrant and musicianship first-class with Jerry Lightfoot on lead guitar. It's worth noting that the recording, packaging, and distribution have been a joint effort by Kinney and Internet fans who booked and publicized the 20-city tour these tracks were recorded from. That's a remarkable testament to the DIY ethic and one psychedelia never expected.