1969 final studio album by the Texan pioneers of psychedelia. Presenting the singles ‘Livin’ On’ and band’s the ethereal swansong ‘May The Circle Remain Unbroken’. It is an important album in the band’s discography and has continued to gain significance as their story has become more widely known.
By the time the album was recorded, the band were facing extreme challenges, lead vocalist Roky Erickson had to be broken out of a mental hospital in Houston by the band’s lyricist Tommy Hall. They fled to San Francisco, leaving the band’s lead guitarist, Stacy Sutherland stranded in Texas – unable to leave the state boundaries due to his probation restrictions.While the songs ‘Livin’ On’, ‘Never Another’, ‘Dr. Doom’ and ‘May the Circle Remain Unbroken’ feature the full band – the remainder of the album features Sutherland leading a power trio featuring former bassist Ronnie Leatherman with drummer Danny Thomas. Soon after the recordings were completed Ronnie was drafted to Vietnam, Danny was subjected to electric-shock treatment and Stacy was imprisoned for parole violation. Despite the challenges faced during its creation, BULL OF THE WOODS has continued to gain recognition as a unique and significant album for its darker psychedelic sound. Since this is a faithful reproduction of the original LP pressing – the number of processes from the mixed master tape to lacquer were limited to an absolute minimum. A half speed master was then cut at AIR Studios and a test pressing was then dubbed and the dynamic range compared against the original pressing. The result was a better sound pressing than the original!