Morgen - Morgen + 3 Unreleased Tracks (1969 New York City) | Heavy Psychedelic Rock | Vinyl Stream

For today’s psychedelic trip this morning I’m spinning my 1969 Probe Records pressing of Morgen’s self-titled debut (CPLP 4507), plus the three previously unreleased tracks from Now-Again’s 2021 Reserve Edition. One of the great NYC heavy psych records, buried in a year-long legal fight at the time, and the kind of record where the backstory is as wild as the music. Steve Morgen led the band on vocals. The group that cut the album was Steve, Murray Shiffrin on lead guitar, Barry Stock on rhythm guitar, Bobby Rizzo on bass, and Mike Ratti on drums - all Queens musicians who met through Steve’s college soccer teammate Richie. They set up at Studio 3 on East 57th Street in a three-story brownstone owned by Deering Howe, young heir to the International Harvester fortune. Engineer Jimmy Reeves recorded them to 4-track in 1968. The album was supposed to be ABC Probe’s second release after Soft Machine. Then everything went sideways - mob-connected management, a gas station attack that put Steve out of commission for months, a band mutiny during his recovery, and a year of legal fights. By the time the record came out in December 1969, Steve had lost his original rhythm section. The album broke in eight major cities including New York, Atlanta, and Boston, but Steve had no band to tour behind it. The cover is Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1895), licensed from MoMA in NYC. Steve won them over with his deep knowledge of Munch. They never asked to hear the album. Murray Shiffrin died December 7, 1976 at age 27 from a heart condition - he and Steve were about to make a second album together. The record sat as a bootleg for forty-plus years until Now-Again finally got Steve to tell the whole story in 2021. Their Reserve Edition opened the vault for three previously unreleased songs - “All I Know”, “Everything’s Gone”, and “Woke Up This Morning” - plus alternate takes and instrumentals. Guerssen followed in 2022 with the original seven tracks and a Mike Stax essay from Ugly Things magazine. Steve dedicated the reissue to his sister Arlene. Instagram:   / vinyl_piper   Full vinyl rips playlist:    • Full Vinyl Rips - Rare Psychedelic & Rock LPs   Shop: https://vinylpipershop.com/ TRACKLIST “Welcome To The Void” “Of Dreams” “Beggin’ Your Pardon (Miss Joan)” “Eternity In Between” “Purple” “She’s The Nitetime” “Love” Non-Album Tracks (Now-Again 2021) “All I Know” “Everything’s Gone” “Woke Up This Morning” #Morgen #SteveMorgen #HeavyPsychedelicRock #VinylStream #VinylPiper