California's Kingdom, originally called Parish, is reminiscent of vintage Cream, with a singer that sounds like Burton Cummings.In 1970 they made a single on Specialty Records titled:"Seven Fathoms Deep" b/w "If I Were To Never See Her Again" Right after they met with Barry Hansen who worked with Fantasy Records. After taking on the role of producer, Hansen signs the band for a one album deal which turns out to be their sole release. The music is heavy blues, at the junction of heavy psych, and emerging progressive, Musically remind you of Cream or Iron Butterfly, (with twin lead guitars, which is a MAJOR plus in my eyes, and to my ears) and their singer (Jim Potkey) has been compared John Kay (Steppenwolf). All the group was lacking was a good roster of songs. Although the opener, "Waiting, Hesitating" is a really solid hard rocker. Still, the musicianship is impressive, particularly the twin lead style which was still not to common at the time. It would have been nice to hear a second go by these guys, but alas, they disappeared like so many other great bands of the period.
-with material used from Steve Legitt
at: Plain and Fancy
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