Pan & Regaliz (1971)

Spain isn’t the first place you think of for psychedelic gems, and especially not during the Franco regime, but Pan & Regaliz pulled off such an album, in 1971, during Franco’s regime. This is not a name of a duo, but the name of a band, which consisted of bassist and vocalist Arturo Domingo, vocalist and guitarist Alfonso Bou, drummer Pedro Van Eeckhout, and vocalist and flautist Guillermo Paris.

This album was thought of as sounding like Jethro Tull’s Stand Up under the influence of acid. Well, comparisons to Tull can be true to a point, but the flute work is absolutely nothing like Ian Anderson’s at all. Strange psychedelic sounds can be heard in the background to many of the songs. And while released in 1971, the music has a more late 1960s feel.

Although from Spain, all the vocals are in English. Some of my favorites include “I Can Fly”, “One More Day”, “Today, It’s Raining”, “Waiting in the Monster’s Garden”, and “Thinking in Mary”. It’s a little difficult trying to describe the songs, because they are all more or less in the same mould. “Dead of Love” reminds me of Triana, a flamenco influenced prog band also from Spain that existed from the mid 1970s to early 1980s, except without the flamenco influences.

The only song I can say I don’t care for is “A Song For the Friends”. It has too much of a 1930s cocktail lounge jazz style that totally clashes with the overall excellent psych sound of the album.

A wonderful album that really took me be surprise. Also, this album is very rare and collectible, but if you can track down a copy, you too will be pleasantly surprised.