Bob Desper :: “New Sounds” - Rose City Sounds Records
Buried in the fundamental fibers of the preconscious past, somewhere far from society’s judgmental eye in mid-1970s Portland, a collection of songs rests in a captivating time capsule, waiting to be discovered by the eager ears of tonal treasure hunters. Like most records of this nocturnal nature, they embody worldly wine, aging gracefully while simultaneously peeking toward their near-death experience in shelf-life purgatory. While waiting for the lips, ears, and eyes of people’s ancestral anatomy to open the swinging doors, revealing a wondrous odyssey of brilliance and cosmic content, some treasures become too sacred and complicated to obtain, thus remaining in cold, calcified caves where shadows from whence they were born drift in and out of consciousness. Wait, what the hell are we talking about? The Lost City of Atlantis? The brittle bones of latitude legend Amelia Earhart resting on some backwashed beach near the Bermuda Triangle? Nope, it’s just some forgotten Xian artifact celebrated by a whole new world and generation that even the realms of Science Fiction couldn’t predict during the genre’s pivotal prime in the previous decades.
Blinded at the age of ten from an accident that caused an optic nerve to hemorrhage, Desper relocated quite often throughout his adolescence, moving from Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, where he and his brother Lewis were born, to California before finally planting roots forever in Portland’s subtle soils. Feeling a deep connection to the Christian community, he formed his first band, Eleventh Hour Sounds, which performed in Portland and Eugene churches and coffee shops. After that, Desper broke off to record the sonically impressive single, “Dry Up Those Tears/The World Is Crying Out For Love," released a few years earlier by Star Productions. He first gained recognition in 1974 with his monumental masterpiece “New Sounds,” which has ultimately stood the test of time by vividly showcasing the dormant greatness just waiting to be revealed. He balanced his involvement in organized religion with the ethereal complexities of making music, jamming, and playing locally with friends, including his brother Lewis, at Recreation Halls, Community Centers, and other communal spaces designated for various activities. “New Sounds” is deeply symbolic as it does not stray from the essence of folk/rock; instead, it connects the revolutionary impulses of Christ-inspired chords that resonate closely with the world of rock n’ roll, whether one chooses to acknowledge it or not.
Recorded at the age of twenty-three, the album was released on the Christian-based label Rose City Sound Records, whose catalog of cosmic calvary hailed names such as Tom Speed, Forever Tree, Just A Branch, and several other artists throughout the early to mid-1970s. It is safe to assume that Desper’s lone album of stark sophistication is one the most compelling bodies of work to come out of the label’s holy halls. Sporting a brand new Martin D-24 acoustic guitar, Desper walked into the Rex Recording Company in Portland with confidence and a unique approach to this biblical batch of songs by totally improvising the vocals, instrumentation, and various elements of recording techniques to help bring the album’s complex core to life in just one take mind you. As private press prophecies go, the album was pressed in a limited quantity of five hundred copies, making it a collector’s worst nightmare or a total financial obligation to collect its sonic soul. At seventy-four years old, the musician resides in Albany, Oregon, where he still plays daily with his brother and hangs out at Roger's Restaurant weekly.
