Hello Sunshine: A Tribute To Relatively Clean Rivers
Cover Art: Fez Moreno
Igniting the irresistible iconism and melodic mystery of one of California’s most cosmically cherished and atmospherically adorned outfits of the decade, Relatively Clean Rivers, led by the enigma of Phil Pearlman (Phil & The Flakes/The Electronic Hole), were a fundamental force in the West Coast psychedelic/folk scene of the 1970s. Born Philip Gadahn into the zeitgeist of Archie and Jughead in western Riverside County, California, Pearlman occupied the Orange County-based experimental collective The Beat Of The Earth during the pulverizing pinnacle of the late 1960s revolution in radical reverb and lysergic liberation. Surviving the esoteric enterprise of his generation’s gesture into the melodic meditation of spirituality and artistic anarchy, everyone eventually matured alongside the following decade’s crawl towards the central community by demonstrating growth as a person and less of some prophetic personality. What the 60s lacked, the 70s precariously picked up as its shining youth bravely entered its “tricenarian years,” searching for something they had left behind during the warped wake of the yearning years prior. Ahead of his time by a long shot, Pearlman, a man of God, was directly in sync with the explosive energy of a time and place more replicated and celebrated than one could ever imagine.
“The music was free-form, original, and unrehearsable since it was all spontaneous. I remarked to Phil that it was the steady thrum one experienced when you went to a Love-In. All these small groups of musicians playing guitars, tambourines, flutes, auto-harps, bongos, and anything that made sound, all simultaneously, created a type of orderly orchestral sound. The combined beats were primitive, primal, the beat of the earth...”
Calling on a whole new group of steady and sound-minded musicians such as Kurt Baker, John Alabaster, Hank Quinn, and the late Dwight "Mouse" Morouse, who was an exhibitor and on the Board of Directors of Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, California, for over a decade, the band and its merciless members immediately began conjuring the melodic magic and sophisticated serenity found within the American soul by establishing a cult-classic that has ultimately stood the test of time. Relatively undiscovered for decades and publicly disgraced by the bootleg entities while simultaneously being held in the highest regard possible, “Relatively Clean Rivers” is ”the best album the Dead never made.” Putting everything on the table and leaving nothing to chance, the album took over a year to make with the help and guidance of technicians Ed Little and Peter Kunzke and engineers Craig Lang and John Golden, the band released its cosmic contents on Pacific Is the following year in 1976 during the country’s 200th anniversary and has since gone into harmonious history like all good things that are meant to last. Pearlman currently resides on a golden farm, last we heard, out west occupied by goats, and is known to sell original, factory-sealed, and warped presses of his rare religious awakening to folks who are as mental as they are motivated to spend the desired coin requested for such an almighty artifact.
“This project has been in my mind for quite a few years, and I’m really excited to see it come to life! Relatively Clean Rivers’ sole LP is an album that’s passed around among collectors, heads, bands, and fans as a kind of secret handshake. Those familiar with it almost always count it among their favorites of the more obscured ends of the ‘70s. It’s an album at a crossroads. The cover art screams ‘60s psychedelia, but once inside the world that Phil Pearlman and his assembled crew have created, it’s clear that the album is as much an exploration of frayed strands of folk, country, and Americana as anything else. I’ve always thought of it as the perfect distillation of Cosmic Americana and, in viewing it through that lens, I assembled a cast of some of my favorite Cosmic travelers to reinterpret the album. Originals of the album are pricey, and it’s never been officially reissued, living in a limbo of bootlegs and needle-drop duplicates. Here though, the album is given a new life through artists with an affinity for its nuance and stellar songwriting. As I often think of Relatively Clean Rivers as one of the most quintessentially California bands, all proceeds of this compilation will be donated to benefit Music Cares, to help artists dealing with losses from L.A. wildfires.”
In response to the horrific fires that took place in LA back in January, known around the globe as “The Palisades Fire,” Andy French, the great mind behind Raven Sings The Blues, has assembled an all-star cast of musicians to cover the album in its electrifying entirety to support the victims who were devastated during the chaos that shook the state to its coastal core. Contributing to this compelling compilation, listeners can expect sublime signals from Garcia People, who’ve been covering the band as far back as 2018, Bobby Lee, Rose City Band, and many others, as each iconic installment raises atmospheric awareness of what Relatively Clean Rivers were all about. Supporting this project directly pours into the hands and hearts of people who fall under the MusiCares program. A system designed to uplift the music community in Los Angeles, “Hello Sunshine: A Tribute To Relatively Clean Rivers” is a brilliant statement to a cause as righteous as the sounds that inspired this project nearly half a century ago.
