Tea And Symphony - An Asylum For The Musically Insane (Reissue) (1969/1995)

This Birmingham sextet developed a weird but wonderful breed of acid or psych folk, but took it so far that they are best described as Folk Prog. They released only two albums on the great Harvest label and both are now much sought after. I have only seen the debut on Cd format.

Their strange folk is a cross of Celtic (and more ancient music is not far away from some GRYPHON tracks) and more obscure experimental music (Roy Harper and Zep's third album come to mind) and wrote wilful and oblique tracks that often lead to pandemonium and frantic magic , but they can repell some or make you fall completely under their spell.

Their first album, aptly titled "An Asylum For The Musically Insane" produced by Gus Dudgeon, saw members of BAKERLOO and LOCOMOTIVE helping out in this uncannily weird oeuvre. It remains some 35 years later a cult classic, but demands repeated listenings and is an acquired taste. Their second album, "Jo Sago" is relatively calmer but still very interesting for progheads especially the side-long title track. Bob Wilson had then replaced Nigel Phillips on KB.

TEA AND SYMPHONY is one of the most bizarre act to find in the Folk Prog sub-genre, along with COMUS, DUKES DE GREY and SPYROGIRA and should please the progheads into those acts.