Transcribed here is a document that The Skull Club's very own DJ Semi-Otics sent to us a while ago which, for quite some months, has been lost in the vaults.  Until now!

Centred around the CA Quintet's classic Psychedelic album Trip Thru Hell, a record that, until many years later, went by relatively un-noticed, it's a fascinating read than not only offers insight into a breathtakingly celebratory time in music but also includes a rare interview with 'The Captain' of the Quintet himself, Ken Erwin.

In the beginning, before radio-friendly, unit-shifting compilation albums such as 'Ibiza Classics' and the dirge of the endless 'Now That's What I Call Music' series there was 'Nuggets - Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968' (Rhino).

The most significant compilation of music to be commercially released was the brain child of Lenny Kaye, soon-to-be lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group, who, prior to the album's conception, had become jaded at the distant, sluggish complacency of the major rock bands of the early 1970's. When Kaye looked back merely six years he realised the Rock & Roll of garage-punk bands like The Seeds, Count Five and The Electric Prunes exuded an essential naive vitality and youthful energy that rock dinosaurs like Led Zeppelin - via Lear Jets; sold-out baseball stadiums full of rednecks; and songs about Tolkien - had taken a bypass upon.

What Kaye had achieved in re-releasing the 27 tracks on Nuggets, was to expose an array of punchy, rhythmic garage-punk tunes to youngsters who wanted to start their own bands yet who had become alienated by the then rock hierarchy. He gave the 1970's proto-punks all the evidence they needed to suggest that they didn't have to be Sir Mick "I read economics at LSE" Jagger to front a Rock & Roll band.

One fascinating level that Nuggets works around is the fact that featured American bands like The Kingsmen took their inspiration from 1960's British pop like The Kinks and The Who, bands who in turn had taken their blueprint from the American blues and 1950's rock & roll.

The punch is that when Nuggets was listened to in the U.K. by bands such as The Teardrop Explodes and The Fall, they went onto base their whole oeuvre on the resonance that burst from tunes on Nuggets.

It really is the most important compilation of rock & roll music to ever be released, and has led British Psychedelic meister Julian Cope to proclaim: "Nuggets was and still is the basic introduction. It gave us groups that were then so obscure but now, to a mass of people, are favourite listening. It introduced us to The Seeds, Chocolate Watchband, The Elevators, Remains, The Standells, The Electric Prunes and so many others who had classic but unknown songs released. By now we know that they had also recorded classic LP's."

Mid to late 1960's America: The revolt of the Vietnam War, Ali's anti-authority beat philosophy, the clenched fist of the civil rights movement and the 23-fold increase in usage of such mediums as television, kaleidoscopic lightshows and L.S.D was the perfect backdrop for cult bands to draw their raw material from. Under the deities of Lennon, Hendrix and Dylan were thousands of freakzoid bands who churned out tunes of perfect Psychedelic genius, conveyor belt-like, from suburban garages and fed their British pop inspired nuggets to the masses via AM radio stations across The States.

On the surface of this creative technicolour swamp lurked the genii of Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Beefheart and Zappa, whilst hidden within the depths lay the many largely undiscovered gems that have influenced musical counter-culture ever since. The Monks who, for instance, shaved the crown of their heads, donned holy-fool robes and growled like frothing demons falling in love. And The 13th Floor Elevators with their trademark electric jug instrument that motored and gurgled around the abrasive yelps of singer Roky Erickson; a man whose misfortune was to fall into the American Mental Health system and suffer electro-shock therapy. An experience coupled with a colossal intake of L.S.D. that has sadly fried his brain for life. The bands, the rebels, the jesters, the outsiders and the vast array of underground killer tunes released within the era is now an endless source of inspiration for any musician that wishes to use energy and passion coupled with style, bass, drums and sonic guitars.

A band that epitomises the subterraneous obscurity of the mid/late 1960's garage-punk scene is C.A. Quintet. The great lost band from Minnesota who created mashed-up psychedelic genius that's all the more compelling for being the undiscovered aural treasure it is.

After a set of singles C.A. Quintet released one album called 'Trip Thru Hell' in the Manson-Altamont slaying year of 1969. A seminal classic in acid-rock, 'Trip Thru Hell' is a psychedelic odyssey classed in some circles as "Head Music." Connoisseurs of Krautrock, Prog, Psych-beat and other obscure genres that involve sonic-funk freak-outs, wide-screen orchestration and soulful analogue vocals which resonate road-movies, burning wickermen and chanting occultist tribes will appreciate the cavernous sound-scapes of Hades that scream from 'Trip Thru Hell'.

The album cover, showing twisted naked female figures trembling within a barren landscape of dead skeletal trees and fire-orange skies set against the classic acid-hellish trip logo, is a perfect visual summation of the music contained within.

Below is one part review of the album and another part interview with songwriter Ken Erwin, which aims to capture an essence of why I think C.A. Quintet should be listened to by anybody interested in the rarest strand of 1960's freakout psychedelia.

The album title-track opens the opus as an instrumental of lazy guitars, hi-hat cymbal and organ that stiffens into a jaunty rhythm before a female chant seeps into the landscape. The supernatural chant is far from Hell and actually sung by a teenage girl called Toni Crockett. The resonance of her voice sounds like drifting mist floating through a cemetery at dawn as composed by Dubussey. The chilling choral beauty is a motif that's reprised at various points across the album, but is then countered by a jagged free-jazz drum solo that sounds as though it was recorded in the cabin of a huge dilapidated spaceship covered in purple and orange rust. High pitched guitar rhythms cave the serenity asunder again and we hear the sound of screeching madness before the chant returns and the remainder of the 10 minute journey floats out into a coda of the female vocal sweep.

'Colorado Mourning' drops us back to earth and death with solar blaring Latino trumpet, staccato drums and a tight funk fuzzed-out riff. The echo that follows the classic garage-punk vocal and Ken Erwins' brass is the authentic sound of widescreen spaghetti westerns. The chant reappears and starts to haunt the listener by the counteraction it offers with the more high tempo sound of the analogue instrumentation.

The world the listener is immersed within becomes apparent in the song 'Underground Music'. An infernal desert containing imagery and sound that conjures up death rattles, lonely tolling bell-towers under the silence of a biting hot sun, dust eddies swirling around the Four Horses hooves transporting bandits towards canyons where occultist rituals take place. Hooded figures march in file and carry huge banners containing symbols of scorpions, daggers and rattlesnakes.  Skeletal figures murder one another with the high pitched sound and shards of sonic guitars. The vocal delivery contains hell and heaven and soul throughout.

'Sleepy Hollow' thrusts a low-fi organ into the burning saloon and sounds like the Fab Four had eloped to Death Valley in 1963 to record Hard Days Night under the direction of Sergio Leone. Funereal Latino trumpet interfaced with the spectral chanting reprised that encases the most majestic outro chorus, a split moment when the vocals sound melancholy and, like all great songs, leaves you wanting to hear more.

Like the lead singer of the Kinks Ray Davies, do you write 'character' songs? Tunes about everyday people you have met? If so can you expand upon that songwriting technique.

First let me say that I had planned some outdoor things this morning, that is where I really like to be. But, the rain changed my plans. So here we are.

To answer your question, I have never tried intentionally to write songs of any type. If a song of mine reminds someone of some other songwriter, I guess that is just the way it is. I am a product of my life. All that I have heard, from jazz to country to folk to classical.

I really can't say where my influences came from (I'm still being influenced). I have been a music addict all my life. Listening as well as writing it.

As far as Ray Davies, I never really took much notice of his music. I heard some Kinks songs on the radio many years ago, but never went out of my way to listen to it. Maybe I should have.

Most of the songs I have written have only been heard by a very few individuals. The Trip Thru Hell album era was very early on in my song writing. I drifted in many other directions after that. I started to have more interest in lyrics for one thing. But, I doubt if most of my music will ever see the light of day. And that is fine with me.

I wrote the music for my own "therapy". And because... Well, let me put it this way, I heard Bob Dylan repeating some advice he got on how to live life . "No fear, no envy and no meanness". That  is pretty much how I have tried to live my life. The "no fear" aspect has caused me some difficult times and a lot of bumps and bruises. But the "no fear" approach is the only one I could take to song writing or anything else I did in life.

Early on I realized that if you compromise you integrity out of fear, you will loose the only thing you can ever own. I have found that not letting fear get in your way lets you look in places for enlightenment that you might not otherwise explore. If you fear a god or person or ideology or anything else, the fear will manage your life rather than you managing it. Also, I don't think you ever have to prove "bravery" to others. It just invites "stupid tests". And I feel there is clear difference between being fearless and being stupid.

What's the greatest accolade you've had as an artist? I don't mean monetary or meaningless awards, but something where you had a compliment from a real sincere source that has made you think it has all been worthwhile?

Well, I personally don't care about accolades, but the fact that people still listen to the CA Quintet for the music (not just collect it for the monetary value of it as a collectors item) is rewarding to me only in the sense that I am happy that the other guys in the band that actually made the music got to share it with other.

My music writing was not the key to the sound of the album, it was the creativity of the other musicians in the band that made it what it was. And because of that I can stand back and appreciate it without feeling "conceited" or whatever you want to call it.. I just brought the recipe, they cooked the meal.

Would you say that the key to making a great underground Psychedelic album is primarily by accident rather than meticulous planning?

The honest truth is we had no idea we were making a "Psychedelic" album. We were just making an album that came naturally to us. It wasn't until many years later when I found out there was still interest in the album, that I found out it was classified as "Psychedelic". But, there was a lot of meticulous planning that we put into the effort. Many hours of making rough cuts of things, listening to them, and then going back and re-doing them.

Were you inspired by the British bands of the 1960's; Pink Floyd, Beatles, Stones, etc? And which American bands did you listen and become inspired by when you were learning your art?

I listened to all of them of course but I also listened to a wide variety of other musicians as I was growing up. I liked everyone from Ray Charles to Jimi Hendrix to Bach to Jazz to Top 40. I was just a sponge soaking up any music that moved.

What's this about you playing the bugle in your backyard to wake up your neighbours?

The highest purpose in this universe is to create an effect. Hopefully a good one. My nearest neighbours are a half a mile away, so I had to play pretty loud. My son bought me a bugle for Christmas a few years ago. It was the only thing I could think of that I wanted. My neighbours now know when "Ken's has had a few beers".. But, I think I play better after I "wet my whistle".

What's the natural environment you feel most at home within? The desert, mountains, wheat fields, forests, the sea? Or do you prefer the city and urban terrain? What environment offers you the creative space to release your art?

I feel comfortable everywhere but I have been taking care of 50 acres of forest here for the last 35 years.. I have little paths and road all over the place. I am just a big kid playing in a big sandbox. However, the physical space I am in to create doesn't matter. Unless you are talking inner space. that is a place you "go" to.

What sort of philosophy have you read/studied/been inspired by? Do you use philosophy to shape your world view or artistic endeavours?

I would say my philosophy is built from the Greeks and eastern philosophers. I find it amazing how deep one has to dig to find any wisdom in some cultures and societies. Then in other countries, philosophy is their national pastime.

The country I live in (the United States) is very devoid at this point in time of any root philosophy or wisdom. I think we were starting to "get it" a couple of hundred years ago and again perhaps a little bit in the late 60s and early 70s but it has taken hold and become part of our national identity. We are a country obsessed (some say blessed that is a joke) with possessions, shallow artificial entertainment, arbitrary moral codes (verses philosophy) and religious practices (rituals). The highest purpose we aspire to here is "to go to Disneyland".

So, I guess I am just stuck here on "vacation" this lifetime. Or one could say I am taking this "life off" so to speak.

The last group I played with in the early 70s (Gangbusters) was the best group of musicians technically I ever played with. But, they quit the music business all together around 1974. But, I continued on with my 12 string guitar writing music. I hoped to record some of the music someday but life took me in many other directions and I never got around to it. I have written over 100 songs in the last few decades that I would consider "keepers". Many of them I recorded just by myself, over-dubbing parts, much like I did prior to the Trip Thru Hell Album.

As the years passed, I kept transferring the songs along as technology progressed. Some were originally on cassette recordings, others on reel to reel. I now have them copied to digital so the sound will stop deteriorating. I have many. I attached the lyrics to a couple of them for you. At the C.A. Quintet reunion a few years back, we played "Living in a Personal World".

Would you consider another reunion with the band?

To get the C.A. Quintet back together would be impossible. Tom Pohling (my favourite guitar player) is no longer with us. Doug Reynolds is ill. And we are all getting along in age. I would enjoy giving some of these songs to some younger guys and see what they can do with them. It might be a lot of fun. I am not sure logistically how all this could happen, but winter is coming here soon and I will have more time in-doors to attempt to do some of this. With the internet, etc, this could be worked out.

Who knows, maybe I could get to a recording session in person with some group sometime and put my 2 cents in. I have only been to Europe one time, but I loved it.