East Of Eden were formed in 1967 in Bristol, and were originally called Pictures Of Dorian Gray, consisting of multi-instrumentalist Dave Arbus on violin, flute, saxophone and trumpet, Ron Caines on alto saxophone, Geoff Nicholson on guitar and vocals, Mike Price on bass, and Stuart Rossiter on drums. Price left in spring 1968 and was replaced by Terry Brace, and vocalist Al Read joined at the same time. With this line-up the band released the now very rare single 'King Of Siam' in July 1968, but two months later Brace and Rossiter left the band, to be replaced by Steve York and Dave Dufort. That same year the band moved to London, and were offered a recording contract with Deram Records, with whom they released their debut album 'Mercator Projected' in 1969. Following the relase of the record, Dufort left and in came Bryan Appleyard, who was himself replaced in June 1969 by Geoff Britton, with Andy Sneddon replacing York, and this line-up released the 'Snafu' album in 1970, followed by a German-only compilation cashing in on their surprise hit single 'Jig-a-Jig' in 1971. Two more albums were issued in 1971, and a couple of years later Arbus left his band, to be replaced by Joe O'Donnell, heralding a new phase for East Of Eden, who released four more albums before breaking up in 1978. This album collects together both sides of that rare first single, some previously unreleased studio recordings, including an alternate take of 'Jig-a-Jig', and some non-album singles and their b-sides from later in their career. If you don't know the band and like what you hear, then do check out their first two albums, which are masterpieces of progressive rock.
Track listing
01 King Of Siam (single 1968)
02 Ballad Of Harvey Kaye (b-side of 'King Of Siam')
03 Eight Miles High (previously unreleased)
04 Jig-A-Jig (alternate version)
05 Blue Boar Blues (previously unreleased)
06 Petite Fille (previously unreleased)
07 Biffin Bridge (previously unreleased)
08 Boogie Woogie Flu (single 1972)
09 Last Dance Of The Clown (b-side of 'Boogie Woogie Flu')
10 Sin City Girls (single 1973)
11 All Our Yesterdays (b-side of 'Sin City Girls')
