Dec 14

Beast

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The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for December 2009:  BEAST

When I was still in high school, I joined a friend at one of his friend’s houses.  I had just started listening to the local college radio station, and my own suggestions of songs (“Triad” by Jefferson Airplane was one) earned me only disdainful looks – well deserved, too, once I started hearing his record collection.  I was starting to gain some recognition as the first high-profile Bob Dylan fan in my age group, but this day showed me that I still had a lot to learn.  It was one of those times in my life when I really wish I had been taking notes, but the band that stuck with me over the years was BEAST.

Beast – also called the Beast and the Incredible Beast – was formed in Colorado Springs in 1968 and opened for the Who there in August 1968.  The band also hosted the Battle of the Bands in Colorado Springs in 1969.  Beast has a website, www.bobyeazel.com/Beast.htm, but scarcely any mention at all on Allmusic and nothing yet on Wikipedia.

Beast released two albums, and as far as I know, neither is yet available on CD.  The album I heard, Beast was released on Cotillion Records; to my delight, it was one of the first LP’s that I “rescued” from the Katrina debris.  Despite a “warble” in the sound due to severe warping and ground-in mud, I have played it numerous times, and it sounds as great as ever.  The album opens with what sounds like animal grunts (according to their website, the bandmembers were crowded around a mike chanting “Rush”), followed by a wild scream.  Surprisingly, though, the songs that follow are quite mellow, with a hippie feel and some nice woodwinds.  They had a later album called Higher . . . & . . . Higher with a very thin album cover; I managed to find them both, but they are quite scarce.  I really don’t know why they vanished from the musical landscape so completely, but what can you do?

One of the bandmembers, Bob Yeazel (who also runs the website) had been a member of the legendary West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band a few months earlier, and he later joined Sugarloaf (“Green Eyed Lady”, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You”).
 
(December 2009)

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Items:    Beast  
 
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Flashback:   The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for December 2009 – BEAST

I really didn’t expect to find anything on YouTube by this Beast, and I did have to hunt around quite a bit; but I finally stumbled onto several songs of theirs.  None of them are videos; there is just a shot of the Beast album cover in each case.   Apparently one person recorded every song on their first album, and others had recorded selected songs.  The first song listed below is the opening cut on the album, which features chanting that sounds like animal grunts; the second is another good song that is a little different.  If you like what you hear, there are plenty more that you could check out also.

I haven’t ever heard another band that is quite like Beast – the nice woodwind work is rare enough in itself – but if you know of one, please let me know!

“Floating (Down by the River)” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK7D6Kq9p8I 

“Listen” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkPiSMAA7s

(December 2011)

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Picture Gallery:   The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for December 2009 – BEAST

Also known as the Incredible Beast (and if you are trying to find them on the Internet, that’s a much easier search), there isn’t much out there other than what is available on a website managed by Bob Yeazel, www.bobyeazel.com/Beast.htm .  This band Beast set the standard for what I was trying to accomplish in all of my posts:  showcasing unknown bands that didn’t sound like anybody else. 
 
Anyway, here goes; these are the albums by Beast that I have, Beast and Higher . . . & . . . Higher; I found the second one first as it happens. 
 

  

 

  

 

This is the back of the second album that shows a few photos: 

 

  

  

Here is a promo poster that does the same: 

 

  

 

(December 2012)

 
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It was about a year ago that I started my series on Under-Appreciated Rock Bands of the Month (including one Under-Appreciated Rock Artist of the Month), to celebrate the more obscure albums and bands in my record collection that had not yet been profiled in Wikipedia.  The list shows a wide-ranging list of types of music I think: 
 
December 2009 – BEAST, 1960’s hippie-flavored rock band (2 albums) 
 
January 2010 – WENDY WALDMAN, 1970’s singer-songwriter (6 albums) 
 
February 2010 – CYRUS ERIE, 1960’s garage rock band (single) 
 
March 2010 – BANG, 1970’s hard rock band (4 albums) 
 
April 2010 – THE BREAKAWAYS, 1970’s power pop rock band (several singles; retrospective album) 
 
May 2010 – THE NOT QUITE, 1980’s psychedelic revival rock band (3 albums) 
 
June 2010 – WATERLILLIES, 1990’s electronica rock band (2 albums) 
 
July 2010 – THE EYES, 1970’s punk rock band (several singles) 
 
August 2010 – QUEEN ANNE’S LACE, 1960’s pop-psychedelic rock band (1 album) 
 
September 2010 – THE STILLROVEN, 1960’s garage rock band (several singles; retrospective album) 
 
October 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN, 1960’s instrumental rock band (several singles; retrospective album) 
 
November 2010 – SLOVENLY, 1980’s indie rock band (5 albums) 
 
(Year 1 Review)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021