ESTRIBOU & JEAN-PAUL PICKENS, GENE - Intensifications

By no means household names, both Jean Paul-Pickens & Gene Estribou levitated around the Bay Area scene and each made a subtle mark along the way: Pickens was one of San Franciscos legendary Diggers and a knockout banjoist with poet David Meltzers folk rock outfit Serpent Power. Gene Estribou famously recorded the Grateful Deads second studio sessions & released their first 45 single in 1965. Footnotes? Sure. But that should only make the discovery of this lost gem all the more tantalizing. Cut in the mid-1960s, Intensifications is an obscure and illuminating slice of Marin county raga folk, a taste of latter day deltadelica thats a must for fans of the acid folk sound old and new. Together, Estribou and Pickens each cut a side of brilliant, meandering unaccompanied instrumentals: Estribou on acoustic guitar and Pickens on banjo. This single document has only ripened with age and should make it clear to anyone who ventures to give it a listen that both Estribou & Pickens deserve their place in the inner sanctum of charismatic acoustic guitar legends. Originally released on Henry Jacobs MEA label. - Locust