Title:  The Enlightening Beam of Axonda
Company: Destiny
Catalog: DR 4002
Year: 1972
Country/State: Sacramento, California
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+

Bobby Brown stands as a shining example of a California musical eccentric. By the way, that's meant as a heartfelt compliment, rather than a slam.

Born and raised in Sacramento, California, by the early 1970s Brown was making a living as a one man band, playing up and down the California coast. As shown on the front cover, his act included an impressive home-made rig that contained some 50 instruments that were placed on racks that could be easily loaded and unloaded from a van. Brown would apparently cruise up and down the coast, stopping to play concerts for folks, selling copies of his albums from the back of his van.
 
So what's Brown's 1972 self-produced debut sound like? Well, as you probably guessed from the title, "The Enlightening Beam of Axonda" is pretty spacey, but in a surprisingly laidback and agreeable fashion. Brown had a nice voice (technically I think he'd be called a basso-profundo), that lent itself well to atmospheric tracks such as 'I Must Be Born', 'My Hawaiian Home' and 'Mama Knows Boys a Rambler'. (Brown's liner notes claimed he had a six octave range.) Lyrically Brown's hippy-dippy lyrics were pretty hysterical (here's brief quote from the liner notes: "an original contribution to the field of religion and science based on physics - to my knowledge not yet discovered by other humanoids-more revolutionary that Einsteins (sic) revelations or Newtonian physics - the application of this physics will perhaps (in fact) lead to the most significant changes in the history of humanity (plus total religious unity)." Complete with between-the-songs narratives, the album almost qualifies as a concept piece with a plotline apparently having to do with Brown's search for fulfillment, though I'm not quite sure how the space aliens and space travel fit into the storyline (?), That said, be warned that nothing here exactly rocks. Most of the ten tracks are quite melodic, tough in a new age kind of way. In fact, stuff such as 'Tiny Wind of Shanol' and 'Axonda' would be right at home playing as background music in something like the Nature Store. There are a couple of exceptions. 'Mamba Che Chay' was pretty experimental and did little for my ears, while 'Preparation Dimension of Heaven' sounded like a bad lounge act effort. Still, the set's goofy enough to be intriguing.  

"The Enlightening Beam of Axonda" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) I Must Be Born (Bobby Brown) - 
2.) My Hawaiian Home (Bobby Brown) - 
3.) Mama Knows Boys a Rambler (Bobby Brown) - 
4.) Mamba Che Chay (Bobby Brown) - 
5.) Oneness with the Forest (Bobby Brown) - 

(side 2)
1.) Tiny Wind of Shanol (Bobby Brown) - 
2.) Brat (Bobby Brown) - 
3.) Axonda (Bobby Brown) - 
4.) Going On Through (Bobby Brown) - 
5.) Preparation Dimension of Heaven (Bobby Brown) - 

This is apparently one of the earlier pressing. You can tell by the back cover which says additional copies of the LP are available for $5.00. The more recent the pressing, the more expensive the cost. Hey, he was available for parties, weddings and concerts - call 1 916 372 3176 (seriously, the phone number is 30 years old so don't try it ...)

Seeing Brown live must have been quite an experience. I can only wonder how his eccentric catalog would have gone over with a beach crowd. Anyone out there ever see him in person?