Discography:

The Truth (SUBLP-14)
The Truth (SUBCD-15)

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"Connecticut hippie philosopher concocts homemade lounge-psych masterpiece.

In the late 60s and early 70s, long before ‘lo-fi’ became a hip credential, many frustrated musicians funded and produced their own records, despairing of ever being offered a deal. These private pressings tended to appear in issues of 99 or 999 copies, the cheapest runs possible. As today’s collectors forage ever more desperately for lost classics, these often excruciatingly bad albums are frequently pounced upon and pronounced lost masterpieces. Occasionally the hype is justified. A handful are now firmly established classics, the few known copies selling for well into four figures. Foremost among these is Connecticut’s mighty D. R. Hooker, who made a magnificently strange and tuneful album in 1972 before seeming to vanish forever.

Tempting as it is to exaggerate the worth of such obscurities, The Truth deserves every plaudit that comes its way, making it astonishing that there was no real band to speak of. Instead ten musicians are credited alongside the mysterious Donald Hooker, who wrote, sang and played lead on the album. Culled from the local music scene, they rehearsed only briefly before entering the studio. Tom Kobela, who plays dobro on The Truth, remembers that Hooker ‘was a very likable, long-haired fellow’ with a most unusual appearance. Heavily bearded and very thin, he looks nothing short of messianic on the front cover. Kobela recalls that ‘D.R. wore robes, which was pushing the dress code conventions even then.’ Despite his wasted appearance, though, he knew exactly what he wanted in the studio. ‘He had a real sense of mission’, says Kobela. ‘He was way ahead of me there!’

Heralded by an eerie whoosh, the first track, ‘The Sea’, exemplifies the album’s sound: a strong melody, funky drumming and percussion and piercing guitar underpin oddly philosophical, quasi-Christian lyrics. Some songs are mellow (the lethargic  ‘Weather Girl’ and plain soporific ‘Falling Asleep’), whilst others rock hard (‘I’m Leaving You’ and ‘The Truth’). Other highlights include the irresistibly funky ‘A Stranger’s Smile’ and the beautifully structured ‘This Thing’. But the album’s masterpiece is the unforgettable ‘Forge Your Own Chains’, whose smouldering groove, enlivened by delicate synth and atmospheric brass, provides the backing for Hooker’s admonitory lyrics about the iniquities of substance abuse.

Despite the profusion of musicians involved, The Truth has a remarkably intimate, uncluttered feel - no small achievement. Kobela, however, admits that ‘at the time I thought D.R. overestimated his own talents. I’ve since learnt not to judge people so quickly.’ The group, such as it was, split as soon as the recording was complete and that was that. ‘I never heard the final mix of the album or even saw the cover art’, Kobela continues, only learning of its cult status when, to his amazement, he stumbled across it on the internet."

Reviews:

One of the big private press classics. Covers all the bases in an impressive manner, the songwriting, his awesome voice, the elaborate psychrock soundscape, even the lyrics are excellent. A good LP to play for your non-collector friends, although it's not without detractors among mainstream psych heads, who probably can't handle the ego-mania and lounge moves that are part of what makes these 70s albums so great. The vinyl re is exact w/ lyric sheet. His second LP "Armageddon" is well worth getting too, and appears as bonus tracks on the CD reissue. – The Lama / Lama Reviews