St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings
| St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings | |
|---|---|
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| Studio album by Stalk-Forrest Group | |
| Released | 23 April 2001 |
| Recorded | Elektra Sound Recorders, New York City and Los Angeles, February–May 1970 |
| Genre | Rock, psychedelic rock |
| Label | Elektra, Rhino |
| Producer | Dennis Murphy, Peter Seigel, Jay Lee |
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Allmusic |  |
St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings is a compilation album by the American rock band Stalk-Forrest Group, which would later become the successful hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. The tracks were recorded in 1969 and early 1970, but not officially released until 2001 (aside from a promo-only single of the song "What is Quicksand?" released in 1969 or 1970). The album compiles all the recorded output by the group that was recorded for Elektra Records during their short tenure with the label.
The band (originally known as 'Soft White Underbelly') had recorded demos for Elektra Records in 1969 with original vocalist Les Braunstein. Elektra signed the group based on the demos with a $100,000 advance. When vocalist Braunstein left the band, the group re-recorded the songs in New York with new vocalist, former roadie Eric Bloom. The 10-song album was turned in to Elektra completed, mixed and mastered, ready for release. For reasons unclear, Elektra decided not to put out the recordings and ended their recording contract. Back to square one, the band then recorded new demos of several of the songs for Columbia Records in hopes of scoring a record deal. Some of these Columbia demos eventually surfaced as bonus tracks on the re-mastered version of the first Blue Öyster Cult album in 2001. After being rejected by Columbia as well, manager Sandy Pearlman convinced Elektra Records to give the band another shot, and the group traveled to California in February 1970 to began reworking and re-recording the songs for a full-length album release. Meanwhile, the band had changed its name to Oaxaca, and would soon change it again to Stalk-Forrest Group. Ultimately, after being presented with the two different versions of the album (the one recorded in '69, and the one that featured the new re-worked Feb '70 arrangements), Elektra decided not to release it again, and dropped the band from the label (again). These recordings finally surfaced as a bootleg in the late 1990s. Confusingly, the bootleg was titled Curse of the Hidden Mirrors, after a song on the Elektra album, but Curse of the Hidden Mirror was eventually used as the title of a Blue Öyster Cult studio album in 2001.
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