C. A. Quintet – Trip Thru Hell

It isn't listed on Discogs but there is another Candy Floss counterfeit floating around out there, similar to the 80s counterfeit (and being sold as such) but without the textured cover (glossy cardstock sleeve) and using the Sundazed remaster.

This album actually scares me. Like I had a panic attack while listening to Trip Thru Hell Pt.2.

9/10 stars besides the literal panic attack.

Hello this is Ken Erwin producer writer of the Trip Thru Hell album
There is a TOTAL FAKE "reissue" of the album claiming it is on the Candy Floss label... this is a scam.... there is only one record on the Candy Floss label in 1965 . DO NOT be fooled this is a TOTAL FAKE...
Trip Thru Hell ‎(LP, Album, RE, Unofficial) Candy Floss (3) CF-7764S Unknown
The fake can easily be identified by the incorrect color on the label and cover
Anyone wishing to me or has information on this feel free to me at [email protected]

This recording is a fine example for a nice talented pop group going bizarre according to the circumstances of 1968 while being given artistic freedom in the studio and refering to sound collage techniques and trying out pre-historic effect gimmickry such as primitive drum phasing and lots of things like that or getting in to music concrete or pastoral song-writing like the Floyd did in "A Saucerful of Secrets", of course they may never have heard the Floyd in the U.S. at this time.
Absolute weird in any case and very strange and obscure serving as a soundtrack to a film that never existed except in one´s own mind.
There are also some great additional tracks in the Sundazed version to be convinced that in fact this group was just a very nice monkey-group doing average song writing business until then before going down to do this extraordinary mind blowing and experimental horror landscaping and trying out record engineering as some kind of happening thing to make you feel comfortably uncomfortable. The title track is a freak out like the aforementionedd Floyd thing which could only occur at the end of the sixties.
It sounds much too dated today to be overheard so that it has to be recognized outstandingly and should be sunk in a time-capsule as an example of doing a psychedelic record happening to imitate lazy drug experience.

I have a sealed 2 record version from Sundazed so do not know the vinyl color. I also have an opened 2 record set from sundazed and the vinyls are both black.

Not many psychedelic rock bands are known to have come out of Minnesota. Supposedly, the cold whether is much too hard to bear. However, one of the most obscure of the 1960’s psychedelic era’s outputs found its roots here. In 1963, Bob Navarro, Mike Stankey and Gary Davis, three friends from Hill-Murray High School in Maplewood, Minnesota, start a band called Buster Brown. Mike played drums, Bob played keyboard and Gary played guitar and sang lead vocals. Although there is very limited history available about this group, it is considered the precursor to the legendary Minneapolis band, C. A. Quintet. Soon, the three friends ask Ken Erwin, C. A. Quintets main songwriter and lyricist, if he would be interested in ing their band as a guitarist and singer. Ken agrees and also brings in his brother Jim Erwin to play bass
In 1964, as the three original friends who started Buster Brown went off to attend college, they are replaced by Tom Reid on keyboard, Paul Samuels on drums and Larry Honhart on guitar. The group also decides to change their name to Beethoven’s Mafia, although the name does not stick for long. When auditioning to play at a music venue in Mendota Heights, Minnesota called Bobby’s; Bobby McCay suggests they instead call themselves The C. A. Quintet, which they promptly agreed to. The band would then become regular performers at Bobby’s. Although this is how history tells the legend, Rick Johnson claims that the name was thought up by Ken who meant it to simply mean (See) a Quintet.
During 1965, Doug Reynolds who was with another group called Don E. and The Kostirs replaces Tom. Tom Pohling also replaces Larry. At this point, arguably, is when C. A. Quintet began to use trumpet in many of their songs, played by Ken Erwin. During the summer of love; 1967, the band records a 7” single at Dove Recording Studio which would then be released on the obscure Falcon record label run by Peter May, a radio disc jockey. With Dale Menten producing the record, the ‘A’ side contained a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Mickey Monday” and the ‘B’ side contained an original written by Doug Reynolds called “I Want You To Love Me, Girl”. The same year, the band records another 7” single with two original songs written by songwriter David Sandler, “She’s Got to be True” and “Blow to My Soul”, which showcase his piano abilities.
In 1968, Paul Samuels leaves the group and is replaced by Rick Johnson, who had been playing with a band called The Tabs. This not only comes the point when the band took seriously artistic direction, but this would also be the lineup that would record and release the legendary Trip Thru Hell album that continues to baffle and astound psychedelic rock enthusiasts to this day. C. A. Quintet then releases the bands final 7” single with two songs that would become quintessential studio recordings, “Smooth as Silk” and “Dr. of Philosophy”. The obscure Candy Floss label would press and distribute this record, as well as their forthcoming Trip Thru Hell album.
Trip Thru Hell would be released in 1969. Full of dark, eerie organ work, Spanish inspired trumpet, mysterious vocal harmonies, monstrous drums and incredible innovative guitar work, it is no wonder that Trip Thru Hell remains an inspiring and enigmatic remnant of the late 1960’s psychedelic sound. The albums opener, Trip Thru Hell, pt. 1, is an explosive nine minute opus that is a prelude to the albums ominous ascetic. Rod Eaton, an employee of Dove Recording Studio, designed the famous cover artwork for the album.
Unfortunately, very few copies of Trip Thru Hell were pressed (less than 1,000) and the band did not receive very much exposure outside of their local area and somewhat regionally. In 1969, Rick Johnson and Doug Reynolds soon leave the group and are replaced by Rick Patron and Tony Wright, respectively. To make matters worse, Jim Erwin, the brother of bandleader Ken Erwin, and Tony Wright leave the group in 1970. The C. A. Quintet performed their last concert at Lake Pepin High School in early 1971.
Although Trip Thru Hell was rereleased in both CD and vinyl format years after its 1969 release, the band would not reunite on stage again until the late 1990’s. Trip Thru Hell is considered a highly influential album of this era with cult status. It has been rereleased on Sundazed Records as well as an unofficial release by the bootleg record company, Psycho Records.