Description

Sam Hunt / Mammal – Beware the Man

Released: 1972 | Red Rat Records | Original New Zealand Pressing | LP

A fascinating and highly distinctive piece of early-1970s New Zealand music, Beware the Man brings together poet Sam Hunt with Wellington band Mammal, combining Hunt’s poetry and readings with original musical settings by Tony Backhouse and Ian McDonald.

Recorded at NZBC’s Studio 2 in Wellington, the album moves between spoken poetry, psychedelic rock, folk, electronic soundscapes and more conventional song structures. The Alex Lindsay String Quartet also appears, adding another unusual dimension to the record.

The album captures something quite distinctive about New Zealand’s counterculture of the early 1970s. Mammal were known for their psychedelic funk and adventurous live performances, while the collaboration with Hunt produced a record that was considerably more experimental than a conventional rock album.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. A Valley Called Moonshine
2. Beware the Man
3. A Wind of Wolves
4. Walking the Morning City
5. Hot Water Baby Bottle Baby Blues
6. Sandshoe Shuffle
7. When Morning Comes
8. Lyn
9. Collision
10. Con the Man & Melissa
11. Bracken Country

A rare and historically important piece of New Zealand vinyl, particularly appealing to collectors of NZ music, poetry, psychedelia and early-1970s counterculture recordings.