purple image

• Digitally remastered for enhanced sound quality
• Background liners
• Rare Archival Photos

Cleveland’s Purple Image faced an uphill climb in an era and country that expected ‘negro’ music from its ‘negroes’. In a Hendrix landscape, young, black bands had slowly started to emerge from the soul neighbourhoods and R&B backdrop. Purple Image traded on a thumping, harder-than-Parliament psychedelic noise fortified by powerful group vocals and the twin guitar attack of Ken Roberts and Frank Smith. Aside from their singles and super rare album, they managed only a few profile gigs with the likes of Steppenwolf and Country Joe as a local support act. However, along with bands such as Black Merda, Fugi, Pure Hell and Death, Purple Image would inevitably lay the foundations for future black crossover acts such as Fishbone, Bad Brains, Living Colour et al. Stoned Circle proudly presents the intoxicating head sounds of Cleveland’s psychedelic upstarts. Equipped with the essential period quota of fuzz, wah-wah and organ, their sound could best be described as: ‘purple with yellow flashes’. Professionally re-mastered original sound recording with expansive liners and rare archival photos.

Track listing:

1. Living In The Ghetto
2. Why
3. Lady
4. We Got To Pull Together
5. What You Do To Me
6. Marching To A Different Drummer