The Damnation Of Adam Blessing - The Damnation Of Adam Blessing (1969)

Cleveland acid rock combo the Damnation of Adam Blessing was formed in 1968 from the ashes of a pair of local garage bands, the Society and Dust; led by frontman Adam Blessing (Bill Constable), the group also included guitarists Jim Quinn and Bob Kalamasz, bassist Ray Benich, and drummer Bill Schwark. After months of relentless local gigging often as the opener for hometown heroes the James Gang  the Damnation of Adam Blessing signed to United Artists and issued their self-titled debut LP in 1969, followed by a tour in support of the Faces.
The Damnation of Adam Blessing's debut LP was a fairly worthwhile, though inconsistent, record bridging the late psychedelic and early hard rock eras, with occasional strong traces of blues-rock, psychedelia, folk-rock, and pop. The group's strongest ace in standing out from what was, by 1969, a huge deck of new hard rock bands, was singer Adam Blessing, whose full-throated, husky vocals were  unlike those in so many other similar outfits of the time powerful without being bombastic. The original material was often built around jagged riffs that were more blues-rock-influenced than bluesy. "Le Voyage" is a fairly good Midwestern spin on the kind of proto-psychedelic Yardbirds' songs that had haunting choruses and background vocals, and sort of like some of the best efforts in that regard by the likes of, say, the Amboy Dukes: "Hold On" is similar, though not as good. On "Dreams," though, they could almost be an entirely different band, sounding more like the Strawberry Alarm Clock than anyone besides the Strawberry Alarm Clock themselves. As another change of pace, the harpsichord-speckled "Strings and Things" is almost a hard rock-Baroque rock fusion. The covers were indicative of the group's lack of consistent direction, though, with a pretty well-done cover of "Morning Dew," joined by a routine run-through of the blues standard "You Don't Love Me," and an odd, heavy, funk-rock version of the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville."


01.    "Cookbook"   (W. Constable, J.P. Quinn W. chwark, R. Benick R. Kalamasz)  - 3:55 
02.    "Morning Dew"   (B. Dobson, T. Rose)  - 5:15 
03.    "Le' Voyage"   (W. Constable, J.P. Quinn, W. Schwark, R. Benick, R. Kalamasz)  - 3:53 
04.    "You Don't Love Me"   (W. Cobbs)  - 3:18 
05.    "Strings And Things"   (W. Constable)  - 5:45 
06.    "Last Train To Clarksville"  (T. Boyce, B. Hart) - 4:18 
07.    "Dreams"  (W. Constable, J.P. Quinn, W. Schwark, R. Benick, R. Kalamasz)   - 4:52 
08.    "Hold On"  (W. Constable, J.P. Quinn, W. Schwark, R. Benick, R. Kalamasz)   - 2:16 
09.    "Lonely"  (W. Constable, J.P. Quinn, W. Schwark, R. Benick, R. Kalamasz)   - 4:55 

Credits
Adam Blessing (Bill Constable) - Lead Vocals
Bob Kalamasz - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jim Quinn - Rhythm Guitar, Percussion, Electric Pillow, Backing Vocals
Ray Bench - Bass Guitar
Bill Schwark - Drums
Engineer – Ken Hamann
Executive Producer – Eric Stevens

Notes
Art Direction – Frank Gauna
Artwork By [Artist] – Hans Weingaertner
Genre - Psychedelic Rock
Duration - 38:25
© 1969 United Artists Records ‎