Biography
A collective of session players united under the name Zodiac to realize the astral-camp psychedelia crafted by Mort Gorson’s music and Jacques Wilson’s words for the 1967 release Cosmic Sounds. The outcome blended the psychedelic rock of Sunset Strip with the sort of background scoring that accompanied alien appearances on the original Star Trek. Twelve selections, each titled for a zodiac sign, justified the album’s cosmic theme. Narrator Cyrus Faryar struck a midpoint between Timothy Leary and Rod McKuen while delivering extravagantly spacey recitations for every stage of the astrological sequence. Although the record contains no singing, its instrumental foundations—most notably Paul Beaver’s electronic contributions—display considerable ingenuity. Whether this unpolished psychedelic venture was offered in earnest or as an ironic jest remains unclear. Nevertheless, in 1996 Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues named it among the influences behind Days of Future Passed.
Albums
