South African group Freedom's Children should have achieved a certain level of recognition in their own time. They released a couple of excellent psychedelic rock albums in the early 70s that would have fit in nicely with any high school kid's Yes and Led Zeppelin records. Sadly, few people outside South Africa heard them. Since the early 70s were also the peak of the apartheid era, the road to fame was full of roadblocks. They went to England, but were prevented from legally performing there because of its opposition to apartheid. Additionally, the group's progressive lyrics resulted in much of their music being banned from South African radio. When apartheid finally ended in the 90s, their music became more accessible.
Gentle Beasts is actually a five minutes plus track from their album Astra. The edited version I have is from a compilation called Love, Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music. Guitar and organ fade in, then at around 0:10 there are some repetitive lyrics that I am not able to decipher, something about 'the body begins'? I have googled the lyrics but have found nothing. Well, the vocals are repeated three times until 0:22, at which point the guitar and organ play complementary figures that diverge around 0:29. The guitar turns all trippy reverb acid-rock landscape as the organ draws out chords and the bass and drums keep the rhythm under control. This keeps up for the final 1:30.
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