Ame Son

The origins of Ame Son go back to the mid-sixties, when Bernard Lavialle (guitar), Bernard Stisi (guitar, vocals), Patrick Fontaine (bass) and Marc Blanc (drums) formed Les Primitivs circa 1965. They took the Parisian stages with a Yardbirds/Pretty Things inspired wild R&B set, and they kept active until Stisi left in 1967. At that point they changed their name to Expression, and with a more experimental approach they took their newly find free rock sound a la Soft Machine to night clubs and also to exhibitions of modern art. It was around that time that Marc Blanc met Australian ex-patriate Daevid Allen, who had been the guitarist with the Soft Machine until he hadn't been allowed to return to the UK after some south of France gigs of the band. Allen settled in Paris where he would form Gong, but before that he was to be joined by Blanc and Fontaine in his new project Banana Moon. After the Banana Moon period Lavialle, Fontaine, Blanc and flutist Francois Garrel regrouped under the name of Ame Son and were featured with great acclaim on some of the most important festivals of the era. The BYG label signed them and in 1970 they recorded their now legendary LP. The album was conceived pretty quickly and it has a spontaneous, energetic psychedelic/free rock feel with a pretty psychedelic prog sound that drinks from the same springs as bands such as Gong, the Soft Machine, the Pink Floyd or Guru Guru. Ame Son were one of the earliest French rock bands to go beyond the conventional rock and roll of the time, and Catalyse is considered to be one of the first truly progressive/underground efforts at thrity-three tours in France. The Wah Wah reissue features the original German gatefold cover, remastered sound, a repro of a very cool original Ame Son period poster plus photos and liner notes. Strictly limited to only 500 copies."