Available
Nirvana (uk)
Dedicated To Markos Iii (+7")
Nirvana's third LP is a masterpiece of late UK sixties popsike turning into symphonic pop, but not having received
proper promotion despite being equally good as, if not better than their previous releases, it also marked the end of
the collaborations between Patrick Campbel-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos back in 1969. Nirvana presented it to Island boss
Chris Blackwell under the title of 'Black Flower.' Blackwell, however, decided to turn it down for release, but gave the
masters to Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos so they could find a new label to release the album. That was to happen in the
USA through Metromedia Records in 1969. At that time, the label's owner went through a scandal due to the payola days,
which left Nirvana's third offering without any promotion - as a result of that, very few copies were pressed. There was
also a UK release on PYE and it was even released by Metromedia in Japan. However, for years it remained as "the lost"
Nirvana release, with the added fact that none of the released editions launched the album under its original title of
'Black Flower' but under the rather cryptic 'Dedicated To Markos III' (read why in the liner notes!). Musically, this is
Nirvana at their best. The tune that should have been the title track, 'Black Flower,' is an incredible piece of
symphonic psychedelia and probably the best produced Nirvana track ever. Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos were backed for
the occasion by Spooky Tooth, who played on many tracks of the album, and big orchestral arrangements mesmerize the
listener in one of the duo's darkest offerings. This song aside, the rest of the album was deemed as sounding too much
like a French soundtrack by Island, which may do at some points -without that being a bad thing,- but there is a lot
more to it, since Nirvana have not lost that popsike edge that characterised their sound in their two previous outings.
This is also a record that was widely acclaimed in the hip hop scene. And samplers of it have been used by several
artists, most notably DJ Shadow used 'Love Suite' in his 1996 debut album 'Endtroducing.' The Wah Wah edition has been
remastered from the original tapes by Roger Prades at Prades Mastering and comes with a bonus 7" EP (featuring the
tracks 'We Can Make It Through,' 'Love Suite Take 2' and 'June') and a four page colour insert with liner notes by
Malcom Dome, plus a sheet with the lyrics of the songs. First ever official vinyl reissue since 1970 in a limited
edition of 500 copies only!
Price
€ 31.95
Genre
Format
LP - 1 disk
Release
23-01-2023
Label
Item-nr
530098
EAN
4040824092290
Availability
In stock