Imagine an early 1970s obscurity where the album actually lives up to the hype !!! Easily one of the coolest acts Capitol Records signed in the 1970s (and one of the least known), East was a five piece Japanese rock band. Featuring the talents of drummer Fumio Adachi, bass player Noboru Asahi, multi-instrumentalist Gen Morita, singer/guitarist Ruese Seto, and multi-instrumental Ted Yoshikawa you've got to wonder how the group ended up signed by Capitol. Judging by their terrific 1972 self-titled debut you also have to wonder how Capitol missed the opportunity to turn these guys into international stars.

With Seto handling most of the writing chores (Morita and Yoshikawa each contributed one song), this wasn't a Japanese rock album, rather it was an American rock album with occasional Japanese influences. Those influences ranged from early-1960s folk ('Lumberer Moses') to late-1960s West Coast psych ('Beautiful Morning'). The distinction was more than simple semantics since these guys had clearly absorbed more than their share of US culture. I've played this one for dozens of friends; all of them amazed to discover the band's nationality. As lead vocalist Seto was quite impressive. Not only was his English flawless (the liner notes indicated he learned it traveling in India), but he had a voice that was dynamic and instantly likeable. The rest of the band were equally talented, effortlessly shifting gears between traditional Japanese instrumentation and straight ahead rock. Drummer Adachi and bassist Asahi were especially good.