Rising Sons (2) Featuring Taj Mahal And Ry Cooder – Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal And Ry Cooder

Rising Sons was a five-piece band of which Cooder & Mahal were prominent members from inception in '64 to disbanding in '66. The "Featuring" on this release is mainly due to their later success in their solo careers and their popularity in the early '90s, when this collection was released.

The recordings on this record were made in 1965 and 1966 for an album. Note: the back of the LP and CD both incorrectly state that the original recordings were made in 1964. But the track listings and other documentation show the recordings came later after the bands popularity grew in the LA club circuit.

Unfortunately in 1966 the band broke up and Columbia Records shelved the record project. 25 years later Taj Mahal "dug the recordings out of the vault". For 3 of the tracks (18, 19, and 20) the vocals were either missing of not off the quality that Taj felt was right, so he recorded new vocals for these tracks in 1992.

For completeness, Rising Sons' only two previously released songs, the single "Candy Man" backed with "The Devil's Got My Woman" (released in 1966), were included in this release.

After the break-up Mahal followed a successful solo career as a blues artist. Cooder performed with & produced early Beefheart material (as did Marker) before following a successful solo career. Cassidy was a founder of Spirit and Kelly joined his cousin Chris Hillman's band The Byrds.