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• First-ever complete anthology of hugely collectable early 70s Italian psych/folk/prog band.
• Heavily influenced by early Jefferson Airplane with lead female vocals and English language lyrics.
Fronted by Grace Slick-influenced singer Silvana Aliotta, Circus 2000 formed in Turin, north Italy in late 1969 in an attempt to emulate their British and American psychedelic heroes.
They made their vinyl debut a year later with a self-titled album featuring such superb, quasi-mystical songs as ‘Magic Bean’, ‘The Lord, He Has No Hands’ and the dramatic ‘I Am The Witch’.
But the band struggled to find an audience, their guitar-led, song-based nature and English language vocals leaving them out of step with the complex, keyboard-based Italian progressive scene flourishing all around them.
After developing a more improvisational, underground-friendly sound on the thriving Italian festival circuit, they returned with a second album, ‘An Escape From A Box’.
Now regarded by European psychedelic collectors as their masterpiece, this five-track album welded their original Jefferson Airplane leanings with expansive Pink Floyd-esque arrangements that peaked on Side Two with the epic ‘Need’ and the spooked, climactic closer ‘When The Sun Refuses To Shine’.
Unable to make a commercial impact, the band broke up shortly afterwards, and it would be a couple of decades before Circus 2000’s music began to receive the attention that it deserved.
The first-ever complete anthology of their career, ‘I Am The Witch’ naturally includes both of their highly sought-after albums as well as stand-alone singles, alternative versions and tracks that were intended for an aborted third album. Housed in a stylish digipak, it includes a new essay on their history, band quotes and some rare photos.
Tracklist
DISC ONE
1 I CAN’T BELIEVE
2 TRY TO LIVE
3 MUST WALK FOREVER
4 SUN WILL SHINE
5 I JUST CAN’T STAY
6 I AM THE WITCH
7 MAGIC BEAN
8 WHILE YOU’RE SLEEPING
9 TRY ALL DAY
10 THE LORD, HE HAS NO HANDS
Bonus tracks
11 IO LA STREGA (I AM THE WITCH)
12 PIOGGIA SOTTILE (I CAN’T BELIEVE)
13 I AM THE WITCH
14 I CAN’T BELIEVE
15 REGALAMI UN SABATO SERA
16 HO REGALATO I CAPELLI
1-10 The album Circus 2000, Italian Rifi RFL ST 14049, November 1970
11-12 Italian language single, Italian Rifi RFN NP 16424, November 1970
13-14 English language single, mono Italian Rifi RFN NP 16443, March 1971
15-16 Italian language single, Italian Rifi RFN NP 16444, April 1971
DISC TWO
1 HEY MAN
2 YOU AREN’T LISTENING
3 OUR FATHER
4 NEED
5 WHEN THE SUN REFUSES TO SHINE
Bonus tracks
6 NEED (edited version)
7 HEY MAN (Parte 1)
8 HEY MAN (Parte 2)
9 DOVE VA LA MIA GENTE
10 L’ULTIMO PAESE