Our Lady of Perpetual Obsolescence Vinyl Rescue Mission and Orphanage

A recent rescue sweep turned up this island treat from The Citations, a calypso/popular group that used to entertain vacationers at the Grand Bahama Hotel during the 1970s and 80s.
The Citations were founded by the group’s drummer and lead vocalist, Wendell ‘Swain’ Armbrister in 1975. The group was a popular one in the Bahamas and worked in many of the hotels on Grand Bahama Island. The Citations played regularly until the 1990s but disbanded when their lead guitarist, Henry Garland, was murdered during a robbery in his home. Mr. Armbrister died in 2006 at the age of 63. There is a recorded interview with Mr. Armbrister where he talks about the Citations and his conversion to born again Christianity here, and some more information about Mr. Armbrister and the group here.

This recording is the first album (out of six) that the Citations recorded. The guys put out a lot of sound for a four piece, due to the seamless way their intricate individual parts fit together. Although they sound great on the ‘standard’ tourist music, the more impressive tracks on the album are the ones where they either put a different spin on an older tune (Yellow Bird) or cover a tune not usually associated with island music (Annie’s Song).

One thing that I wish I could share with everyone reading this is the way the album smells. I don’t know if this is the result of where it was sold or the environment it was kept in, but the inner sleeve has a really strong incense aroma. Every time I take the album out I feel like I’ve stepped inside of a head shop. Have fun listening and as always, Enjoy!

Download all the mp3s and cover art in one 64 MB zip file.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Album Shares. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.