Hunger - Strictly From Hunger / Lost Album (1969) [1999]

Hunger was originally from Portland, OR, but moved to Los Angeles in the late '60s and began to attract some attention by being an opening act for such top bands as The Doors and The Strawberry Alarm Clock. In 1968 the band released its only album, Strictly From Hunger!, which became sought after by psychedelic collectors and established the band firmly in the California psychedelic hard rock scene. The album that was originally released for the Public label in 1969, was the second incarnation of the same album that originally featured the guitar work of Ed King, who would later play with the Strawberry Alarm Clock and Lynyard Skynyrd. This CD set contains both versions of that album with the first arrangement being titled "The Lost Album" as originally released on Bill Holm's All American Records label. The material on the album was heavy psychedelic rock, with influences from the Doors and Jefferson Airplane. While the music of Hunger contained a more ominous overtone than most psychedelic music of the era, it did reflect a particular period in the history of the L.A. music scene and contained some strong songwriting. Unfortunately, due to some unlucky breaks such and the band's equipment being stolen twice in the same year, the band broke up in the height of their popularity. This set also contains a single for the Public label and therefore contains all of this band's recorded output.