Dr. Hooker - The Truth (1972) Formed: New Haven, CT, United States Members: D.R. Hooker (vocals, guitar), Vincent de Paul Linus Pasternack (guitar), George Sheck (bass), Nick Oliva (keyboards), Tom Kobela (dobro), Rick Sanders (syntheziser), Art Ryerson (electric piano, background vocals), Haywood Sheck (drums), Ken Lovelett (percussion, vibes), Carroll Yanni (lead guitar), Bert McDevitt (drums), Bob Reardon (keyboards), Steve Malkan (bass) Widely cited as one of the most important private press releases in all 1970s psychedelia, D.R. Hooker's The Truth might actually be one of those obscure lost gems that's worth the customarily inordinate amount of interest such period pieces are afforded. D.R. Hooker was a man slightly askew with his time: from the robes he wears on the cover to the quasi mystical lyrics, he's very much connected to the hippy era, and given that this album was recorded in 1972, in a time post-Charles Manson, he was brave to associate so strongly with all the imagery pertaining to cults. Musically, Hooker looks beyond the parameters of the hippy movement, dipping into a more ambitiously studio-oriented sound than Hooker's half-troubadour, half-prophet image on the sleeve might suggest. The noisy, fuzzy elements are particularly effective, and surprisingly intricate in their arrangement and recording. 'Forge Your Own Chains' takes this to an extreme, expertly deploying advanced loungey jazz figures with an onslaught of brass. Th