Firstly, I must say, you will not find a better copy of this. The cover, inner sleeve, coloured vinyl, which is a beautiful mottled Aubergine and grey looks and plays stunningly.
Influences here, or perhaps more accurately on the bands performing these songs back in the 60’s range from The Shadows; James Brown; Motown and The Ventures. It is very difficult to imagine the maturity of the recording facilities in the Western world almost 60 years ago, in what was a revolution for the younger generation of pop music, clothes, fashion and cultural variations. So it is almost impossible to recall how difficult it must have been in Iran for bands who wanted to play and record music. Surprisingly, pre Revolution, Iran was one of the safest places to be in the Middle East, with close, civilised, family relations, contributions in the science, poetry and other literature forms and an openness of its people to welcome outside influences. And perhaps, by understanding only that much, you can see a small glimpse of how this music came about.
Pictures on the back cover, show the crowds attending a local music festival in Tehran and these pictures alone show the level of interest in live music and enthusiasm for what they were witnessing at the time. It does also provide a small thought as to where these people are today.
Whatever is written in this review will not persuade the reader one way or the other to buy this. But what I would say, is for anyone who wants a historical representation of music emanating from a country that has changed beyond all recognition since those days, then this is where to start. It is well balanced, has an amazing inner sleeve giving a book full of facts about music from this part of the world, is beautifully packaged and presented, and would add something different to any collectors musical library
