Balaklava

Balaklava was the second album recorded and released by psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine in 1968. Concept For the album, original group members Tom Rapp, Wayne Harley and Lane Lederer were joined by Jim Bohannon, who replaced Roger Crissinger. Like the group's previous LP recorded on ESP-Disk, entitled One Nation Underground, it was recorded at Richard Alderson's Impact Sound studio in New York City. Recordings took place sometime in early 1968, but no complete records of the sessions have been published. Some CD reissues have stated that it was recorded in 1965, but this is an error. Lederer left the group during or shortly after the recordings, and the basic group was augmented by studio musicians. Rapp stated that he wanted to produce a themed anti-war album, and chose the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in 1854 as an example of the futility of war. The album was dedicated to Private Edward Slovik, the only United States soldier executed for desertion during the Second World War. Producer Richard Alderson said: "I had made great progress in building up my studio on West 65th Street in NYC where Balaklava was recorded. I had added many microphones, outboard gear, and a very early Ampex 8 track 1” master recorder. We also had a collection of many exotic musical instruments and a great selection of sound effects available. This enabled a full studio production palette.... Balaklava was primarily an anti-war statement, and secondarily an aural essay on the history of sound and recording. Often these premises are conjoined".