The Human Expression

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
Optical Sound 02:38 Tools
Love at Psychedelic Velocity 00:00 Tools
Every Night 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down 00:00 Tools
Sweet Child Of Nothingness 00:00 Tools
I Don't Need Nobody 00:00 Tools
Outside Of It All 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (demo) 00:00 Tools
Everynight (First Single) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (demo) 00:00 Tools
Following Me 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning? 00:00 Tools
Everynight (Demo) 00:00 Tools
Following Me (Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Single) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (Second Single) 00:00 Tools
I Don't Need Nobody (Third Single) 00:00 Tools
You Need Lovin' Too (Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
You Need Lovin' Too 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning (Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Return Nevermore 00:00 Tools
I Told Her 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will (Demo) 00:00 Tools
Your Mind Works In Reverse 00:00 Tools
Everynight (Demo Version) 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will (Demo Version) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (Demo Version) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Demo Version) 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning 00:00 Tools
Judgement Of Rejection 00:00 Tools
Every Night (Demo) 00:00 Tools
Room Of Shadows 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound [Single Version] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [Single Version] 00:00 Tools
Every Night [Demo Version] 00:00 Tools
Every Night (demo version) 00:00 Tools
Judgment Of Rejection 00:00 Tools
Every Night [Single Version] 00:00 Tools
Room of Shadows [Complete Version] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound [Promo Version] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [Unreleased Version] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (single version) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [Promo Version] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (promo version) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (promo version) 00:00 Tools
Every Night (single version) 00:00 Tools
Everynight [demo] 00:00 Tools
Love at Psychedelic Velocity (First Single) 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning? (Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (single version) 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will [demo] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (unreleased version) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound [demo] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [demo] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Second Single) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Second demo) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (Second Demo) 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will (First Demo) 00:00 Tools
Sweet Child of Nothingness (Third Single) 00:00 Tools
Sweet Child Of Nothingness (SP, Accent 1252, 1967) 00:00 Tools
I Don't Need Nobody (SP, Accent 1252, 1967) 00:00 Tools
Everynight (First Demo) 00:00 Tools
Every Night (45 version - mono) 00:00 Tools
Outside Of It All (Unreleased 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Everynight (First demo) 00:00 Tools
Outside of It All (Previously Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Readn' Your Will 00:00 Tools
You Need Lovin' Too (Previously Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (Accent 1226) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning? (Previously Unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Room Of Shadows (complete version) 00:00 Tools
Everynight [First Single] 00:00 Tools
You Need Lovin' Too (Unreleas 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will [#] 00:00 Tools
Reading Your Will 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will [First Demo] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [second demo] 00:00 Tools
You need Loving too (unreleased) 00:00 Tools
Everynight [First Demo] 00:00 Tools
I Don't Need Nobody [Third Single] 00:00 Tools
I Don’t Need Nobody 00:00 Tools
The Human Expression - Optical Sound 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning? [Unreleased] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound [Second Demo] 00:00 Tools
Sweet Child Of Nothingness [Third Single] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound [Second Single] 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Unreleased Demo) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
Readin' Your Will (Unreleased demo) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
29_Optical Sound 00:00 Tools
Follow Me 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [Second Single] 00:00 Tools
Love At Psychedelic Velocity [First Single] 00:00 Tools
Outside Of It All [Unreleased] 00:00 Tools
Love At Psychedelic Velocity (single A-side,1966) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Accent 1226) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
07 calm me down (single) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound - The Human Expression 00:00 Tools
Following Me [Unreleased] 00:00 Tools
Love At A Psychedelic Velocity (Accent 1214) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
Who Is Burning (Unreleased Demo) Westminster, Cal. 1967 00:00 Tools
29_Optical Sound - The Human Expression 00:00 Tools
You Need Lovin' Too [Unreleased] 00:00 Tools
Every Night (Unreleased) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
Love At Psychadelic Velocity 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down [False Start] 00:00 Tools
Calm Me Down (false start) 00:00 Tools
Optical Sound (Promo) 00:00 Tools
You Need Loving Too (Unreleased Demo) Westminster, Cal. 1967 00:00 Tools
Every Night (Accent 1214) Westminster, Cal. 1966 00:00 Tools
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But for a 1967 decision about which single to record, The Human Expression might've been a lot more than an obscure but beloved psychedelic band from Los Angeles. The band was formed in 1966 by Jim Quarles (lead vocals), Jim Foster (rhythm guitar), Martin Eshleman (lead guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), and Armand Poulin (drums), with Quarles providing the name and Foster's father as their manager. They cut a demo single ("Everynight" b/w "Readin' Your Will," which got them a recording contract with Los Angeles-based Accent Records. An official single of "Everynight" b/w "Love at Psychedelic Velocity" was issued soon after. The band played played local clubs and USOs, and built up a great reputation for their hot live performances -- they good deliver on-stage what most groups scarcely achieved on record, an intensely virtuoso musicality coupled with punk defiance and a charismatic projection of all of these elements. In a different reality, they might've been a more mature and serious competitor to the Seeds, perhaps even succeeding at doing what the Doors did, only without the literary pretensions or personal excesses -- equally impressive was the fact that most of the songs that the Human Expression played were originals by Quarles and Foster, who were entirely self-taught songwriters; Quarles later admitted that he wrote from his heart and instinct, without over-intellectualizing any of it, and the results seemed to pay off when coupled with the band's musicianship -- their demos were as good as many contemporary groups' released singles. A second single, "Optical Sound" b/w "Calm Me Down," released in 1967, showed the group becoming more experimental, utilizing studio electronic effects. "Optical Sound" itself, as a title, was extremely clever, carrying with it connotations out of both psychedelia and film. It was impressive, but that single wasn't the breakthrough that the band had hoped for. The Human Expression's downfall came with the decision over what was to be their third single. Offered a pair of songs to choose from, they selected a number called "Sweet Child of Nothingness." The one they rejected was a song authored by Mars Bonfire called "Born to Be Wild," because Quarles had some doubts about the lyrics. This decision, which proved disastrous when Steppenwolf took their version of the song to the top of the charts, coincided with a major personnel shake-up -- lead guitarist Martin Eshleman was injured and had to be replaced, and Quarles didn't like the new lin-up and exited. The Human Expression's history ended, though Quarles continued writing songs and pursued some solo recording, and later establish his own studio. In 1994, Collectables Records released a 14-song CD (Love at Psychedelic Velocity) of the complete Human Expression demos and released singles, rounded out with a quartet of Quarles solo sides. - AMG Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.