siLLy puPPy ORANG-UTAN was one of a number of lesser-known hard rocking outfits to emerge in the British music world in the late 60s combining hard bluesy rock with heavy psych. The band became the refuge for a collection of musicians that formed from the ashes of several dissolving bands that were on the scene in late 60s North London led by ex-Jason Crest co-founder Terry Clarke. The band originally went by the moniker Hunter but was convinced to change their name to ORANG-UTAN and managed to record enough material for this one album released by the Bell Records label.

This eponymous album was only released in the US and not in their native UK. The tale of ORANG-UTAN is a tale of corruption and outright theft. The album was released without their knowledge and the band only later found out by accident that it had actually hit the market. Their producer apparently had the gall to take all the material outside the UK to find a record deal and manufactured the finished product only to release the album without the band’s consent. Due to this miscreancy and the stealing of thunder by much more successful bands in the era, they decided to split up and pursue other endeavors. Only guitarist Mick Clarke and bassist Paul Roberts are still active in the music business to date.

The music is fairly typical of the era. It’s hard to say that ORANG-UTAN sounds like any particular band of the era because they have ingredients that sound like many of their contemporaries. The riffs range from the types heard from Cream, Mountain and even Led Zeppelin. There are dual guitar assaults that bring Wishbone Ash and the Allman Brothers to mind and the overall hard bluesy rock feel can also remind a lot of Free, Leaf Hound or a less heavy Sir Lord Baltimore.

This is one of those albums that isn’t gonna blow you away upon first listen if you’ve heard your share of bluesy rock from the era, however what makes this a touch more interesting than the vast universe of early proto-metal bluesy hard rock is that the compositions are decently constructed, the musicianship is quite developed and the stylistic mix of acid rock and heavier bluesy metal is well played. Terry Clarke’s vocals fit in perfectly for the style as well. This is a great release if you are looking to hear the harder spectrum of rock from the early 70s beyond the heavy hitters of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Deep Purple. While ORANG-UTAN doesn’t quite compete with those behemoth bands, they recorded enough quality material for this release. It is however quite disheartening that the band spent their own money to record in a state of the art studio of the day and have yet to receive even one cent in royalties.