The Hour Is Now
Collie Ryan, 1973 / 2008
Sebastian Speaks / Yoga Records
SSR 006

This is an LP compilation of some of the best tracks from Collie Ryan's three 1973 albums, with a new cover and a handwritten lyric insert by Ms. Ryan. Heavy Stoughton "laserdisc" covers, all analog process, edition of 1,000. A coproduction of Sebastian Speaks and Yoga Records. Order now -- last copies.

Bio

Collie Ryan is a student of Theosophy who privately pressed three records in 1973. This project was funded by her friends at New Age Farms carrot and fresh juice company in Lompoc, California, and the records were distributed at shows at the Sun and Earth Health Food Store and Restaurant in Santa Barbara. The songs are primarily about the theosophist concepts of karma and reincarnation; they are lovely and subtle enough that most listeners rarely detect any sort of underlying meaning without having it pointed out first. Theosophy is more a philosophy than a religion, and you can find out more about it here.

Colllie Ryan's music is deceptively simple -- using nothing more than her high, birdlike voice and excellent acoustic guitar and occasional reverb & natural sound effects, she creates a tremendous, mystical atmosphere evoking the gypsy lifestyle. She completely dropped off the grid shortly after these records were made and today lives with nature and works as an artist, painting mandalas on hubcaps.

Media & Reviews

LA Record interviews Collie Ryan and reviews her return performance in Los Angeles

Ilyas Ahmed in Dusted Magazine -- "I obsessed over Ryan’s track on that Ladies from the Canyon comp that came out a couple of years ago and it’s graced many a mixtape I’ve made until this came out. Totally weird fingerpicking style that follows its own logic with a voice that sounds like smoky honey with a beautiful, subtle use of echo. For me this is one of those records you put on when it’s kind of hard to separate the light from the dark, one of those records that clears out your eyes so you can see the whole fucking sky. Someone needs to reissue any/every/all the existant recordings." (We're working on it -- ed)

Aaron Levin in See Magazine -- "Take the road south of psychedelica and you’ll end up in Texas, where the whole scene began. It’s only fitting that after releasing three incredibly rare psychedelic folk LPs in 1973 through her hippie commune in Lompoc, Ca., Collie Ryan ended up painting hubcaps on the side of Texan roads. The Hour Is Now compiles the best parts of her recordings. Ryan’s warbling voice is sweet, and songs like “Watching the Grain Growing” take the listener from the grainy prairies to mythical landscapes, 33 years before Joanna Newsom canonized the idea. The minimal reverb and stark finger-picked guitar make the album a journey through the annals of vintage ethereal folk, with Linda Perhacs and Sibelle Baier the only worthy points of comparison. With original copies being released in tiny 500-count quantities, this thick vinyl reissue and gorgeous cover art (a Collie Ryan original) is the best way to complement your trip. File under: Hippie-folk Goddess."

David Keenan at Volcanic Tongue -- "Massively unlikely public service here, with a single beautifully assembled LP that compiles the best tracks from the three incredible and very rare private press LPs that legendary acid-folk hippy-goddess Collie Ryan recorded in 1973. Ryan is possibly best known for her appearance on the great Ladies From The Canyon compilation, though private press fans and psych collectors have worshipped before her three solo LPs for years now. Her story is pretty incredible, moving through various communal set-ups in the 1960s and 70s until eventually living off-grid completely in an old bus in the Texas countryside, making occasional money by selling paintings done on old hubcaps. This new LP, limited to 1000 copies in hard tip-on sleeves and with all-new cover art by Ryan, revisits her amazing albums and picks winning tracks from each. The sound is stripped-down but deeply atmospheric acoustic guitar and vocals, with Ryan’s weird, primitive finger-picking style copping moves from Joni Mitchell and Bert Jansch while her vocals, bathed in a beautiful deep-echo reverb, sound like beams of pure-tone, turning melancholy minor-key ballads into void-gobbling transmissions. There are very few records that seem to so perfectly articulate the daffy, drug-baked vision of the counter-culture as pure sonic experience, maybe Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms is the closest comparison, but Ryan’s albums are possessed of a solitary magic, with the feel of someone who kept on believing and whose life was turned around by the revolutionary tumult of the 1960s. If you’ve never experienced Ryan’s music this is the perfect place to start and if you already have alla the originals you’re still gonna want this as it’s so lovingly done it looks like the long-lost fourth volume and will sit perfectly on your shelves beside the first three. To top it all of, the sonics have been completely re-mastered by long-term VT obsession J D Emmanuel. What a package. Highly recommended."

Original LPs for sale

Indian Harvest is now sold out. The Giving Tree and Takin' Your Turn Round the Corner of Day are still available. They are now $75 for individual copies, and these prices will continue to go up as supplies dwindle. Although these are flat, well-stored stock copies, the pressing was not perfect so please expect a little unavoidable surface noise. Money orders should be made out to Collie Ryan, or you may use paypal (service fees will apply). Please contact for more information.