Por primera vez reeditado oficialmente este clásico de la escena privada USA 70s. Saucedo, un actor y músico de Chicago que se ganaba la vida imitando a Elvis, decidió grabar en 1978 un disco con sus propias canciones, influenciado por los Beatles más psicodélicos y Pink Floyd. "Heaven Was Blue" fue grabado mientras interpretaba a Elvis en un famoso musical de Broadway pero aquí no encontrarás ninguna influencia de "The King".
 
Saucedo, que tocó practicamente todos los instrumentos él mismo, grabó un asombroso disco de pura psicodelia: suaves voces a lo Lennon, capas y capas de guitarras eléctricas y acústicas, órgano, efectos de estudio...
Canciones como "Reality", que fue escrita en un cementerio justo después de la muerte de Elvis o "In My Mind", que Saucedo compuso en 1967 muy influenciado por Sgt. Pepper, son perfectos ejemplos de psicodelia lisérgica. Hay también dos fuzz–rockers con ligera influencia 50s pero la pieza central del disco es la larga suite que da título al álbum y ocupa toda la cara B. 18 minutos de pura psicodelia que Rick compuso bajo la idea de "un ensoñador viaje de ácido".
 
Ésta reedición viene en formato doble LP con todo un álbum extra de bonus, inéditos en vinilo hasta ahora:"Oh My God" fue grabada para ser incluida en el disco original pero eliminada a última hora por el mánager de Saucedo. "Baby in the Sand / It Burns Again Today" fueron escritas durante la época de "Heaven Was Blue" pero no gabadas hasta 1990. A pesar de la fecha, se trata de impresionante psicodelia con sitar totalmente en la onda del disco original.
 
Se incuyen también las dos caras de un raro single promocional (100 copias) con versiones alternativas de "Reality" y "History Makin’ – Country Shakin’ y se cierra el disco con una mezcla diferente de "Reality".
 
Sonido de masters
 
Arte original.
 
Insert con detalladas notas y entrevista a Rick Saucedo por Jeremy Cargill (Ugly Things, Got Kinda Lost).
 
"Rick Saucedo es mayormente conocido por su faceta de imitador de Elvis pero cuando se quitaba el traje de trabajo, grabó un disco que ofrecía todo lo contrario: ensoñadora, melódica psicodelia. "Heaven Was Blue" es como una mezcla de todo aquellos clásicos que uno va descubriendo cuando se introduce en la música psicodélica: "Sunshine Superman, " "Porpoise Song, " "Renaissance Fair, " "Matilda Mother, " ...aquí están todos junto a sonidos de rayos y lluvia, ácidas guitarras, efectos de estudio y perros ladrando"
Patrick Lundborg (Lysergia.com)
 
ENGLISH
First ever legit vinyl reissue of Rick Saucedo’s mind–expanding, one–man, multi–tracked private press miracle in sound from 1978
 
"Heaven Was Blue" drifts in the same sonic milieu as fellow travelers in ’60s square peg joy Darius, Marcus, D.R. Hooker (without the lounge allusions), or late period psych adventurers Michael Angelo and Bobb Trimble–and his concentration and vision equals or exceeds these international underground heroes.
 
Rick Saucedo is an internationally–known Elvis tribute artist, actor and singer–songwriter from Chicago. In 1978, after some years of doing his Elvis show, he decided he wanted to have his own identity, recording an album with his own songs. The idea of "Heaven Was Blue" was born while he was doing the role of Elvis in the Broadway musical "The Legend Lives On". Influenced by The Beatles and Pink Floyd, Rick created "Heaven Was Blue" for himself, as he didn’t care about the music of the time. All instruments on the album were played by Rick with a couple of friends helping him out. Songs like "Reality", which was written in a graveyard just after the passing of Mr. Presley or "In My Mind", which dated back to 1967, written just after "Sgt. Pepper" had come out, are prime examples of dreamy acid psych with Lennon–esque vocals, lysergic guitars & studio effects. There’s also a couple of fuzz rockers with a strong ’50s vibe and then there’s the album centerpiece: the impressive 18–minute "Heaven Was Blue" suite, which Rick envisioned as an "acid trip dream". In words of Patrick Lundborg: "...Saucedo pulls it off. Somehow like how you turn the wheels on a kaleidoscope, new melodies, guitar figures and arrangements emerge out of the old ones every three minutes, each sequence more swirling and enchanting that the last, with a sense of progression throughout."
 
This expanded reissue offers a full extra album of bonus tracks:

"Oh My God" was the conclusion to "Reality" / "In My Mind", recorded in 1978 but omitted from the original album at the last moment. Previously unreleased on vinyl until now.

"Baby in the Sand / It Burns Again Today" were written during the ’Heaven Was Blue’ sessions but went unrecorded until 1991 and they’re terrific sitar–drenched melodic psych in the same vein as the original album. Previously unreleased on vinyl until now.

And there’s also both sides of the post– album single "Reality" b/w "History Makin’ – Country Shakin’, " which featured different mixes and an alternate mix of "Reality". These tracks were originally released as promo 45s in very limited quantities.

Master tape sound

Original artwork
 
A1 Reality    
A2 In My Mind    
A3 Country Shakin' - History Makin'    
A4 Ka Mon We're Gonna Rock All Night Long    

B1 Heaven Was Blue    

C1 Oh My God (Previously unreleased on vinyl)    
C2 Baby In The Sand / It Burns Again Today (Previously unreleased on vinyl)    
D1 Reality (A-Side Single Version)    
D2 Country Shakin' - History Makin' (B-Side Single Version)    
D3 Reality (Radio Mix)