Persiabba Rec. 
The Golden Ring : Iranian styled 60's garage and other exotic sounds:
complete recordings -LP- (IR,1960s->1970s,pub.2009)***°/**°°
I was amazed to find a compilation LP (published in Spain I was told) by the Iranian beat-influenced band The Golden Ring. The compilers claim they have found all singles, but after a quick look at an Iranian site I found a track from ’67 which did not seem to have been listed (after checking out I was told by Stuart on Radiodiffusion that it was the single "Ay Dokhtar"/"Mard Hamgem" which seems to be missing. Secondly you can only see the record sleeves presented of the all-male band, while for a short period they also had a female drummer (2-3 singles at least) (; she was also an occasional singer, something which can still be heard on one of the tracks). Perhaps they didn’t find the record sleeves for those, because if you can nowadays they will be immediately be destroyed by the Iranian costumers if you try to bring them over. Women were not supposed to have existed in bands, and every trace that they were dressed differently is also verboten (taboo!!). I hope compilers don’t participate with this and show things how it was without feeling that they are making reactionary statements by doing so. If compilers can’t show reality who will ? More or less every track is crossover-like musically from a good quality. The two longer tracks (latest tracks on each side) appeal a bit less to me but they have elements that make it sound acceptable for a foreign listener. The general sound of the band is attractive and recognisable, with its own originality, and is clearly influenced by beat-music but in an Iranian way. Their sound has early 60s guitars, close-harmony vocals (once mixed to the front before the music solos take over), rather up tempo rhythms with a certain exotic flair, and nice organ use, creating an original band sound which for the shorter 3-4 minutes tracks they sound best. Also a few Persian folk influences can be heard, especially on two instrumentals interpreting folk dances into folk-rock instrumentals (including use of mouth harmonica). Unfortunately one of them is from warped vinyl and is less listenable for its warped speed and tones. The audio quality here and there could be much better but from a lost era I think this remains an attractive compilation. Two of the best tracks could be heard already on the ‘Raks Raks Raks’ compilation.
"Within the rubbles of Iran's lost musical history comes Golden Ring, one of the first, and most prodominent Iranian garage groups from the 60's. Based in Tehran, Golden Ring recorded and released a series of songs on 7" during the late 60's and early 70's before disbanding. They were one of the first Iranian bands to be influenced by Western music such as The Beatles, combining traditional Iranian instrumentation and melodies with structures found in UK and North American rock and pop. This combination resulted in an Iranian take on garage music during the genre's climax. One of the members of Golden Ring, Arif, later went on to become a solo artist, and over time became one of the legendary artists within Irans musical landscape. His solo material spread across 45's, soundtracks and generations of fans. Sadly Golden Ring never recorded or released a full length album, but through a lot of hard work and effort we are pleased to offer a full length compilation of Golden Ring's music for you to enjoy. Limited to 500 copies."
"Back in the years of the Shah, Iran was plenty focused on sounds from the west -- and Golden Ring were one of the hippest groups of their surprisingly good scene -- a guitar-heavy combo who play some wicked sounds on this set -- sometimes as clean and clear as some of the Pacific Northwest rockin instrumentals of the early 60s, sometimes mixed with lots more local elements -- creating the same sort of blend you might get in Turkish music of the period.... ...cuts that include "Sad Man", "Sun Full Moon", "Matador Come Back", "Longhair Woman", "Apologies", "Heads Or Tails", "Dancing Beauties", and "Wyning For Girls"."
