White Light - White Light / Velvet Sandpaper (Reissue) (1969-71/2002)

1973 solo album on the independent Taurus-Scorpio label by ex-White Light member Mississippi (Gary Abrams)
Rare private press 1970 US LP White Light and related rare LP Velvet Sandpaper both licensed and reissued on CD on one CD in Germany by Two Of Us # 001. Mix of sleazy junkie fuzz garage with electric piano moves, wasted vocals, dark atmosphere.
“Velvet Sandpaper” from ex-White Light vocalist with unusual worldweary “older guys” sound and titles such as “Mistrust-Separation-Divorce”. Hard to describe accurately, but traces of late-period Doors and Tim Buckley can be found on things like the excellent “Blue Love”. Comparable to the experience of sharing a drink with a stranger down on his luck at a desolate nightclub, then seeing him actually get up on stage and sing a few songs about his misfortunes as the closing hour approaches.
Also a harder fuzz edge with creeping menace on a couple of tracks such as the terrific “Light”, and some hints of the barrock groove aspirations of White Light, but these are exceptions to the overall scotch-laden introspection Mr Mississippi projects. Pro-sounding band and vocals that hit just the right spot. This strikes me as a lot better than the White Light LP, and it’s strange that it hasn’t become more well-known.
Originally from New York, Gary “Mississippi” Abrams recorded this album in California 1973 with two completely separate sets of musicians. In 1980 he released another LP titled “Breaking Out”. He worked with the Perron Brothers (White Light) for several years under various band names.