{"id":30483,"date":"2026-01-21T05:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30483"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:12:53","slug":"rainbow-redux-a-lost-classic-returns-part-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/rainbow-redux-a-lost-classic-returns-part-1-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainbow Redux: A Lost Classic Returns (Part 1 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A portion of this feature appeared previously on The Tonearm<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The late 1960s brought an anything-goes approach to art and popular culture. Creative concepts that would have seemed ludicrous even a year or two earlier were now given serious consideration. That meant that recording artists could explore some of their most ambitious \u2013 and often resolutely noncommercial \u2013 ideas, and those projects could actually see the light of day.<\/p>\n

One such project was Rainbow<\/i>, the debut album from Robert Callender. Just a few years before, he was r&b\/pop singer Bobby Callender, cutting songs like \u201cLittle Star,\u201d a regional hit single on Morris Levy\u2019s Roulette Records. But by 1968, the singer-poet-musician had set his sights much higher. With its fusion of jazz, psychedelia, spoken word and exotic Eastern textures, Rainbow<\/i> would be the beginning of a creatively fertile path for Callender. Though the album met with little commercial success, its legacy has endured.<\/p>\n

And while Callender himself seemed to have disappeared from the music scene, he continued to work. A few years ago, he brought the second of his three albums to the concert stage for the first time. That event led to an association with archivist, author and hardcore music collector Chaim Obrien-Blumenthal. Now, Think Like a Key Music has released a CD+ DVD of a special 2023 performance of Rainbow<\/i>. That project looks to be the start of a late-stage renaissance in the career of Robert Callender.<\/p>\n

Obrien-Blumenthal\u2019s connection with Callender began with a feature written for Shindig!<\/i> Magazine. That eventually led to Obrien-Blumenthal co-producing Rainbow: The Anniversary Concert<\/i>. He also authored the release\u2019s liner notes. He spoke with me to provide background and context on the whole project, how it came about, and where it\u2019s headed.<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: When did you first discover Robert Callender and <\/b>Rainbow<\/b><\/i>? <\/b><\/p>\n

Chaim Obrien-Blumenthal:<\/b> I\u2019m a major record collector, and I imagine I came across the album in a record shop somewhere. Possibly I had read about it in a vintage trade magazine or a review. It\u2019s one of those records that the minute you see the cover, you\u2019re like, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d I\u2019m the kind of guy who looks at a record and makes connections: who produced it, and who\u2019s credited. And I was like, \u201cOkay, now I\u2019m even more intrigued.\u201d And then when you hear it [you realize], \u201cThis doesn\u2019t sound like anything [else], even from that era.\u201d It\u2019s totally in a sphere by itself.<\/p>\n

That was the tough part when were trying to promote this. I hate making comparisons, but I was like, \u201cOver the years, people have compared him to Scott Walker.\u201d But really, nothing sounds like it. Rainbow<\/i> is the first of his albums, but each is unique.<\/p>\n

Funny enough, I was more familiar early on with his singles. He had a pretty big hit in the early \u201860s on the East Coast with a song called \u201cLittle Star.\u201d So that 45 you\u2019d see all around. And then I found some of his other singles, which was another challenge because [they\u2019re on] small labels. Granted, they don\u2019t sound anything like Rainbow<\/i>. But he was writing his own songs, and there\u2019s kind of a germ there, the beginning of something.<\/p>\n

Was it a challenge to locate him for the <\/b>Shindig!<\/b><\/i> story? <\/b><\/p>\n

I forget the exact timeline, because I\u2019ve tracked down hundreds of artists over the years. I found out he was doing a show in Orlando; he was performing the second album [1972\u2019s The Way (First Book of Experiences)<\/i>]. I got in touch with the venue he was performing at, and they got me in touch with him.<\/p>\n

And it was really funny \u2013 he reminded me of this recently \u2013 he wasn\u2019t seeking any publicity at all for this event. I reached out to him, and he was amazed: \u201cSomebody wants to interview me?\u201d I don\u2019t know if he\u2019d ever heard of Shindig!<\/i> or anything. It was one of the musicians he worked with who convinced him: \u201cYou should do the interview. Why not?\u201d We ended up talking, and that led to a friendship.<\/p>\n

One of your goals with the <\/b>Shindig!<\/b><\/i> feature was to try to correct some misconceptions about Callender. What were the primary misconceptions?<\/b><\/p>\n

There was a producer of, I believe it was, his third album. A gentleman who owned a studio in New England where Robert recorded in the \u201870s. He wrote up this whole piece online, and it\u2019s really fascinating to read. He talks about this caravan of people coming to a studio, dropping rose petals behind Robert everywhere he walked. He had this entourage with him, and he only spoke in French; he refused to speak in English to anybody. So that was what most people knew about Robert.<\/p>\n

And then at the end of the piece the producer basically says, \u201cRobert said, \u2018This is just thing I\u2019m doing; I\u2019m cashing in on the trends.\u2019\u201d But people have agendas. They were more industry players, coming from a different generation [an older generation, before the sixties rock explosion happened and psychedelia came in]. They were coming from a perspective where they were basically all business. So there was a lot of this misconception, [plus] the fact that nobody really knew anything about him. And it wasn\u2019t the kind of thing where you could [refer] to an interview with another artist [who could say], \u201cI hung out with him.\u201d There was nothing to base it on. There was [just] that one piece online, and that was it. These rumors spread and then they became \u201ctruth,\u201d unfortunately.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m an archivist, so I\u2019ve gone through all the trade magazines from back in the day. And there\u2019s not a lot there [about Callender]. So when I first had the chance to speak with Robert, he was gracious, fascinating, and had amazing stories. There was no ego there whatsoever. Obviously he was happy to tell his stories, but none of this \u201cI\u2019ve told these stories 20 times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert [had been] working behind the scenes for Murray the K. [In most written accounts] Murray was \u201cthe guy,\u201d so everything is [about him]. You don\u2019t see a lot of Robert. And that became more an issue later when we had to look for photos for the article; there were so few. And Robert didn\u2019t have anything he could provide. So it was down to my archival skills, trying to track things down.<\/p>\n

When we did the reissue, besides coming up with the project and writing the liner notes, I also supplied a lot of the trade clippings. We still don\u2019t know what MGM [Records]\u2019s publicity campaign was at the time; it\u2019s a little sketchy. I\u2019ve never seen a press kit for the original album. We\u2019ve never seen a single press photo from when the album came out.<\/p>\n

Robert\u2019s a lovely guy who is very dedicated to his art and to his music. And he\u2019s very motivated to put his music and his thoughts out there. Chatting with him that first time for Shindig!<\/i>, any myths I\u2019d heard were debunked right away. It was an absolute pleasure and enlightening to hear his stories. And for the record, he did not insist nor require I speak French to him; none of that!<\/p>\n

Click here to continue<\/a>\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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