Ya Ho Wa 13 - Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa Its hard not to love Drag City for shining more light on the oft out of print Father Yod catalog. The backstory, which has now been imortilized in the documentary "The Source Family" tells the tale of enigmatic cult leader Jim
Baker who brought gathered his flock out of a vegetarian restaurant, formed several iterations of Yahowa 13 among its members and perished legendarily in a hang gliding accident. Most of the band's catalog fits the psychedelic cult vibes and featured Yod on vocals and kettle drum spreading the message but Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa remains an almost commercial outlier in the band's catalog. Most of the songs were written and sung by members Sunflower Aquarian, Djin Aquarian, Rhythm Aquarian, and Octavious Aquarian, all of whom seem to have been digging hard into Neil Young and Crazy Horse with a heavy dash of Beefheart at the time. The record carries a very rootsy Americana vibe and were it not for the scant run at the time and the obvious hinderance of cult connection, this one may have had a shot at crossing into wider acceptance. The Source Family LPs have been long out of print, with the exception of a short lived box set put together by member Sky Saxon (of the Seeds) years ago. Now its great that this piece of weird rock history is back where it belongs. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE