The Unspoken Word – The Unspoken Word (1970)

Here comes the second album by this largely unknown group from Long Island, New York. After their outstanding debut that could be described as folk rock with a psychedelic edge, the 2nd record is definitively more rock/blues orientated. Nevertheless, this rare album contains eleven very enjoyable tracks with fine instrumentation and excellent lead vocals. (acidvisions.com)

The Unspoken Word are:
Zenya Stashuk: lead guitar, rhythm guitar & vocals
Dede Puma: vocals
Greg Buis: bass & vocals
Les Singer: drums
Angus MacMaster: keyboards

Tracklist:

1. Pillow
2. Sleeping Prophet
3. Put Me Down
4. Personal Manager
5. Reincarnation
6. Sleepy Mountain Ecstasy
7. I Don’t Need No Music
8. Little Song
9. Healthy, Wealthy & Wise
10. Around And Around
11. Morning

The Unspoken Word – The Unspoken Word (1970)

28 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Great music, thanks!

  2. me says:

    wow, great album, they must have been something live
    probably at My Fathers Place, in Great Neck, LI.The place for local rockbands…

  3. Glenn says:

    Hi Freaky_Lady

    Your blog is like a musical vault to me.
    It really relocated me from where I was to another place I can’t describe but only thank you for helping me find – again. I was in a band with Gus MacMaster – Angus -for almost 3 years before he joined ‘The Unspoken Word’. He was the most talented musician I have ever known. I went to listen to him play with “The Unspoken Word’ a number of times in yes – Long Island, NY. Gus was also a best friend and I went through a bad time when he left the group, ‘The Deepest Kind’. That is a whole story in itself. I knew all the band members of ‘The Unspoken Word’
    and jammed with them once or twice. I still even have both their albums!
    The down side of all this is that Gus and 4 or 5 other people were killed in car crash in Alabama, while he was in living in community group setting which was popular at the time. While we were still good friends, his life and mine had parted, as happens. But the thoughts and memories your blog rekindles are all warm and I want to thank you for allowing my path to crossover Gus’ again for a few moments more. Take care and thank you.

    Glenn

    PS. You can visit my band blog of
    The Deepest Kind at: the-deepest-kind.blogspot.com

    I would love to hear from you!

  4. Chasbrell says:

    Hi,
    I stumbled across your blog while searching for The Unspoken Word on Google. I was in Liquid Smoke. We played the same clubs as The Unspoken Word (we also had the same managers). We had an album on Avco Embassy in 1970. We also were playing on Long Island at the same time as the Illusion. We even did a couple gigs on the same bill. Liquid Smoke was also friendly with Lumbee(also listed here on your page). We did a big concert together in 1970 in Fayetteville, NC. Also, oddly, I played drums in a later lineup of Lumbee along with Rick Vannoy (who has since passed away). This was after Willie & Carol (who originally formed the band) had left.Liquid Smoke Started in North Carolina, then moved to NY. You might want to check out the LIQUID SMOKE Music Page on MySpace:
    http://www.myspace.com/liquidsmoketheband – you may want to add us to your page. Anyway, you have a great blog here; lots of memories. . .Regards, Chas Kimbrell

  5. Les says:

    I had the great honor and even greater fun of playing with Angus McMaster as drummer with the Unspoken Word. He was a true people loving genius. Listen to his several Hammond solos on “Personal Manager, a kind of blues parody that Angus himself is singing (jestfully). It’s on the second album on ATCO. I’ve really never heard anyone better, and he was only about 20 or 21 at the time. His loss (correction to previous post: in Arkansas, not Alabama) was a loss to music and the world. Les Singer

  6. Anonymous says:

    Hi,
    My brother played guitar on the first album then got the boot…

    He hooked up with them in Rhode Island when going to URI briefly.
    The band moved to Long Island, rented a house in Commack and worked at the Action House in Long Beach. Also the Virginian and Inwood East.

    I saw them at the Bandshell in Central Park with the Blues Project.

    I was younger and didn’t know much of what was really going on.

    -Dirty Pierre

  7. johnny2bad says:

    I used to play The Unspoken Word’s 2nd album on WQFS, a 10-watt college radio station in Greensboro, NC, in 1971-72. I had a roommate who was crazy for Reincarnation, so I would play that , and other tracks, on the air and in my dorm room. Good band, I’d always wondered where they went.

  8. DC chic says:

    The Unspoken Word started in Providence RI. I remember eating a lot of scrambled eggs at our Gano St apartment and wandering through the Brown and RISD campus in 1966. Later in LI at Dean’s a GoGo in Long Beach and Community Garden in Queens and when they played on the same night as Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels in Long Beach in the summer. I remember DeDe’s grandmother’s apartment in NYC on E 10th Street. I will never forget Gene, DeDe and Greg.

  9. Michael says:

    Hi! I’ve gotta say that this is the first time I’ve ever done this blog thing, but here goes… I used to see The Unspoken Word in a club on route 59 in Monsey, NY. I can’t remember the name of the club, but I got to be friends with the band. Les was kind enough to let me sit in a couple of times. I didn’t think that I was a very good drummer at that time, but apparently, Gene and Dede were both impressed enough to give me a call after the band split up. I played with Gene and Dede and a bass player named Louis from L.I. NY. We played a lot of clubs, doing the music from the second album. I couldn’t believe I was playing with such talented people at that time. The music was great, and Les played some great drums on the album. After a few months of playing Unspoken Word songs, and some great original music, Gene and Dede and I merged together with Wesley Chapel, which featured Billy Peters on guitar, Sue Peters on keyboards, and Bob Jenkins on bass. We played in Greenwood Lake a lot in the summer of ’71 and other clubs around Jersey and Rockland County. It was a great time. Thanks for the memories. I really miss those people a lot.

  10. Rik Fox says:

    My mother was Betty Knox, her 2nd husband, John Knox who knocked her up while she was divorcing my father, was Dean’s partner in managing both Liquid Smoke & Unspoken Word. After the divorce, I used to come out from Brooklyn to Long Beach, L.I., to visit my mother because of ‘visitation rights’, and John used to own another huge bar in Long Island, I forgot the name of it, but I visited there once. I was told that the bachelors on the N.Y. Rangers hockey team used to hang out there too. My mother caught John flirting with some sweet young thing and knocked him right off the barstool in front of everyone. Anyway, she turned me on to the bands that John Knox managed; Liquid Smoke & Unspoken Word. I was hooked. I met Dean once or twice too. Heard he had converted a Navy destroyer into a fishing boat for shark fishing off Long Island.
    I was waiting for an opportunity to meet the bands thru John, but it never happened.
    I found this blog by chance, I entered ‘Unspoken Word’ to see if anything would come up. I still have my vinyl copies of both Liquid Smoke ‘and’ Unspoken Word albums, wishing they would someday be issued on CD. I transferred them to cassette & still listen to them too. Great stuff, Dee Dee’s voice was killer. Both bands were great. They were building blocks to my road to a musical career.
    See my interview at ‘Full in Bloom Music.com’
    Cheers all,
    Rik Fox

  11. sue says:

    Hey Mike…Billy and Sue Peters here ! Holy crap. We still play with Bob Jenkins in a group called Heart and Soul.. Great memories.

  12. Michael says:

    HOLY CRAP IS RIGHT!!! I can’t believe I’ve finally found you guys! Id love to talk to you guys, and I hope all is well with you and Billy and Bob. MAN! It’s been so many years. PLEASE contact me at BuckWoody126@aol.com. Hope to hear from you soon!

  13. Greg Buis says:

    Angus MacMaster (organ) was the best I’ve heard to this day. His untimely death was the end of the group as we knew and wanted it.
    Miss him still.
    Greg Buis

  14. Anonymous says:

    Angus was my uncle. I googled the band to see what was out there as I am planning on digitizing their albums for my mother. I never knew him, so it was great to read all the nice things about him as it confirms all of the things my parents always said. I am glad to see there are still fans of the band out there.

    Thank you.

  15. Glenn says:

    to TM – Hi I am doing something similar as you – I am trying to
    digitalize the Deepest Kind’s music , from vinly to pc. It is the only lasting copy of an acetate of the Deepest Kind that exists. With
    some new equiptment I hope to salvage the badly scratched, worn , hissing and poping recording
    of original songs and curent,at the time, covers of music we played.

    Gus’ contribution to the recording is still a pleasure to listen to.
    From an original song of his, “Your Close, Your Near”, to his ability to accompany as well play center stage solos, to his arranging help, all ten tracks contain both his influence and musical touch. His
    ability to hear a song and play it
    back as if he had written it himself
    as well as improvasational skills
    placed him among the truly inspired. There is no amount of study or practice or devotion that could equal Gus’ gift.

    Dont fotget that the Deepest Kind had a recording contract with RCA too and it was RCA that wooed Gus from one band to the other.

    BTW – Please say hello to your Mom from me. I think she will recall me
    and my sister Dale. They went to school together in Brooklyn Heights.

    Good luck with your ditalizing project and keep in touch, if you like

    Glenn

  16. Glenn says:

    to: TM
    Hi – Noticed your comment and thought it was coincidental that
    I have been doing something similar-transfering Angus related vynal music to digital.

    Don’t forget that the Deepest Kind had a recording contract with RCA
    too. It was they that wooed Gus from one band to the other (I believe).

    The acetate is worn, scratched, hisses and pops. It has 10 songs
    icluding an original song by Gus-‘Your Close, Your Near’as well as
    his solos, improvasations,and arrangments. He contributed to all tracks. I really hope it can be ‘remastered’.

    Say hello to your Mom, Mary. I think
    she will remember me and my sister,
    Dale, who went to school together in Brooklyn Heights.

    Good luck with your project and let me know how you are doing

    Glenn

  17. Glenn says:

    This maybe of interest to some:

    By John W. Shearer “(Art Mule Snapfish)” (Richmond, Ky. USA) – See all my reviewsThis review is from: Unspoken Word (Audio CD)
    This is a great band. I remember them well and actually have the original release on vinyl from the day. It was released in 1970 and was their second release. This is a band that knows their game and can really bring it. They offer a male/female combo and they are heavy on the organ/fuzz guitar groove that brings down the house. Heavy offerings of blues, soul and psych/rock. The lineup is Zhenya Stashuk on lead and rhythm guitar/vocals, Dede Puma vocals, Greg Buis on bass guitar and vocals, Les Singer on drums and Angus MacMaster on keyboards. If you like that gritty bluesy psych/rock sound of the late 60’s early 70’s you will love these guys. They can really play and hold nothing back. As well as being great musicians the compositions are first rate as well. I wish that they had stayed together longer and provided a larger catalog for us to enjoy. Very highly recommended. I give it a high and very strong 5 stars. See my other reviews.

    John W. Shearer
    (Art Mule Snapfish) Help other customers

  18. Gene Stashuk says:

    Hello to all that left comments re: The Unspoken Word. My name is Gene (Zhenya) Stashuk and I had the great pleasure to play with the other members of this group. Angus was truly a musical genius and incredibly funny person-greatly missed by all that had the luck to meet him. Nice to see Greg and Les commenting. I often think of the absurdity of some of our road trips. If anyone would like to reach me send email to:
    eugenewendell@yahoo.com.
    If anyone is interested in hearing what I have been doing recently check out:
    http://www.eugenewendell.com

    Cheers to all!!
    Gene Stashuk

  19. Rik Fox says:

    Gene, what can you tell me of your memory of John Knox (my mother’s 2nd husband) and his partner Dean the guys who managed you back on Long Island…
    Thanks,
    Rik Fox
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rik_Fox
    http://themetalreview.com/?p=3189

  20. Rik Fox says:

    Gene, what can you tell me of your memory of John Knox (my mother’s 2nd husband) and his partner Dean the guys who managed your band Unspoken Word back on Long Island…?
    Thanks,
    Rik Fox
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rik_Fox

    http://themetalreview.com/?p=3189

  21. Anonymous says:

    I remember the old Algiers apartments in Long Beach NY.. good times and …..

  22. cleaning out the basement the other day turns out The b & w photos from the RISD refectory were in a cardboard box . Billy Bear was our drummer then . there’s 2 other pix what a suprise . Try to get them printed . Dede’s got some great nostalgic pix too. John J

  23. Hey dc chic ; your comment snared me but I figured no hope ?!! You have the advantage over me ; who ? Been yakking with greg recently Greg has quite a bit of aeronautical knowledge and I enjoyed his input … can’t forget those first 2 or 3 nites at inwood east , Buzz and Melissa were there .. felt like a rocket ride …workin on it …..

  24. Bruce Gorney says:

    I wonder if the band remembers our family. We lived across the street from the band on Evelyn Drive, in Commack, L.I.. My Dad help out the time a neighbor (Mr Ryan) hit one of the band members in the stomach with a shovel. People hated “hippies” in those times. πŸ™‚ My Father used to be in the Moonglows, and felt a kinship to the band. I remember helping out to fix their car. Loved “Pooh Bear’s” motorcycle to! God that was such a long time ago!
    Bruce Gorney
    Formerly of:
    19 Evelyn Drive
    Commack, N.Y.

  25. Bruce Gorney says:

    I wonder if the band remembers our family. We lived across the street from the band on Evelyn Drive, in Commack, L.I.. My Dad help out the time a neighbor (Mr Ryan) hit one of the band members in the stomach with a shovel. People hated “hippies” in those times. πŸ™‚ My Father used to be in the Moonglows, and felt a kinship to the band. I remember helping out to fix their car. Loved “Pooh Bear’s” motorcycle to! God that was such a long time ago!
    Bruce Gorney
    Formerly of:
    19 Evelyn Drive
    Commack, N.Y.

  26. James says:

    This is a great band

  27. Kim Gorman says:

    Wow, just found this on line. I use to see them at Dean’s in Point Lookout

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