The Crossblood Experiment (The Cross Bloods) – Orange Sunshine [Edgewood, MD, USA ; Psychedelic Rock] (1972)

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• ˝Legendary Laguna Beach smugglers The Brotherhood Of Eternal Love started as a gang of brawling motorcycle outlaws before they dropped acid, got spiritual, and made it their mission to “turn on” the world. Throughout the late ’60s they ran large quantities of hash from Afghanistan in order to fund their own lysergic laboratory. In 1968, The Brotherhood enlisted chemist Nicholas Sand to engineer a strain of LSD more potent than anything that preceded it. The final result was dubbed Orange Sunshine and by 1970 The Brotherhood had distributed millions of doses, selling them at $1 a hit or giving them away at concerts and happenings.˝

  ˝Disguised in soupcans, thousands upon thousands of doses made their way east and landed in hands of Baltimore teen rockers The Crossblood Experiment. *”We called ourselves that because we had two blacks guys and three white guys in the band,”* said drummer Andy Bigan. The 13-year-old Bigan had played with keyboardist Bob Schreck in the straight-laced and pop-oriented Presidents when they sought out bassist George Rainey and Edgewood High School guitar god Kirk Ladzinski to form a heavier group. Singer Arnez Jefferson was plucked from Aberdeen High across town.˝

  ˝The Crossblood Experiment began rehearsing in Bigan’s parents basement near Edgewood Arsenal outside of Baltimore where the U.S. Military made a habit of conducting ethically questionable research. Nearly 7,000 volunteer soldiers were subjected to various psycho-chemicals experiments ranging from mustard and nerve gas to LSD and PCP. Meanwhile in the basement, The Crossbloods were conducting their own experiments. *”It was cool to be high, smoke dope, drink,”* remembers Bigan, *”I don’t know. We were just trying to be rockers.”*˝

  ˝The Non-Commissioned Officers Club on the Edgewood Military base hosted the quintet’s first gigs. GI’s were delighted by the clean-cut hippies set, which leaned heavily on the works of Grand Funk Railroad, Sly and The Family Stone, and Santana. Earnings were plowed into a ’62 Chevrolet hearse to haul around their gear. Repainted in a groovy shade of banana yellow with “CROSSBLOODS” smeared across both side in dripping red paint, the band took their hazy, fuzz-drenched set to dances, pool parties, and teen centers across the city. In 1972 Bigan’s parents booked studio time for The Crossblood Experiment to cut their first demo. Unbeknownst to the group, Bigan’s parents also financed a small run of 7″s to be pressed from their session, which showed up a few weeks later bearing the truncated Cross Bloods on the label. On the influence of The Brotherhood’s product on the 45’s A-side, “Orange Sunshine”, Bigan summed it up succinctly: *”Getting high on LSD was fashionable at the time.”*˝

  (source: Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares booklet https://www.discogs.com/Various-Warfaring-Strangers-Acid-Nightmares/master/1248404 )

  March 6, 2023 at 9:29 pm

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