The obvious draw (no pun intended) the Ace of Cups possessed was that they were an all-woman band playing rock music in the late-'60s, and in San Francisco no less. Though, from both the liner notes and the music I get the impression they were more appreciated as personalities and rule-breakers than as musicians on the S.F. scene. They didn't embarrass themselves musically but they simply weren't on par with the city's headliners.
The Cups' foremost virtue was their vocal blend, and part of the reason I find their music difficult to appreciate is that they rarely took advantage of it. It's clear to me that all their best songs were the ones in which they sing in their gospel-ish harmony. When the various members take on lead vocals the results are long on attitude and short on nuance, save for the beautiful and way-too-short 'Taste of One'. It's all the more shocking then to hear 'Gospel Song', 'Music', 'Afro Blue' and 'Life In Your Hands/Thelina' with their tight and well-executed harmonies that could sound genuinely black. They're also the women you hear chanting "Doesn't have to be, doesn't have to be..." during the outro of the Electric Flag's 1968 hit 'Groovin' Is Easy'.
The most special thing in this collection has to be the medley of 'Life In Your Hands/Thelina'. Written to commemorate the birth of bass player Mary Gannon's daughter, the piece is an undeniably touching homage to friendship, responsibility and the miracle of birth. Period lingo is definitely present but the song rises above cliche in its honesty and the tenderness in the way the whole group harmonizes as to emphasize the feeling of feminine unity. Only a woman could write a piece like this and only women could execute it convincingly. For the sake of comparison, in today's era where seemingly all country musicians feel obligated to write a bad Hallmark song about walking their child to the bus-stop hoping Jesus will look out for them, 'Life In Your Hands/Thelina' is the song those musicians wanted to write but couldn't because they have no soul. See, the women in the Ace of Cups had no maids, chauffers or personal trainers to occupy their children when they were away, so the spectre of childbirth was much more worldly to them and they really did have a life in their hands and the awe was real.
Between the high points on this release lie an abundant amount of below-average rock songs with elements of gospel and blues. This is not a collection you should get if you're a casual fan of '60s rock, but as a document of a band that hasn't been documented on tape until now, it's as much as we'll ever get.
