Articy:draft 3

Disc 1 recorded on April 1 and 2, 1994 at Onkio Haus, Tokyo. Disc 2 to 4 recorded on March 29, 1994 at Pit-Inn, Tokyo.

Spacemen 3’s 1987 album The Perfect Prescription is considered the band’s transition point from psychedelic re-creationists to an original act. But it’s also seen as the moment when founding members Pete Kember and Jason Pierce began to branch off in their own directions—the beginnings of Pierce’s band Spiritualized can be heard in “Walking with Jesus.” Released 16 years later, Forged Prescriptions gathers outtakes, alternative mixes, demos, and rarities from the 1987 recording sessions. “Things Will Never Be the Same” opens with Kember’s vocals sounding more angsty and prominent in the mix. Fans of The Brian Jonestown Massacre can identify the seeds of Anton Newcomb’s inspiration in this song.

In 1957, drummer Walter Perkins formed a quintet, the MJT + 3, that recorded four albums before breaking up in 1962. Walter Perkins was a longtime fixture in the Chicago jazz scene. He gained some recognition for playing with the Ahmad Jamal Trio during 1956-1957 (right before Jamal really caught on). A 1957 set for Argo led by Perkins (and also featuring trumpeter Paul Serrano, tenor saxophonist Nicky Hill, the young pianist Richard Abrams, and bassist Bob Cranshaw) used the name of MJT Plus 3. The better-known version of the band (with trumpeter Willie Thomas, altoist Frank Strozier, pianist Harold Mabern, and bassist Bob Cranshaw) recorded three albums for Vee-Jay during 1959-1960 and was popular for a time locally before breaking up in 1962.

Spacemen 3's second album is a remarkable departure from the band's 1986 debut, SOUND OF CONFUSION. Reduced to a trio (guitarists/keyboardists Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, Jason "Spaceman" Pierce, and bassist Pete Bassman) following the departure of the first album's drummer, Spacemen 3 makes an asset out of the newfound lack of percussion, giving THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION a considerably less rock-oriented sound with much more open space in its varied, subtle arrangements.