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Coven - 1969 - Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls
Coven is a rock band formed in the late 1960s, composed of vocalist Jinx Dawson, bassist Oz Osborne (not to be confused with Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath), Chris Neilsen on guitar, Rick Durrett and later John Hobbs on keyboards, and drummer Steve Ross. They are recognized as being the band that first introduced the "Sign of the Horns" to rock and pop culture (as seen on their 1969 debut album release "Witchcraft"). The debut LP from the group is noteworthy for reasons more historical than musical. That is not to say it is a bad record; it is more of an interesting record that is unique and listenable. With an elaborate package released on Mercury in 1969, a good trivia question can be made of the fact that bassist Oz Osborne performs on this album, whose opening track is "Black Sabbath," while John "Ozzy" Osbourne of Black Sabbath was allegedly busy playing bass in Magic Lanterns, hitting the Top 30 in 1968 with "Shame, Shame" (Ozzy listed as Mike Osbourne with Magic Lanterns! ). That the group Black Sabbath formed in 1969 when this album was issued seems to indicate that Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls may have had more than a little influence on the more popular heavy metal band. Also notable is the fact that the majority of the songwriting on this disc is by guitarist Jim Donlinger, who a year later in 1970 would move on to drummer Michael Tegza's reincarnation of H.P. Lovecraft, known simply as Lovecraft on its Reprise recording.
01 - Black Sabbath 02 - White Witch Of Rose Hall 03 - Coven In Charing Cross 04 - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge 05 - Pact With Lucifer 06 - Choke, Thirst, Die 07 - Wicked Woman 08 - Dignitaries Of Hell 09 - Portrait 10 - Satanic Mass
