Behold! The ultimate reissue of one of the most important albums in the fields of exotica, jazz, and proto-psychedelic music: Eden's Island!

Originally released in 1960 by the enigmatic composer Eden Ahbez, best known for the pop standard "Nature Boy," Eden's Island was his one and only solo project, and was considered a commercial failure upon its initial release on Del-Fi Records. (The label reported that it sold less than a hundred copies.) Fast-forward sixty years and Eden's Island has now become a cult classic and is considered a harbinger of the psychedelic concept album. Enter Everland Records.

For this deluxe, 2LP edition, Everland presents the first officially-sanctioned reissue of Eden's Island in over twenty years. It includes over a dozen unreleased bonus songs from various sessions which presage the aesthetic of Ahbez's 1960 masterpiece and several EI outtakes. It also features a 24-page booklet and essay by Ahbez historian Brian Chidester and has been carefully restored and remastered from original master tapes by prolific Grammy-nominated sound engineer Jessica Thompson.

In terms of Ahbez's back-story, he was born in 1908, passed away in 1995, and was a man who lived a dropout and hippie lifestyle way before these two movements became part of popular culture. Following the success in 1948 of "Nature Boy," Ahbez composed a bevy of original songs during the 1950s for the major crooners of the day, including Hoagy Carmichael, Sam Cooke, Herb Jeffries of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Eartha Kitt, April Stevens, and Frank Sinatra. He also wrote and sometimes performed solo recordings throughout the decade in the nascent exotica genre, including several included on the bonus disc of this reissue ("Sahara," "Yes Master," "Ahbe Casabe").

As the decade progressed, and as exotica became a staple of the fifties lounge, beatnik, and jazz subcultures, so too Ahbez's distinct brand took shape in the coffeehouses around Los Angeles, where he is said to've performed the Eden's Island suite for live audiences prior to it being recorded as an album. He teamed up with jazz luminaries such as Paul Moer, Emil Richards, Paul Horn, and Earl Palmer to record the entire LP in two marathon sessions (in Fall 1959 and Spring '60). The end result featured a mix of strange novelty tunes, relaxed grooves, and otherworldly poem-songs, musically weaving together the melodic and rhythmic patterns of easy listening, swing, and Latin jazz. The hallmark of the entire affair, however, was the presence of Ahbez's own handmade drums and hand-carved bamboo flute, as well as his inimitable voice on poetry readings such as "The Wanderer" and "Full Moon."

This new deluxe edition is surely the ultimate version of this now-classic album. Don't miss your chance to get a copy and to revel in Eden Ahbez's dreamy world-in-music. Released by Everland Music and Ebulunga, distributed by Lights in the Attic Records, with permission from the Eden Ahbez Estate and Rhino Records.

Every copy of Eden’s Island purchased here will help fund the production of “As the Wind.”