“Don’t You Feel Me” by Damon

Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Once Upon a Time In Hollywood might be considered his love letter to Los Angeles, perfectly capturing the downsizing and stratification of the American entertainment industry in the late 60’s. One hopeful artist that tried to break into the music business at that time was Damon, a gypsy of a musician whose newest style reflected the psychedelic movement infecting parts of LA. 

David Carlton Del Conte was born in Rochester NY in 1940 and moved to Southern California, where he shifted between cities discovering surfing, poetry, Jazz and drugs. In the early 60’s he began singing in local nightclubs and hired a regional band called the Crossfires to back him on “The Lonely Surfer,” a vocal surf rock single released on Merri Records. As the 60’s moved along the Crossfires morphed into the Turtles, while Del Conte started performing as Damon.

In 1968 Damon found his way into legendary Western Studios in Hollywood California and recorded Song of a Gypsy, one of the greatest psychedelic albums ever laid to wax. “Don’t You Feel Me” is the third song from the album, and classic psychedelia. It’s funky, addictive and melodramatic enough to conjure lava lamps and peace pipes.
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We lost Del Conte in 2016 but his independently produced album continues to find an audience and appreciation among those of us who adore psychedelic music.