David Axelrod

David Axelrod RSD Black Friday 2026 edition

2001’s self-titled David Axelrod was originally issued on Mo’Wax and is long out of print on vinyl.

The genesis of the full length is a “lost” album recorded in the late ‘60s, in the same period as his landmark release, Songs of Experience. It was meant to be an Electric Prunes album, the third of a trilogy for Reprise, based around the legend of Faust. He took his stalwart crew of LA session musicians, including drummer Earl Palmer, bassist Carol Kaye and guitarists Howard Roberts and Pete Wyant, and recorded rhythm tracks. He cut them to an acetate for review. The project was shelved, but he kept that acetate.

In the late 90s, after meeting Mo’Wax boss James Lavelle through his work with DJ Shadow, Axelrod agreed to write, arrange and record what would have been the completed orchestra and horn tracks at the same Capitol Studios he had recorded at in the 1960s. He augmented the album with two tracks written specifically for the release, no longer about a cursed bargain, but as a reflection of a life in music, and a life, few knew then, full of triumph and tragedy. Now-Again’s Egon sat in on those Capitol sessions and, 26 years after their recording, has partnered with the Axelrod Estate to present this music anew.