A short-lived Philly-based jazz-rock outfit, Good God featured the talents of lead guitarist Larry Cardarelli (billed as 'Zeno Sparkles'), singer/keyboardist Cotton Kent, former Elizabeth drummer Hank Ransome, bassist John Ransome, and sax player Greg Scott. (If you believe the story, they got their name courtesy of Captain Beefheart. Enormous Beefheart fans, the band supposedly called him up out of the blue, ask what they should call themselves. Beefheart's spontaneous response provided the name.) Signed by Atlantic, the band's self-titled 1972 debut teamed them with the production team of Skip Drinkwater, Jay Mark, and Dennis Wilen. Featuring a mixture of band originals and covers, "Good God" was quite different than your standard Philadelphia-based band. Exemplified by instrumental-heavy tracks like '' and ''. these guys were clearly influenced by early 1970s jazz-rock/progressive outfits like Beefheart, Miles Davis (okay jazz-rock may not be an apt description for Davis), King Crimson, John McLaughlin, and Frank Zappa (the album included covers of the latter two acts), set of jazz-rock. I'm not a big fan of the genre, so that clearly colors my appreciation for the collection..

The early 1970's was a fertile period for the fusion of jazz and rock. Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea along with "The Prince of Darkness" Miles Davis himself were making ground breaking albums. Good God certainly fits that description even though it did not get much attention at the time.

Featuring the keyboards of Cotton Kent along with Zeno Sparkles, guitar and vocals, Greg Scott, saxophones, John Ransome, bass and Hank Ransome drums, this album really cooks with a selection of tracks that still sound fresh almost forty years later.

Mainly instrumental with some vocal accents and one actual song the tight arrangements are inventive and hold your interest after repeated listening. Good God has a sound all their own. Standout tracks include "Glaorna Gavorna", featuring the British tenor man from John Mayall's band Johnny Almond, "King Kong", the Frank Zappa Classic, and a killer version of John McLaughlin's "Dragon Song" - Highly recommended..

Bass – John Ransome
Congas – Larry Washington
Drums, Vocals – Hank Ransome
Engineer – Carl Paruolo, Jay Mark
French Horn – Bob Martin
Guitar, Vocals – Zeno Sparkles
Piano, Electric Piano, Clavinet, Soprano Saxophone, Marimba, Vocals – Cotton Kent
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Greg Scott
Trumpet – Bob Shemenek