The Chyknhawks - Fear Of Flight [FULL 1966 Psychedelic Folk-rock single]

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A. Fear Of Flight (written by Gary Cline, James, McGunn, & Daniel Bing)
B. Besides (written by Daniel Bing)

The first single to be taken from the upcoming third Chyknhawks full LP was the song Fear Of Flight. This song and its origins were a true turning point for the group and a signal of the way ahead. Its significance ended up providing a theme that "flew" through the entire album, as eclectic as it is, as well as having an influence on the rest of the life of the band and its members.

At the end of 1965 the Chyknhawks were well acquainted with American hit singles by this point, but there had been a shift. Their music was selling at a much higher rate than previously with their overseas fans. The catalyst of this had been an interview with the Dodos where Joseph Lemmon had named The Chyknhawks his favorite American group and rated their 2nd Lp 'Everything Is Futile' as one of his favorite albums of the year. Suddenly there were offers coming in asking for a tour of the U.K., Australia and Europe.

The tour was set to start on November 4th, 1966 and the first city of the tour is London. The Chyknhawks were very excited to play in the U.K. as it had been beat bands from England that had inspired them and prompted them to mix that Dodos beat music sound with the traditional folk music they had cut their teeth on when still in previous folk vocal groups. They each had their own expectations for this tour, but all were invested and excited.

While on the initial flight from Los Angeles to London Gary Cline started to think he might be dying.

He had never been on an airplane before, and had always thought it sounded amazing. What he hadn't hear about was this ice cold fear that had washed over him, making it hard to breathe. This was a panic attack due to a newfound fear of flying. Luckily for him a woman in the seat behind him on the flight happened to have a couple "Mommy's little helpers" on when she saw him having such a hard time she offered them to him. He got them down and it changed for him. When they started working he said time slowed down for him and he felt he could breathe again. He eventually even slept a few hours during the flight.

After they had landed, James asked Gary about what he thought about having to fly to the other Countries later in the tour. Gary replied to him, "Well James, if I refuse to fly, how can I be a Hawk." And while it got a laugh, Gary knew it was true, and he decided to push past the fear and just get on with it. He also started a habit that helped him deal with flights from then on out, but that's a story for another time.

The band had a string of successful shows first in London but then throughout northern England as well. But that first four nights in London let them perform two very well attended concerts, but it was the other two days that really changed the band.

There were two essential experiences that happened during those other two days. The first was an invite to Joseph Lemmon's home where they would take LSD and be some of the first to hear tapes of some of the new Dodos music that they were recording which would end up becoming songs on the Dodos 1966 album, 'Window View'. Needless to say, their minds were blown by this new direction. The kind of experimentation they were hearing would definitely come into play when the Chyknhawks started making the songs that would appear on their 3rd Lp, 'Higher Planes'.

The second experience also happened during that party but was a personal encounter between Daniel Bing and a strange but intriguing young man that he spoke to. The young man was going on and on about Aleister Crowley and his magical practice that was called Thelema. He talked about "Manifesting" and "Bending the world to your will with intention", and to a very high Daniel Bing it all sounded very far out indeed. And it was not long after the tour that Daniel found Crowley's teachings and sought out a collective of other Thelemites who he had been told by that strange young man was a chapter situated in Los Angeles. And this too would help shape their new album, as these more esoteric influences began to seep into Daniel's writing and his general workings for the band, or his upcoming vision for the group as a whole.