AGGREGATION (The) - Mind Odyssey, 1967 (psych-jazz-rock, Los Angeles, CA., USA) (LHI 12008)

One of the greatest US psych records with a dreamy, surreal quality of the super rare lone psychedelic LP from the band 'Aggregation'. The music is sophisticated and controlled, replacing the teenage mantra that had charged rock'n'roll with a wider palette drawing on cool jazz, movie soundtracks, light classical music and easy listening.

This group of talented and diverse musicians played Disneyland in the late '60s and was picked up for this one excellent Concept album by Lee Hazlewood on his LHI label in 1968. Unusual and atmospheric early art-rock/psych item based on an acid trip amusement park concept from classically trained band who held a residency at Disneyland ! This LP could be seen as a precursor to those extraordinary 1970s private press artefacts, and reveals its classiness and coherence over time. Worth investigating !

Personnel :

LeWayne Braun - guitar, vocals
Dale Burt - organ, piano, vocals
Bayard Gregory - drums, timpani, bongos, tambourine, vocals
Richard Jones - rhythm guitar, vocals
Leo Potts - flute, clarinet, saxophone, recorder, kazoo, vocal
Bill Sissoev - bass, trombone, vocals

Lemoyne Taylor - flute, clarinet, saxophone, recorder, slide whistle, vocals

Tracklisting :
A1. The Lady at the Gate   4:45
A2. Looking for the Tour Guide   2:13
A3. The Long Windy Tunnel   6:15
A4. Flying Free   3:05
A5. White Light   2:00
B1. In the Garden   3:05
B2. Reflections   2:55
B3. The City of Toys and Games   3:23
B4. Change   2:50
B5. Life's Light   6:00

LINK  (no pass)

ADVANCEMENT (The) - s/t, 1969 (psych-jazz-rock fusion, Los Angeles, CA, USA) (Philips PHS 600-328)

After collaborating with Gabor Szabo on such superb efforts as More Sorcery and Dreams, bassist Louis Kabok and drummer Hal Gordon further embraced jazz-rock fusion under the Advancement aegis, issuing their sole LP in 1969. The opening "Juliet" establishes a dark, moody atmosphere immediately bolstered by the intriguing "Painful Struggle," with its eerie vibes and Kabok's extended bass bridge. "Moorish Mode" is Gordon's star turn, highlighted by an impressively restrained drum break. But it's the most overtly rock-influenced cuts that make Advancement worth seeking out, in particular "Fall Out," an impressively heady mixture of jazz, hard rock and psychedelia.

A sixties Hollywood outfit whose album is one of those strange late sixties barrier-breaking experimental efforts trying to fuse different musical genres. Orient Express, Autosalvage and John Berberian are other similar projects which spring to mind. This particular one is an attempt to fuse jazz with folk, rock and acid. Interesting but its success is debatable. Lynn Blessing also released a solo album in 1969, Sunset Painter and Lou Kabok went on to play with Gabor Szabo.

Personnel :

Colin Bailey - drums, percussion
Lynn Blessing - vibes, harmonica, organ
John De Rose - classical guitar
Hal Gordon - conga, drums, percussion
A.A. Johnson - guitar
Lou Kabok - bass
Richard Thompson - organ, harpsichord

Tracklisting :

01 - Juliet
02 - Painful Struggle
03 - Stone Folk
04 - Grass Mass
05 - Sunflower
06 - She
07 - Moorish Mode
08 - Hobo Express
09 - Child At Play
10 - Fall Out

LINK (no pass)

STOOGES (The) - s/t, 1969 (hard-garage-punk, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) (Elektra EKS 74051)

1. 1969
Chanson brûlante avec la guitare de Ron Asheton qui dévaste tout sur son passage, à grands coups de fuzz et de pédale wah-wah. Iggy est ici dans un exercice vocal qui met tout le monde d'accord : sa voix est transcendantale.

2. I Wanna be your Dog
Ces mecs viennent d'ailleurs. Ils ont dû lire en profondeur le marquis de Sade ou Anne Rice...le titre est sans équivoque. Un brûlot, oserais-je dire presque gothique, un lancinant riff de guitare, et sur la fin la fuzz envoie la sauce.

3. We Will Fall
La drogue commence à faire son effet pour ce morceau de plus de 10 minutes ! On est plongé en plein dans les abymes du trip halluciné ici. "We Will Fall" (littéralement "on tombera"), le titre parle de lui-même..

Les comparses ont dû mettre le paquet côté champignons et la marie-jeanne parce qu'on peut sentir les effluves de la fumée parvenir jusqu'à nous !

4. No Fun
On est en 1969 et cette chanson sonne comme les groupes garage du milieu des 60s, à la manière des Kinks. Toujours un son de guitare distordu, bien entendu. Commme cela pourrait-il en être autrement ?

5. Real Cool Time
La Terre commence à s'embraser lorsque la guitare entame la chanson avec des effets en veux tu en voilà, l'explosion est imminente.

6. Ann
Posée, un peu de douceur dans cette ambiance de malade mental.

7. Not Right
Son qui n'a pas la puissance d'un 1969 ou d'un I Wanna be your Dog, mais qui envoie des flêches empoisonnées aux tympans de l'auditeur téméraire.

8. Little Doll
"Little Doll" ou comment terminer un album incendiaire en beauté !

Après avoir écouté ce premier opus des Stooges, j'ai encore les oreilles qui sifflent !

THUNDER & ROSES - King of the Black Sunrise, 1969 (USA, Philadelphia, PA., heavy psych blues)(United Artists UAS 6709)

Ce trio basique du rock (guitare, basse, batterie) est dominé par la personnalité de Chris Bond et se situe dans la lignée des Cream et du Jimi Hendrix Experience. D'ailleurs dans cet album, la seule composition qui ne soit pas due à la plume de leur guitariste/chanteur, Chris Bond, est "Red House" et elle est bien sûr empruntée au répertoire de Jimi Hendrix. Comme on peut s'en douter, pédale wah-wah, distorsion et autres effets de guitare sont les mots-clés de ce 33 tours au rythme enlevé. "White Lace and Strange", une composition en tout point digne des Cream, offre une ouverture dynamique à souhait, avec un son énorme et une belle montée d'adrénaline en perspective pour l'auditeur. Le ton est donné et on ne décèle aucun baisse d'intensité tout au long des plages suivantes, jusqu'au long blues final, "Open Up your Eyes", qui sonne encore une fois très Cream. L'album des Thunder and Roses est donc hautement recommandable.

Personnel :
Chris Bond - guitars, vocals
Tom Schaffer - bass, vocals
George Emme - drums

Tracklisting :
A1 White Lace and Strange 3:15
A2 I Loved a Woman 4:37
A3 Country Life 2:43
A4 Red House 5:37
B1 Moon Child 4:10
B2 Dear Dream Maker 3:28
B3 King of the Black Sunrise 3:47
B4 Open Up Your Eyes 7:18

LINK (no pass)

MARIANI - Perpetuum Mobile, 1970 (USA, Austin, TX., heavy psych blues ultra rare LP) (Sonobeat HEC 411)

Eric Johnson, né le 17 août 1954, fait ses débuts au sein de The Id. Il enregistre en 1975 un LP sur le label Discreet de Frank Zappa avec le groupe Electromagnets (1000 copies). La découverte de Jimi Hendrix et Jeff Beck sera décisive. "Perpetuum Mobile" pressé à seulement 100 exemplaires (!) met en scène le jeune prodige texan âgé alors de 16 ans (!). Le disque est l'un des plus grands albums de hard-blues-psychédélique de l'époque avec des titres surboostés comme Re-Birth Day, Things are Changing, Euphoria, véritables monuments de technicité et de génie guitaristique. Akarma a réédité l'album en format digipack avec deux titres additionnels (Re-Birth Day, Things are Changing) en 2000.
Ce groupe est particulièrement difficile à suivre dans ses pérégrinations discographiques. Les enregistrements étant parus sur un label texan à faible rayon d'action, il est bien sûr plus facile de se procurer des rééditions (même à tirage très limité) que des originaux quasi-invisibles où les informations y fugurant demeurent pour le moins succintes. Cette formation d'Austin semble avoir à son actif au moins un simple "Memories" / "Re-Birth Day" (Sonobeat 118), publié en 1970. Eric Johnson, guitariste, compositeur et chanteur, en est la figure centrale et y fait une demonstration éblouissante de ses qualités. Profondément influencé par le Blues ("Baby, I Want to Sing the Blues...And Get Free") et par Jimi Hendrix, il nous régale de solos extraordinaires de maîtrise technique, de virulence, de feeling et d'inventivité ("Searching for a New Dimension", la suite "The Unknown Path / Euphoria", "First Song", "Third Song", "Pulsar" sur le 33 tours. Les morceaux, habilement composés, sont longs pour permettre un développement maximal des parties instrumentales ("Boots"). A noter que la réimpression de Perpetuum Mobile n'aurait pas dépassé 150 exemplaires, tous numérotés, ce qui en fait déjà un collector en soi.

Personnel :
Eric Johnson - guitar, vocals
Vince Mariani - drums, vocals
Jay Podolnick - bass, vocals

Tracklisting :
1. Searchin' for a New Dimension 5:40
2. Re-Birth Day 5:52
3. Thing are Changing 4:42
4. Lord, I Just Can't Help myself 2:55
5. The Unknown Path 5:59
6. Euphoria 11:24
7. Windy Planet 2:19

Bonus Tracks :
8. Re-Birth Day 3:06
9. Thing are Changing 2:08

LINK (no pass)

RED KRAYOLA - The Parable of Arable Land, 1967 (USA, Houston, TX., psych weird freak out)(International Artists I.A. 2)

On peut également écrire Red Crayola sous cette orthographe qu'ils ont utilisée à partir de leur deuxième album. Il s'agit ici de l'un des groupes visités par l'ange du bizarre et dévoués à la folie des sons. Ce trio est le digne pendant texan des Godz new-yorkais. Formé à Houston, Texas, en septembre 1966, Red Krayola est repéré par Lelan Rogers, le patron d'International Artists (IA), lors d'une prestation très libre dans les allées piétonnières d'un centre commercial. Celui-ci est très impréssionné par la manière dont les jeunes spectateurs reçoivent cette musique informelle, destructurée et pour tout dire pratiquée par des non-musiciens à l'aide d'instruments divers. Peu après le trio se retrouve dans les studios d'IA où il improvise ce qui va devenir le deuxième LP publié par le label, bénéficiant de l'apport momentané de musiciens de passage dont Roky Erickson des 13th Floor Elevators sur les deux premiers titres, par exemple. De plus, Mayo Thompson, Steve Cunningham et Rick Barthelme font appel à un sous-ensemble concomitant, à la composition fluctuante, Familiar Ugly, chargé d'élaborer des free form freak-out entre chacun des six morceaux originaux de leur premier LP "The Parable of Arable Land", paru début 1967. Quelques phrases extraites des notes de pochette, rédigées par le groupe lui-même, définissent fort bien leur projet :

The liberty of feeling, distinct from intent, affirms the musical process

Limited definitions define limit and one can go just so far...Here we go

Pour ceux qui aiment aller jusqu'aux limites des limites, ce disque est pour vous. Pour les autres, qu'ils ne soient pas trop rapidement rebutés et qu'ils jettent une oreille attentive à "Hurricane Fighter Plane", "War Sucks" ou "Parable of Arable Land", exemples de free form psychedelism. Le tout illustré d'une superbe pochette en couleurs. D'après Lelan Rogers, l'album se serait quand même vendu entre 30 et 40000 exemplaires dont 22000 dans la seule ville de New York.
Red Krayola ne s'est pourtant pratiquement jamais produit sur scène après la parution de leur LP et quand exceptionnellement il le faisait, on le priait rapidement de s'arrêter. Aussi, après un nouvel échec au Berkeley Folk Festival de 1967, le trio se sépare. Mais dès l'année suivante, sous l'impulsion de Mayo Thompson de retour au Texas, Red krayola se reforme. Steve Cunningham répond présent mais Rick Barthelme est remplacé aux percussions par Tommy Smith.


Line-up

Mayo Thompson - guitar, vocals

Steve Cunningham - guitar, vocals

Rick Barthelme - drums


Tracklisting

1. Hurricane Fighter Plane 3:33
2. Transparent Radiation 2:32
3. War Sucks 3:38
4. Pink Stainless Tail 3:16
5. Parable of Arable Land 3:06
6. Former Reflections Enduring Doubt 4:57

SAINTE ANTHONY'S FYRE - s/t, 1969 (USA, Trenton, NJ., heavy psych rock)(Zonk ZP 001, 1000 copies)

In 1969 Sainte Anthony's Fyre was the ultimate hard rock power trio from Trenton, New Jersey. Band leader, guitar and vocalist Greg Ohm was heavy into music since childhood, having played classical music in elementary and high school (1st violin Trenton High’s Orchestra). He also took some music classes in college and ended up with the group Peter's Precious Soul, who were very popular locally. But Greg grew tired of playing Top 40 cover songs and decided to start his own band. While cleaning his grandmother's attic one day in 1967 he found an old newspaper with the headline, "Ste. Anthony's Fyre Strikes French Town." A wheat crop had developed ergot, which is a fungus disease that affects rye and other plants, and was contaminated. The wheat was used to make bread and sent the whole town on an LSD-like trip that lasted nearly three weeks. This was the perfect name for the group Greg had in mind and thus Sainte Anthony's Fyre was born. Greg recruited two skilled local musicians, and friends of his; Tom Nardi (previously in the bubblegum band Marshmallow Way) on bass and vocals and Bobb Sharples on drums. In 1968 they started rehearsing in the cellar of a boutique in downtown Trenton called the Hip-Pocket. Greg was extremely innovative and played weird positions, inverted chords, and off-key tuning on his customized Gibson Firebird guitar. He would only use Marshall’s, three 100 watts heads with six cabinets. Greg also considered himself a fashion plate and always wore a grey felt cowboy hat, a scarf tied around his left knee, and bedroom slippers when he played. Tom used a Sunn 2000 S with four 15" JBLs, four Sunn 412 S cabinets with two Sunn Sorado heads, one Sorado head with a 610 cabinet, and one 15" cabinet, to blow eardrums left and right. He also sported a cartridge belt around his waist. Bobbie always had a double bass drum set. This was a real power trio. One of the owners of the Hip-Pocket and his business partner decided to manage the band and used the profit from the clothing store to promote them. They started Zonk Productions and managed to get Sainte Anthony’s Fyre booked as an opening act for bands like MC5, Wishbone Ash, Grass Roots, Rare Earth, Fleetwood Mac, and Joe Cocker. About this time they met a black promoter named Dickie Diamond who wanted to bankroll them. He said he knew everyone and would take care of everything. He was putting on shows with black acts and had the band opening for them. They also had to fill in as backup players for an impressive rooster of artists like James Brown, Jackie Wilson, the Coasters, the Drifters, the Four Tops, Kool and the Gang and others! As Sainte Anthony’s Fyre’s fan base grew Zonk Productions decided it was time to put out an album. It was recorded around the end of 1969 in a studio in Pennsauken, New Jersey which was run by the bass player from the Lovin' Spoonful. Unfortunately he had no idea how to record this loud bunch. They refused to go directly into the board or use small amps so the sound board kept blowing up. Then finally they just set the amps up facing the back wall and hung two microphones on the far wall. They did some overdubbing at Nise Studios in Philadelphia and after mixing, the tapes were sent to Motown for pressing, who according to the band totally screwed it up. United Artists then pressed about 1000 copies of the Zonk Productions label release. Because the record was an independent release no radio stations would play it. In the meantime Dickie had some crazy schemes going. He wanted to put them on tour as Led Zeppelin (he called them "Zefflin"), he said no one would figure it out because Zeppelin was from England and nobody knew what they looked like. He also started booking shows, selling the tickets, and then canceling the shows. Nobody knew what they were doing but Dickie said he would make it up to the band. So he got some time at Electric Lady Studio in New York to re-record the album in January 1971. Ultimate wasted slimy speed freak vortex of polluted psychedelic hard rock from the greasy wasteland of inner city Jersey. The most wicked manic garage power trio to end them all. Raw gnarly drugged guitar, cavernous bass, drums beat to a pulp and psychotic vocals. Beyond early Blue Cheer, this record is so wasted, toxic and heavy! One look at the pictures will tell you how they sound. A highly sought after collector piece.

Line-up

Tomm Nardi - vocals, bass

Greg Ohm - vocals, guitar

Bob Sharples - drum


Tracklisting

1. Love Over You 4:53
2. Get Off 3:09
3. Summer Fun 3:40
4. Starlight 5:37
5. Lone Soul Road 4:43
6. With Your Beau 3:07
7. Chance of Fate 4:09
8. Wet Back 3:04

St. JOHN GREEN - s/t, 1968 (USA, Los Angeles, CA., psych)(Flick-Disc FLS 45001)

"Strange Kim Fowley produced psychedelic opus with a sanctified hippie vibe - 'canyon music' as this Los Angeles area group might have described it; strange songs about the fires of hell and spacemen from Venus alternate with some anti 'flower power' songs and stoned sounding jams that show why they were touted by Fowley as the next 'in-thing' - they weren't, of course, but a strong album all the same." “[‘St. John Green’ is] one of the great lost records...Somebody will reissue it someday and people will start crying and jacking off and smoking dope to it. It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great.” -Kim Fowley to Mike Stax (“Ugly Things” magazine issue #19, 2001). Through mutual associations in Topanga Canyon, St. John Green connected with Fowley sometime in 1968, and he in turn spurred them on to outdo or to die all over what would be their sole album. They wound up doing both. “St. John Green” is by turns frightening, dark, funny and stupid as it reeks of bad trip freak outs in matte black painted rooms with no furniture lit only by a single red bulb and burning cigarette ends. What emanates forth immediately from this darkness are the mystic incantations of vocalist/bassist Ed Bissot who is mean, moody, magnificent AND for his sins is stuck in a garage of sick creep psychedelia for all eternity. His delivery is so full of promises and not threats you begin to feel that this guy exists precariously balanced over a yawning chasm between Jim Morrison and Arthur Brown without trying at all really MEANS IT. And he is shored up all the way by a fine-tuned band in total sync with his visions of the four D’s --death, doom, damnation and dread -- in a weirdly accomplished album that runs a gamut of styles from supernatural ruminations to the cheapest of goofball novelties. Bissot’s massive intonations open the apocalyptic “7th Generation Mutation,” where his early death god in a garage vibe bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Calvert’s space age narratives that threaded Hawkwind’s “Space Ritual.” A total lack of drums makes his hypnotic bass line the only percussion as it sways pendulum-like above the restrained and gagged music which has already cut out from one speaker and lurks behind his initial intonation of “In the darkness of my empty cage, a being from Venus speaks to me” which then switches to a massively echoed snotty sneer: “I have seen your planet suffer seven nuclear wars... I’ve seen your civilization rise from its ruin only to crumble once more to ash. Noah’s Ark was a period of time, and not a boat. It is through such misconceptions Your beliefs are weakened and your faith lost... WHY CAN YOU NOT SEE...? Earth is born of molten lava Torn from the breast of a violent star. Man is created And rises from the dust-fringed edges of the cooling mud To love...To conquer...To kill... AND HE WILL!” Tape speed wind chases this insistently freaky track into the fading gloom and late night Booker T & The MG’s outtake from “Gris-Gris” vibe of the Fowley-penned “Canyon Women,” a place where sexually rhythmically percussion hangs in the background like swamp gas silhouetting the band as they respond to Bissot’s vocals with low, bullfrog refraining as over-recorded organ and casual grunts pass by in the shadows. “Devil And The Sea” is the psychic link between The Doors’ “When The Music’s Over” and Alice Cooper’s “Black Juju” as those familiar prominent organ swells cut in, out and all around Bissot’s vocals of truly beacon-in-the-wilderness qualities. “Do You Believe” is all corn-fed and howling harp as Bissot starts vocally delivering in down home, religious revival tones against distinctly Fraternity of Man/Holy Modal Rounders backing. “Go!” commands Fowley from behind the glass for the next gross-out, “Help Me Close The Door” signaling commencement of a somber Bissot narration painting a portrait of a broken man with the paint roller. It’s cheap pathos galore over a lullaby piano rock-a-bye-ing as several species of small furry animals chirp continually along with little girls’ persistent calls of “Daddy?” Tears well up until the surprise final set up line of “If you have any heart at all...You’ll help me close the door!” that causes all studio denizens to erupt in cackling glee at the egg on your face. “Messages From The Dead” follows with a mid-tempo “Mystic Eyes” beat and prominent 2-fingered bass. Bissot has just hooked himself a one-way ticket onto that down bound train to Sheol with ol’ Satan hisself, and with each passing level the flames shoot higher and higher: here represented by hugely recorded organ smears all up and down the keyboard against a backwards hi-hat pattern. After seven levels of Hell have been traversed, Bissot’s finally had enough of those flames licking up his body so he’s now down on his knees pleading right before the organ-led coda, “No, God....don’t burn me down in hea-uh! Please don’t burn me down, God!” So they burn down the track instead: in a way Fowley would later describe as “Vanilla Fudge minus the fucking bubblegum.” Side two is just as diverse, great and fucked up. “Goddess of Death” is a sleep-walking creep-out supreme with all the eeriness of “You’re Lost Little Girl” by The Doors. Descending organ quietly curls like smoke in the background as electric guitar piano-type notes are plucked as Bissot intones from a waking dream: “And we walked into the endless valley...Looking back in tears while the echoes of life faded from our ears...We walked into the cold silence...being careful not to step on those who had passed out there in previous times...and I ask: ‘Why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we here?’” The band responds only with the swaying chant, “Why? Why? Why? Why?” Neither are graced with an answer. Spookeh! Leave it to Fowley to compose St. John Green’s own signature tune, entitled (naturally) “St. John Green” and of course sounds like nothing else on the album. Bissot’s vocals now switch to Dylanesque overtones as they spread over a dum-dum re-vamp of “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” filling the background with a clutch of piano, tuba-tone bass and heavily sustained organ that clump around great lyrics like: “Just because we’re so young and deadly/Why did we have to lose our light?” Next up is the quicker paces of “Spirit Of Now” that is akin to the later basement psychedelia of The C.A. Quintet. Here, guitarist Bill Kirkland is finally allowed a solo for the first time on the record and it’s fantastic; followed by a sprinting organ solo by Mike Baxter, whose arrangements throughout are strong, fine-tuned and as consistently weird as his neatly-placed organ fills. “Love Of Hate” is an elegiac vocal (what else ?) intonation accompanied by organ alone, with Bissot channeling words from and about the world beyond the grave. The Fowley-penned “One Room Cemetery” is the terrifying highlight of side two as elements of free form freak outs scatter behind Bissot’s intonations from a dark and lonely place as tom-tom rolls, solidly plucked bass lines and random, skittering guitar all conspire to creep you out. Over ominously building drums, Bissot hurls out echoed grunts, calls for bo-weevils to meet him in his one room cemetery and calmly free associating all over the place with “We’re playing with the world... We’re playing with the world...When a love song has gone wrong...where does a sad girl go? Where does the sad girl go when her love song is over? We’re playing with the world...We’re playing with the world...” right before all fades to black with a single, jerked musical curtain pull. But as weirdly dark and epic that “St. John Green” well and truly is, where can it go but sign off with “Shivers Of Pleasure,” a bouncy showbiz coda all jaunty piano, lounge hi-hats and vocal A-Z alphabetical dedications like: “F is for Fowley: is he putting us on?”, “T is for Teenage girls” (accented by a non-too subtle pelvic thrust grunt, “Uuhhh!”) and so on; cracking sophomoric jokes in a manner altogether out of context with the rest of the album. It’s kinda disconcerting in its clean cut kid delivery, but then again, it may be an intentional move in case if too many people got the wrong idea whilst hanging onto each of Bissot’s every word, taking them too far upon the album’s termination by offing themselves outright. For maximum effect, play in absolute darkness.

Line-up

Bill Kirkland - guitar
Mike Baxter - organ, keyboards, vocals
Shelly Scott - drums
Ed Bissot - bass guitar, vocals
Vic Sabino - harmonica, vocals


Tracklisting

A1 7th Generation Mutation 3:21
A2 Canyon Women 2:57
A3 Devil and the Sea 2:14
A4 Do you Believe ? 2:10
A5 Help Me Close the Door 0:57
A6 Messages From the Dead 4:04

B1 Goddess of Death 2:22
B2 St. John Green 3:02
B3 Spirit of Now 2:30
B4 Love of Hate 2:10
B5 One Room Cemetery 3:42
B6 Shivers of Pleasure 3:21

CHARLATANS (The) - s/t, 1969 (USA, San Francisco, CA., psych) (Philips PHS 600 309)

The Charlatans were the very first San Francisco underground rock band. At the start the group played Chuck Berry numbers and R&B standards like "Got My Mojo Working" and "My Babe" but gradually they evolved the folk rock repertoire for which they had become famous. Eventually the group were offered a residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. Here The Charlatans acted as a magnet for the whole hippy scene. News of them soon got around and acid heads came from Reno, 'Frisco and as far afield as Seattle and Los Angeles to hear them play. The Red Dog Saloon predated any of the San Francisco venues, and at the time it was the only place on the West Coast where you could hear the new music. But things began to go wrong. Despite being packed almost every night, the saloon made a loss because no admission charge was levied so profits could only be made from beer and wine sales. The owner had left his 22 year old son in charge and was not pleased when he found, on returning to discover the reasons for this loss, that everyone was having a ball at his expense. To make matters worse his visit coincided with two members of the group getting busted on the way back from San Francisco with more drug supplies for the group. Eventually the band headed back to San Francisco for good, taking with them a reputation on a par with anybody. Before long, record companies began to take an interest in them and they eventually signed with the Lovin' Spoonful's label, Kama Sutra. In retrospect, they would have done better to wait for a company to offer them the sort of advance RCA had offered The Jefferson Airplane. The group cut a nine-track album for Kama Sutra which included the Buffy St.Marie song Codine (later recorded by many other 'Frisco bands), amazing versions of traditional songs like Alabama Bound and 32-20 Blues, and the old Coasters' song The Shadow Knows and two songs featuring Lynne Hughes, who worked as a barmaid at the Red Dog Saloon (and later sang with Tongue and Groove and Stoneground) on vocals - Side Track and I'd Rather Be The Devil. The Charlatans had wanted Codine backed by 32-20 released as a single, but the record company got cold feet because of the mention of 'drugs' in Codine and cut off all contact with the band. This was disasterous for The Charlatans and ironic when one considers that the song was condemning drugs rather than advocating their use. At this point, Mike Ferguson left the group to join Tongue and Groove with Lynne Hughes, to be replaced by Patrick Bogerty, and Dan Hicks gave up the drums to concentrate on the rhythm guitar. So Terry Wilson, who had been playing with David LaFlamme and Jaime Leapold in a group called The Orkustra came in on the drums. But they struggled to get work and Hicks, Bogerty and Hunter left the group for good. Hicks to set up Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. The remaining three (Wilhelm, Olsen and Wilson) recruited a keyboard player Darryl De Vore and were determined to have a final fling. The tragic story of The Charlatans, probably one of San Francisco's most talented bands, that of a group taken for a ride by its record company, was sadly typical of this era. (taken from "Fuzz, Acid & Flowers") Their album was a bit disappointing if you compare it with their earlier works but it's not a "mediocre affair" as it described in "Fuzz, Acid & Flowers". They did a competent version of Van Dyke Park's "High Coin" and "Time To Get Straight" is a fine folk rocker. Also notable is the last song "When The Movies Are Over", which is a weird and trippy number.

Personnel :
George Hunter (vocals, 1964-68)
Richard Olsen (bass, vocals, 1964-69)
Darell De Vore (keyboards, vocals, 1968-69)
Michael "Mike" Wilhelm (lead guitar, vocals, 1964-69)
Terry Wilson (drums, 1967-69)
Mike Ferguson (piano, keyboards, 1964-67)
Sam Linde (drums, 1964)
Dan Hicks (drums, guitar, 1965-68)
Lynne Hughes (vocals, 1965)
Patrick Bogerty (keyboards, 1967-68)


Tracklisting :
1. High Coin 3:07
2. Easy When I'm Dead 2:38
3. Ain't Got the Time 2:47
4. Folsom Prison Blues 2:47
5. The Blues Ain't Nothin' 4:44
6. Time to Get Straight 3:53
7. When I Go Sailin' By 2:46
8. Doubtful Waltz 3:24
9. Wabash Cannonball 4:04
10. Alabama Bound 6:53
11. When the Movies are Over 3:04

LINK  (no pass)

CRYAN' SHAMES - A Scratch in the Sky, 1968 (USA, Hinsdale, IL., pop psych)(Columbia CP 2786)

The Cryan' Shames are an American pop rock group from Hinsdale, Illinois. They originally formed as The Travelers, with founding members Tom Doody ("Toad"), Gerry Stone ("Stonehenge"), Dave Purple ("Grape") of The Prowlers, Denny Conroy and Jim Fairs from The Roosters, and Jim Pilster ("J.C. Hooke"). The band later changed its name to The Cryan' Shames in 1966 . J.C. Hooke, having been fitted for a hook as he was born without a left hand, was responsible for naming the group because of the problem they had coming up with a name ... "being a Cryan' Shame."[cite this quote] After signing with Bob Monaco, the promotion manager for Destination Music, their first hit single was "If I Needed Someone", which was not released in the US (but included on their debut album). It was soon followed by "Sugar and Spice," a Tony Hatch song that was a hit in 1964 for the English group The Searchers. The Shames' version reached #49 in the USA (while reaching #4 on local radio WLS). They signed to Columbia in 1966 , and while they never were to become a national success, their singles and albums continued to sell very well in the Chicago area. The group disbanded in December 1969 , but reunited again and continues to tour. Jim "J.C. Hooke" Pilster is the only remaining originial member of the current lineup. Two charter members of The Cryan' Shames have since passed away: bassist Dave Purple in June 2001 and his replacement Isaac Guillory on December 31, 2000.

Line-up

Tom Doody (vocals)
J.C. Hooke [Jim Pilster] (percussion, vocals, conga, tambourine)
Gerry Stone [aka Stonehenge] (guitar, 1966)
Dave Purple [aka Grape] (guitar, vocals, 1966)
Jim Fairs (bass, flute, guitar, vocals, 1966-68)
Dennis Conroy (drums, vocals, 1966-68)
Isaac Guillory (guitar, bass, keyboards, 1966-69)
Lenny Kerley (guitar, bass, vocals, 1966-69)
Dave Carter (guitar, bass, 1968-69)
Alan Dawson (drums, vocals, 1968-69)
Ron Kaplan (drums, vocals, 1969)
Ron Brandt (guitar, vocals, 1986-present)
Jeff Rutter (guitar, vocals, 1986-present)
Paul Wood (keyboards, guitar, vocals, 1986-present)
Tim Rutter (bass, vocals, 1986-present)
Rocky Penn (drums, vocals, 1986-present)
Larry Coveny (vocals, 1986-present)


Tracklisting

1. A Carol for Lorelei 3:58
2. The Sailing Ship 3:29
3. In the Cafe 3:03
4. Mr. Unreliable 2:48
5. The Town I'd like to go back to 4:25
6. Up on the Roof 3:22
7. It Could be We're in Love 2:32
8. Sunshine Psalm 2:13
9. I was Lonely When... 3:50
10. Cobblestone Road (She's been Walking) 5:54

DEEP - Psychedelic Moods, 1966 (USA, Philadelphia, PA., heavy psych) (Cameo Parkway SP-7051)

The Deep's Psychedelic Moods is probably one of the most fascinating and sought after psychedelic albums of all time, incredibly-rare stereo version is the one that all collectors want to own. The album, which is an extremely rare and quite costly collectors' item, has until recently been shrouded in total mystery. It was produced by Mark Barkan and Rusty Evans. Both were also involved in Freak Scene whose album Psychedelic Psoul (CBS 9456 ) 1968 is virtually a second Deep LP. We also know thal David Bromberg was involved in the project. The other personnel listed above have been deduced from songwriting credits and may also have been involved. Their album is very strange, full of weird sound effects, haunting vocals and acid-soaked lyrics. It is based on a psychedelic folk format. Some, such as Color Dreams and Your Choice To Choose, sound very Seeds-like. Others, like Shadows On The Wall and Wake Up and Find Me are haunting acid ballads. "Wake up and find me with dreams of liquid nights and never ending lights" (from Wake Up and Find Me). Arguably the best two tracks are Turned On and Psychedelic Moon - which are both very odd. The album is recommended listening. Fans of the band will also be interested in a series of outtakes released on CD by Collectables, Part 2 and Part 3 contains alternate takes and unreleased tracks which were recorded in 1966 ), whilst Part 4 (which also features tracks by Hydro-Pyro) and Part 5 are now also available on CD through Collectables. Barkan went on to a group called Hydro Pyro. In 1970, Rusty released a solo album as Marcus.

Personnel :
Rusty Evans - vocals
Mark Barkan
David Bromberg
D. Blackhurst
C. Blue
L. Pogan
A. Geller

Tracklisting :
01. Color Dreams 2:38
02. Pink Ether 2:23
03. When Rain Is Black 2:13
04. It's All A Part Of Me 2:57
05. Turned On 2:28
06. Psychedelic Moon 2:44
07. Shadows on the Wall 3:15
08. Crystal Nite 1:43
09. Trip #76 2:39
10. Wake Up And Find Me 2:22
11. Your Choice To Choose 1:55
12. On Off - Off On 2:24

LINK  (no pass)

THE RAINY DAZE - That Acapulco Gold, 1967 (USA, Denver, CO. psych garage)(UNI 73002)

Psychedelic pop combo the Rainy Daze formed in Denver, CO, in 1965 . Comprised of singer/guitarist Tim Gilbert, his brother Kip on drums, lead guitarist Mac Ferris, bassist Sam Fuller, and keyboardist Bob Heckendorf, the group started as little more than a covers act, nevertheless parlaying a string of frat party gigs into a local television appearance that reportedly caught the attention of famed producer Phil Spector, who extended a management contract. A massive publicity campaign was in the planning stages when the spectacular failure of his magnum opus, Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High," left Spector's career in shambles; the Rainy Daze were among the collateral damage, and only in 1967 did their debut single, "That Acapulco Gold" -- written by Tim Gilbert in collaboration with his college roommate John Carter -- appear on Denver producer Frank Slay's Chicory label. When the single caught fire locally the fledgling UNI label snapped up national distribution rights, but with "That Acapulco Gold" at number 70 on the Billboard charts, the bottom fell out. Once radio programmers finally intuited the song's pro-marijuana content, it was pulled from play lists coast to coast. The Rainy Daze quickly resurfaced with "Discount City," which went nowhere. The follow-up, "Fe Fi Fo," was quickly deleted and reissued under the new and improved title "Blood of Oblivion," even securing a U.K. release but still failing to crack pop radio. After an LP, That Acapulco Gold, and a Tim Gilbert solo single, "Early October," UNI dropped the group. However, by this time Gilbert and Carter were earning notice as a crack songwriting duo, and via Slay earned a crack at revamping a demo track cut by an unknown psych-pop outfit known as Thee Sixpence. Gilbert and Carter added lyrics and a new melody, titling the finished song "Incense and Peppermints." Thee Sixpence cut the new tune, renamed themselves the Strawberry Alarm Clock immediately thereafter, and in late 1967 topped the Billboard pop charts. No doubt the success of "Incense and Peppermints" contributed to splitting the Rainy Daze in early 1968 , but Gilbert nevertheless signed to White Whale to record one final Daze single, "Make Me Laugh," backed by L.A. session players. He and Carter next masterminded Horses, a country-rock quintet whose eponymous 1969 LP was a victim of White Whale's pending bankruptcy. Gilbert soon after retired from music, but Carter forged on, later writing for Sammy Hagar and the Motels. He also produced two songs on Tina Turner's 1984 comeback smash Private Dancer before moving into artist management.
A great pop-punk-psychedelic outfit from Denver, Colorado. Only the first 45 appears on their album which is recommended. They first formed in 1965 when they specialized in playing beat and R&B and they were a regular attraction at local frat parties. Almost unbelievably they were unearthed by Phil Spector who signed them to a management contract and a giant publicity campaign was planned but never really materialized. A year or so later That Acapulco Gold appeared on the local IP label and Frank Slay, a local producer, bought the rights and released it on his Chicory label. However, it was quickly leased to UNI and became the band's best known song making the No. 70 spot. Although they never again equalled this commercial success they continued to make some excellent 45s. One of the best, a beautifully crafted piece of pop-psych was originally released as Fe Fi Fo Fum, but was almost immediately withdrawn and reissued with a different title Blood Of Oblivion, even securing a U.K. release (Polydor 56737 ). Tim Gilbert, the main songwriter, also released a solo 45 Early October/If We Stick Together (UNI 55045 ) 1967 - folkie fare which has been compared to Tim Buckley. He would go into songwriting and his compositions (with J. Carter) would appear on Hardwater (fellow Coloradans The Astronauts in disguise), Yankee Dollar, Horses and Strawberry Alarm Clock LP's. Their album includes the first 45 and Discount City, a sorta bluesy honky tonk, which was the 'A' side of their third 45. Aside from an almost four minute medley of Shake, Knock On Wood and Respect, other notable songs include a pretty good cover of Stephen Stills' For What Its Worth, a fuzzy Taxman-like song called Weatherman and an Eastern-style slice of psychedelia, Snow And Ice And Burning Sand. However, the album's finest moment was "In my Mind Lives a Forest" (the flip to their first 45) - an exquisite slice of pop-psychedelia. Recommended.

Line-up

Tim Gilbert - vocals, guitar

Mac Ferris - lead guitar

Bob Heckendorf - keyboards

Sam Fuller - bass

Kip Gilbert - drums



Tracklisting


01. Absurd Bird 2:57 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

02. Baby I Need Your Loving 3:31 (Written by E. Holland, L. Dozier, B. Holland)

03. Weatherman 2:30 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

04. Out Of A Calico Dream 2:26 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

05. Medley 3:57
a). Shake (Written by S. Cooke)
b). Knock on Wood (Written by E. Floyd*, S. Cropper)
c). Respect (Written by O. Redding)

06. Discount City 2:37 (Written by M. Ferris)

07. That Acapulco Gold 2:23 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

08. Try A Little Harder 2:30 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

09. For What It's Worth 2:56 (Written by S. Stills)

10. In My Mind Lives A Forest 2:45 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)

11. Snow And Ice And Burning Sand 3:11 (Written by J. Carter, T. Gilbert)


Bonus Tracks

12. Blood Of Oblivion (non lp 45)

13. Good Morning, Mr. Smith.

THE SYNDICATE OF SOUND - Little Girl, 1966 (USA, San Jose, CA. garage)(Bell 6001)

The Syndicate of Sound were best known for their national smash hit "Little Girl" which became somewhat of a garage anthem. It went to No.8 and their album (Bell 6001, 1966) made No.148 in the charts. Their LP contains respectable versions of "Big Boss Man", "I'm Alive" and "The Witch" (well, they couldn't beat Gerry Roslie's bunch but they came pretty close). You will also find some weak material here, especially on side 1 ("Almost Grown", "So Alone" and "Dream Baby") but all the other tracks are constantly good.

Line-up

Don Baskin - vocals, guitar
John Sharkey - guitar, keyboards
Larry Ray - guitar
Bob Gonzalez - bass
John Duckworth - drums
Jim Sawyers - guitar


Tracklisting

1. Big Boss Man
2. Almost Grown
3. So Alone
4. Dream Baby
5. Rumors
6. Little Girl
7. That Kind of Man
8. I'm Alive
9. You
10. Lookin' for the Good Times (The Robot)
11. The Witch
12. Is you is or is you Ain't my Baby ?

TEA COMPANY (The) - Come and have some Tea with The Tea Company, 1968 (USA, NY. psych) (Smash SRS 67105)

NB: (1) has been counterfeited on LP and CD. There is also a superior CD edition, released by band member Mike Lassandro - see main text for details. 45 : 1 Come And Have Some Tea With Me/Flowers (1968)(Smash 2176). Tea was another word for marijuana, so with a name like The Tea Company, it is clear what to expect from their sole album. It is an interesting effort, with the title track and ten-minute cut, Flowers outstanding. The latter sounds Beatles-influenced psychedelia, with high-pitched guitar notes superimposed upon a typical psychedelic backing. It sounds rather like an extended version of the ending to Strawberry Fields Forever. Aside from a slowed-down version of The Supremes' hit "You Keep Me Hanging On", all the compositions are originals and some are full of the usual hippie cliches and social commentary, for example, Love Could Make The World Go Round and Make Love Not War. Their sole 45 contained shorter versions of two cuts from their album, with Flowers being a drastically edited and remixed version. The group, who were originally called The Lip-Tin Tea Company, came from Queens, N.Y. and evolved out of The Naturals. They played mostly in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. Al Vertucci recalls:- "The Tea Company and all The Naturals stuff was done at Ultra-Sonic by Bill Stahl". Ultra-Sonic was "in Hempstead, L.I., and the owner/engineer was Bill Stahl who did all of the 'Fudge and Shangri-Las stuff there. One of the great engineers ever!! He did with four tracks what people can't do today with 48. The Tea Company LP (which was recorded on 8 tracks) was then re-mixed and ruined at A&R Recording, 7th Avenue in NYC by Mercury's Dick Corby."

Personnel :

Frankie Carretta - guitar, lead vocals
Mike Lassando - drums, backing vocals
John Vancho - bass, backing vocals
Al Vertucci - guitar, lead/backing vocals

Tracklisting : 
1. Come and Have Some Tea
2. Flowers
3. Love could make the World go Round
4. You Keep me Hangin' on
5. Don't Make Waves
6. As I have Seen you on the Wall
7. Make Love, not War 

LINK  (no pass) 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - s/t, 1968 (USA, Los Angeles, CA., psych rock)(Columbia CS 9619)

Their self-titled record was recorded in December 1967 , produced by David Rubinson for CBS Records, and released in 1968 . It was rereleased on CD by Sundazed Records in 2004 with various alternate takes, demos, and outtakes. Their sound blended a range of musical genres, including avant-garde, psychedelic, and progressive. One of the more notable points of the band was that it had no guitar player, which for its time was quite radical, as the electric guitar occupied a central position in rock music of the time. Instead, they used strings, keyboards and electronics, including primitive synthesizers, and various audio processors, including the ring modulator. The record was released in early 1968 , at a time when there was a receptive audience for “underground music” which combined musical experimentalism with radical social and/or political lyrics – other examples, in their very different ways, including the Velvet Underground (who shared a common background in the New York experimental music scene; according to Moskowitz, Nico at one point tried to join the USA), Frank Zappa (whom Byrd considered a niche-marketer "subsumed in a self-referential loop", Love’s Forever Changes, Country Joe and the Fish, and Jefferson Airplane. Whether intended or not, the record took the form of a coherent “song cycle”, a radical commentary on contemporary American society. The words ranged from satires on decadence ("The American Metaphysical Circus" , "..Wooden Wife..") to lyrical expressions of longing (the pastoral "Cloud Song", the political "Love Song For The Dead Che"). Musically, the songs ranged from pseudo-classical elegance ("Stranded In Time", "Where Is Yesterday") to aggressive discordance and hard rock ("The Garden of Earthly Delights", "Hard Coming Love"), with heavy electronic distortion and collages of “found” music such as brass bands, Byrd being heavily influenced by Charles Ives. The final suite "The American Way of Love" integrates most of these elements, with a dreamlike ending containing a collage of earlier tracks. The United States of America was, along with the Doors and Jimi Hendrix, one of the most played "alternative" rock albums when alternative rock meant something. After the 60's, some of these albums made it into the classic pantheon, others, just as good, like USA, are obscure. In 1968 , 99% of the rock stations refused to play this because it was too good, too topical, too loud, too literate, too weird and, well, too psychedelic. Only low power college stations would dare to played it and boy, did they ever! Over and over all night! Dorothy Moskowitz had (has?) a voice with the beauty and power of the Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick. Dorothy, it's good to hear from you. You were great, Dorothy, why did you stop? USA, with their synthesizer and distortion violin and without lead guitar goes where no album had gone before and few since. The first rock album to make extensive use of synthesizer as a lead instrument. This was the first and as far as I know the ONLY rock album ever released on the prestigeous classical Columbia Masterworks label. Commander America said, "The US of A was...the most successful attempt to simulate the mental and bodily sensations of certain popular intoxicants of the Sixties". To be appreciated it MUST BE HEARD THROUGH HEADPHONES. "Hard Coming Love" hops around your head like a rattlesnake on a skillet in an attempt to simulate an orgasm between your ears! Full of musical and literary references, Byrd often sounds like late Charles Ives repeatedly quoting "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean". "Steppenwolf" (the book by Hesse, not the band) "the cost of one admission is your mind". "Winnie the Pooh". The visions of Hironymous Bosch's, "Garden of Earthly Delight" where Bryd descibes what he sees inside his girlfriends eyes. "Song for Dead Che" a beautiful ballad, "Agnus Dei" which compares the aftermath of love and memory to a nuclear blast "shadows on the pavement but no bodies do you find". "Coming Down". Don't be scared by Byrd's lead-off vehement anti-war diatribe about the military industrial complex, the "American Metaphysical Circus". I still can't listen to American Metaphysical Circus without a feeling of fear and loathing. From beginning to end a lost classic of the sixties. Alternately lyrical, thought provoking, excessive, paranoid, beautiful, raucous, US of A is a classic with a short half-life which repeatedly appears and disappears from the marketplace. This is the real sixties, not the "Peace and Love - Flower Power" you usually hear about. USofA was a statment against all that was violent, trivial and puerile in America. There was a war on. Students hated this war and the draft with a anger 1000 % higher than war opposition today. Kids were being drafted and sent to die in a war they violently opposed. In the midst of this war, blacks were rioting everywhere. It was a violent angry, dangerous, time. The DC, Detriot, Chicago, Watts were in flames. People were dying everywhere. Today the 60's were viewed as flower-power and silly clothes and drugs, but in reality, these were escapist reactions to the ongoing madness over which they had little control. This album was definitely NOT viewed as a gimmick. It was the leading edge. The avant garde. Synthesizers were brand new inventions, there were only 3 very obscure Pop albums on the market that used them (Gershon Kingsly), no rock bands. This was the direction not taken in music because no one else had the wits and talent to pull it off. And no other record company had the guts to release it.

Line-up

Joseph Byrd - electronics, electric harpsichord, organ, calliope, vocals

Dorothy Moskowitz - vocals

Gordon Marron - electric violin, modulator ring, vocals

Rand Forbes - bass

Graig Woodson - electric drums, percussions

Ed Bogas - organ, piano, calliope


tracklisting

1. Cloud Song
2. Coming Down
3. Hard Coming Love
4. I Won't Leave my Wooden Wife for you, Sugar
5. Love Song for the Dead Che
6. Stranded in Time
7. The American Metaphysical Circus
8. The American Way of Love
9. The Garden of Earthly Delights
10. Where is Yesterday ?

Bonus Tracks

12. Osamu's Birthday (originally unissued)
13. No Love To Give (originally unissued)
14. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar (alt. vers., previously unissued)
15. You Can't Ever Come Down (previously unissued)
16. Perry Pier (previously unissued)
17. Tailor Man (previously unissued demo recording)
18. Do You Follow Me (previously unissued)
19. The American Metaphysical Circus (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)
20. Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights) (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)
21. Heresy (Coming Down) (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)

TRUTH & JANEY - No Rest for the Wicked, 1976 (USA, hard rock) (Montrose MR 376)

The late-'60s power trio format made famous by Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience sent inspirational shockwaves across the rock & roll universe, and among the most isolated examples of its influence must have been eastern Iowa's extremely obscure cult hard rock band Truth and Janey. Taking their name from the seminal Jeff Beck Group album, vocalist/guitarist Billy Janey, vocalist/bassist Steven Bock, and drummer Denis Bunce (original percussionist John Fillingsworth lasted less than a year) began penning original material, recorded a pair of singles in 1972/1973, and then evolved into Truth and Janey when informed that another band already held rights to the Truth moniker before them. Arduous roadwork in the neighboring states kept the band busy in years to come, but the absence of a major record deal eventually drove them to finance their own album -- a fierce and bluesy hard rocker to be entitled No Rest for the Wicked -- at a studio in nearby Ames, IA. This they released through a local independent label, and its 1,000 -unit pressing quickly sold out among their dedicated fans in the region -- but that was it. With no apparent career-advancing prospects in their near future, Truth and Janey disbanded the following year, with main man Janey turning to blues and adding a "Lee" to his name before recording several albums throughout the '80s and '90s. Truth and Janey's modest legacy was kept alive by their few cult followers and eventually led to an official CD pressing of No Rest for the Wicked by Monster Records (which added all four of their single A- and B-sides, to boot), and a legendary live performance released in 2004 as Erupts! Not to be dismissed because of its underground status, Truth and Janey's only LP, No Rest for the Wicked, was another incredible find for indie record label Monster Records, which has always specialized in digging up long-forgotten American hard rock nuggets from the '70s, but really struck gold this time around. Boasting a swaggering, bluesy grit, piercing twin-harmony licks, and the most righteously ferocious rhythm guitar tone this side of Ted Nugent, opener "Down the Road I Go" instantly establishes the band's '70s hard rock aesthetic whose roots, not surprisingly, lie in English giants like Cream, Jeff Beck, and even more so in Rory Gallagher's Taste, on this particular track. The powerful influence of these '60s guitar heroes can also be heard in Truth and Janey's revved-up blues covers (Willie Dixon's "I'm Ready" and Mississippi John Hurt's "Ain't No Tellin'") and groove-driven originals ("The Light"), while a slightly more distinctive voice emerges in truly memorable, half-electric/half-acoustic creations like "It's All Above Us" and the title track (showcasing frantic sprints between six-stringer Billy Janey and powerhouse drummer Denis Bunce). And this being the '70s, there was bound to be a progressive-sized epic on hand, and it's pleasant to discover that No Rest for the Wicked's entry -- a nine-minute opus called "Remember" -- is no throwaway. Quite the opposite, as it offers at least four or five contrasting passages that range from delicate melodies accompanied by equally timid falsettos, to dexterously improvised jazz-rock breaks, to orchestrated battalions of ascending hard rock power chords, climaxing intermittently in sterling guitar histrionics. (Followers of overlooked Welsh trio Budgie and Canadian legends Rush alike take heed of this, and also the familiar, Alex Lifeson/Rush "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" effects on "My Mind.") Bassist Steven Bock, the last bandmember not yet named, was no slouch himself, not only producing all of these tracks, but sharing duo and solo lead vocals with Janey to give most of these tracks yet another Cream-descended flavor. Sure, Truth and Janey depend pretty heavily on dual guitar harmonies for a one-guitar power trio, but that's just wasteful nit-picking for a band so long departed, and whose overlooked gem of an album still sounds so amazingly vital and engaging today.

Personnel :
STEVEN BOCK bs, vocals
DENIS BUNCE drums, vocals
BILLY JANEY guitar, vocals

Tracklisting :
1 Down the Road I Go 3:59
2 The Light 5:43
3 I'm Ready 3:30
4 Remember 9:04
5 No Rest for the Wicked 4:48
6 It's All Above Us 4:23
7 Ain't No Tellin 3:38
8 My Mind 5:57
9 Midnight Horsemen 3:08
10 Around and Around 2:19
11 Under my Thumb 3:43

VALHALLA - s/t, 1969 (US, New York heavy psych/hard rock) (United Artists UAS 6730)

Early psych / prog from a one record band. Songs start out rather simple and turn into massive fusion / psych / hard rock jams. Somewhat similar to pre-Gillan Deep Purple.

United Artists managed to sign several good groups (Thunder and Roses, Boffalongo, Pookah for example) but never gave them much promotion. Led by Mark Mangold who composed their material, Valhalla is another of these forgotten groups and their album deserves to be rediscovered. It mixes heavy rock, prog and psych with a predominant organ and powerful vocals on tracks like Psychedelic Minds Going Nowhere and Overseas Symphony Valhalla's only album was a rather haphazard mix of end-of-the-'60s psychedelic and heavy rock influences. Even if it's not particularly outstanding or original, however, it has its enjoyable aspects, especially for those who enjoy late-'60s combinations of bluesy hard organ and bluesy hard rock guitar. In its slightly overreaching, over-serious feel with a hint of religious pomposity, it's often slightly reminiscent of early Deep Purple and -- more distantly, especially in the fairly penetrating organ -- The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Graham Bond, and Lee Michaels. Throw in some more guitar-oriented hard rock with songwriting and riffs reminiscent of Cream and the "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"-era Yardbirds, and it's a little surprising to learn that this band came from Long Island, not Britain. At times, too, the record takes strange right turns into more orchestrated, skewed pop and jazzy tempos, as if they were trying to get a little more mainstream but couldn't quite iron out their more uncommercial aspirations. Some faint symphonic pretensions both add and detract in some ways, but there are some pretty commanding lead vocals and organ, which put it a notch above many other secondary psychedelic albums of this kind.

Personnel :

RICK AMBROSER: bs, vocals
BOB HULLING: vocals
DON KRANTZ: guitar, bs
EDDIE LIVINGSTON: drums
MARK MANGOLD: organ, percussions, vocals

Tracklisting :
1. Hard Times
2. Conceit
3. Ladies in Waiting
4. I'm Not Askin'
5. Deacon
6. Heads are Free
7. Roof Top Man
8. JBT 9. Conversation
10. Overseas Symphony

A EUPHONIOUS WAIL (USA, San Fransisco, CA.) / Hard-Prog-Rock

La pochette de leur unique album, représente une espèce de monstre se formant de la chute d'un éclair, étrange ! Heureusement que la musique n'est pas en lien avec ladite pochette sinon nous serions vite rebutés à son écoute. En effet, la musique est excellente, axée sur la voix de la chanteuse Suzanne Rey qui sublime le disque, une guitare et un clavier présents et tranchants. On les compare très souvent au Jefferson Airplane, ce que je trouve excessif ! L'Airplane est beaucoup plus planant (sans jeu de mots !), plus aérien que leur cousins A Euphonious Wail.
Il est fort dommage que cette formation soit arrivée un peu tardivement, en 1973, sur le marché du disque et qu'elle n'ait pu tirer profit de la splendeur des grandes années psychédéliques, car on aurait aimé voir d'autres albums de ce combo de San Fransisco, baie et haut lieu du psychédélisme des années 60. Dommage !

AGE OF REASON (USA,Washington D.C./VA) / Garage-Psych

Few informations about this group whose take roofs, in all probability, in Washington D.C. and Virginia. Their style will be a mixture between garage and psychedelia. Mainly known by its single "Your Love is Like a Magnet" (also on "Ear-Piercing Punk" compilation) recorded three years before their sole album. Tracks are shorts but sharpy and catchy.
No relation to the N.Y. group who had a good 45.

DISCOGRAPHY :

- "S/T" (1969) / Georgetowne (self-released)

A.B. SKHY (USA,Milwaukee,WI) / Blues-Psych

Line-up :

- Dennis Geyer (guitar,vocals)
- Jim Marcotte (bass)
- Howard Wales (keyboards on first album only)
- Terry Andersen (percussion), then Rick Jaeger
- James Curley Cooke (guitar,vocals on second album only)

Formed in 1969 and disbanded a year later, A.B. Skhy is a blues band at first came from Milwaukee but settled in Frisco during 1968-70 period.
All through this 2 years, they played biggest San Francisco concert-halls and became a popular live attraction all around the bay.
Akin to "the Chicago Blues Sound", they developed, for all that, a peculiar kind of playing with organ and flute, especially on second LP "Ramblin' On". After this last record, the group split up.

DISCOGRAPHY :

- "S/T" (1969) / MGM SE 4628

Tracklisting :

- You Upset me Baby 7'09
- Just What I Need 3'30
- It's Love Baby, 24 Hours a Day 2'29
- Camel Back 5'06
- Understand 5'36
- Love Isn't 4'09
- Of All Sad Words 3'08
- Love May Cure That 5'09

"RAMBLIN' ON" (1970) / MGM SE 4676