Quicksilver Messenger Service “Quicksilver Messenger Service”

Folk,Prog,Psych

Quicksilver Messenger Service, a Capitol release from 1968, was the debut album from one of SF’s most beloved bands. QMS were one of the earliest SF bands whose roots extend back to the mid 60s when they began as a vehicle for songwriter Dino Valenti. When Valenti was thrown in jail for a drug bust, guitarists Gary Duncan and John Cipollina along with rhythm section of David Freiberg (bass) and Greg Elmore (drums) put forth the group’s finest work in 1969’s live Happy Trails and this classic self titled debut album from 1968.

Quicksilver Messenger Service’s playing time is divided evenly between shorter folk rock compositions and two, long extended guitar jams. The album kicked off with a folk rock classic, QMS’ rendition of Hamilton Camp’s “Pride of Man.” This track was released earlier, in 1967, as a single and is probably the most popular song on the album due to radio play. “Dino’s Song,” is an upbeat folk rock track that sounds like it was recorded a few years earlier. Definitely a highlight, this cut was the A-side of that same single and written by Dino Valenti. Another distinct track, “Light Your Windows,” was a group original that has a dark, romantic folk rock feel highlighted by Cipollina’s jazzy angular guitar. The two long guitar jams have held up well. “The Fool” is over twelve minutes and perhaps the group’s most complex work to date. The most important track was “Gold and Silver” which was up to that point, one of the finest instrumentals in all of rock music. The explosive dual leads of Duncan and Cipollina were revolutionary for the time and thankfully captured in the studio on this amazing track. “Gold and Silver” was more or less rock n roll’s version of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and stands as one of the greatest acid guitar jams of all time.

My only complaint is that the album feels somewhat short at 32 minutes. The group had other excellent tracks in the can from this period such as “Stand By Me” and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” that didn’t make the album but were released on compilations and 45’s. For anyone wanting to listen to (or learn about) psych or classic rock, the first two QMS’ albums are essential. Not only were they musically adventurous but the Quicksilver Messenger Service feature two of the best guitarists in rock music from that time (or ever).

Light Your Windows:

Gold and Silver:

:) LP | 1968 | Capitol | discogs ]

Green “Green”

Pop,Psych

There weren’t many psych pop albums coming out of Texas in the late 60s but Green is probably the best of them. Atco released this album in 1969 but somehow it was lost in the shuffle. Typically, psychedelic bands from Texas favored either folk based sounds or heavier acid/stoner rock. For this reason, Green stands out amongst the pack as something different. Green is also a unique album because the group seamlessly integrated horns into a sound that is both consistent and vintage. Not much is known about this group other than that they came out of North Texas State University in Denton. Also, they released a second, inferior album in 1971 titled To Help Somebody.

A very good album, Green has a notable English influence. Some songs such as the powerful opener “To Be” or the psych pop of “Where Have I Been” strongly recall the The Who Sell Out. “Where Have I Been” features a nice, metallic raga guitar solo towards the end of the song. The album also showcases a cool lo fi sound as heard on “Green” which is perhaps the heaviest song here. This track is highlighted by lots of loud guitar distortion and an adventurous horn arrangement. It’s an excellent, powerful cut. Other songs have a distinct Buffalo Springfield influence as heard on the beguiling folk rockers “Don’t” and “Sunrise 7.” The arrangements on these songs are sharp and take some interesting left hand turns that will no doubt please the listener.

The music on Green is intelligent, well-thought-out 60s rock with smart pop hooks. Originals are somewhat rare and a good, clean copy may set you back $50 or more but Green is a very fine album that’s certainly well worth a spin.

Sunrise 7:

Green:

Don’t:

:) LP | 1969 | ATCO | discogs ]

The Pretty Things “The Electric Banana Blows Your Mind”

, , Garage,Psych

The Electric Banana Blows Your Mind is a disc of highlights from recording sessions that took place from 1967 to 1969. Three of these albums were recorded in the 60s with the best of these tracks (all the tracks with vocals) collected for this reissue. For contractual reasons, the Pretty Things recorded this music under the Electric Banana moniker for the De Wolfe Sound Library. The original Electric Banana albums had one side with vocal tracks while the other side had instrumental versions of those same tracks. For many years the music on the Electric Banana series were unavailable through retail music outlets which is why few people were familiar with these Pretty Things songs.

While not as essential or as groundbreaking as S.F. Sorrow or Parachute, The Electric Banana Blows Your Mind does indeed include some killer tracks. The album opens with one of the Pretty Things truly great songs, the psychedelic punk classic Alexander. Dick Taylor’s guitar work remains distinctive as heard on the droning pop of It’ll Never Be Me. Eagle’s Son, from the third and best Electric Banana LP (1969 – Even More Electric Banana), features plenty of guitar distortion and an inventive arrangement. Blow Your Mind is a Yardbirds style psych rave up with good organ and fuzz guitar interplay – very trippy in the best sense. There’s an early version of S.F. Sorrow’s I See You that features a cleaner arrangement but with treated/echoed vocals. Dick Taylor even steps up to the mic for the contemplative A Thousand Ages From The Sun. Finally, Love, Dance and Sing is a good swinging London psych style track that’s worth hearing. Admittedly, there’s a couple of throw away pop tracks with horns and sappy vocals but most of this is truly essential stuff for psych fans.

Again, the best tracks on The Electric Banana Blows Your Mind are on par with S.F. Sorrow and their 45 releases from around the same time. Overall, not an all time classic but a very good release nonetheless.

Alexander:

Eagle’s Son:

Love, Dance and Sing:

:) LP | Tenth Planet | discogs ]

Cambridge “Share a Song”

Country Rock

Cambridge’s Share a Song has the distinction of being one of the best private press country rock albums ever cut. It was released in 1977 by the Green Dolphin label. Unlike most small press recordings, the sound here is completely professional – this sounds like an early 70s major label country rock LP. The singing, lyrics and guitar playing are all the work of a first rate group, there’s nothing amateur about these guys. I recently picked up a NM vinyl copy of this legendary album (very hard to find) for $150 and after several spins, can confirm that this band was the real thing.

Share a Song is uniformly strong but several songs connect with me in particular. Goodnight Sweet Lady, a wistful acoustic number that recalls Buffalo Springfield’s Kind of Woman, is touching while avoiding the pitfalls of becoming a sappy ballad. The title track, which opens the LP, has strong, spidery guitar solos that hint at psychedelia and a bouncy tempo that recalls early Poco at their best. Cowboy On The Trail, an outstanding cut, is noteworthy for its folk rock guitar chord progressions that recall Gene Clark’s work with the Byrds and Dillard & Clark. They also rock out pretty hard here and the guitar solo is very strong. They save the most experimental cut for later in the album; Faithless Lady, while seven and a half minutes, is a lost masterpiece. This cut begins as a tough bluesy, feedback laden rocker that eventually gives the guitar and banjo players space to solo. The banjo solo is unique and gives the track a special, experimental edge. Given its obscurity, I can recommend this album with confidence, it’s that good. It’s an album of great variety and several “hot” moments that catch the band on fire.

Cowboy On The Trail:

Highs and Lows:

:) Vinyl | 1977 | Green Dolphin | discogs ]

Los Shakers “La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar”

Pop,Psych

Los Shakers were one of the most significant rock n roll bands to emerge from South America (Uruguay) during the reign of the Beatles. Their early albums were strongly influenced by the Fab Four but in later years, the Shakers would branch out into new sounds that were quite original. In 1966, the Shakers released For You, which was a their version of Rubber Soul and Revolver wrapped up into one LP – a true classic. It’s arguable which is the better LP of the two. La Conferenica Secreta Del Toto’s Bar was a stylistic leap forward and one of the most daring South American rock n roll LPs of the day.

Odeon Pops released La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar in 1968. This label, which I believe to be a subsidiary of EMI, did not approve of or promote the Shakers new sound, which was an adventurous mix of psychedelia, classic 60s pop and candombe/tango. A few tracks still nod to the Beatles, such as the hooky but excellent Paul McCartney influenced On Tuesday I Watch Channel 36. Deep cuts such as Candombe dive into indigenous sounds while still incorporating elements of psychedelia in the record’s production. BBB Band, which features a chunky rhythm section and hypnotic organ is a true highlight to this reviewer. One of the great psychedelic cuts from South America, the Shakers are able to balance sweeping melodies and excellent harmony vocals into a trippy, intoxicating whole. Other cuts such as I Remember My World and Shape of a Rainbow are more complex pieces of music that feature accordions, backwards guitars, strings, pianos and fuzz boxes. This was some of the best music the Shakers had produced up to that point.

I’ve owned this LP for years and it’s a record that I continuously come back to. The Fattoruso brothers always wrote thoughtful lyrics and beautiful melodies but the band as whole crackles with a special energy – the Shakers were tight band. With this LP they made an original album that has stood the test of time.

Candombe:

BBB Band:

I Remember My World:

:) LP | 1968 | Odeon Pops | discogs ]

The Ro-D-y’s “Earnest Vocation”

Baroque,Garage,Psych

Earnest Vocation, released in 1968 by Philips, is probably the Ro-D-y’s finest hour. While history primarily remembers the Outsiders, Q65, The Golden Earrings, the Motions and Group 1850, there were many other excellent rock groups from the Netherlands such as Sandy Coast, Supersister, Bintangs, Cosmic Dealer and of course this group, the Ro-D-y’s.

Harry Rijnbergen, the band’s chief songwriter, was also lead guitarist and vocalist of the Ro-D-y’s. His vocals sound like a cross between Roy Wood and Ray Davies. What set these songs apart from Rijnbergen’s peers are the sophisticated lyrics (remember English wasn’t his first language) and unique song structures – they simply do not sound like anything I’ve heard. Of the twelve tracks on this LP, only one of them falls short of the mark, the music hall dud Everytime A Second Time. There are many highlights though which include the dynamic phased rocker Easy Come, Easy Go, the weird psychedelia of Dr. Sipher and the bouncy Let It Be Tomorrow. Some tracks feature strings and brass such as the complex title cut while others betray a strong european folk influence – check out the bridge of album opener Unforgettable Girl or the folk rock track No Place Like Home. This is definitely one of the better Euro psych albums I’ve heard, a minor classic worth seeking out.

Also worth checking out is the Ro-D-y’s debut album, Just Fancy from 1967 which is nederbeat pop/garage but a strong effort nonetheless with many highlights. The group also released many fine non LP singles throughout the 60s.

Love Is Almost Everywhere:

Let It Be Tomorrow:

:) LP | 1968 | Philips | discogs ]

Peabody Co. “Peabody Co.”

, Garage,Psych,Punk

Nothing is known about Peabody Co., other than that the group recorded 10-11 tracks on acetate back in the late 1960s. Record collectors agree these recordings probably date from 1967-1968. If you’ve never heard their music, which hardly anyone has, Peabody Co.’s sound is reminiscent of Bohemian Vendetta or a private press version of the Blues Magoos.

For most psych fans, the first taste of Peabody Co. was their crazed version of Tobacco Road, which appeared on the A Fistful of Fuzz compilation in 1998. This seven minute rendition is characterized by insane blasts of theremin, guitar noise, a drum solo and sloppy, amateur vocals. It’s gone on to become an underground classic and rightly so. OUT-SIDER, along with the help of Crypt keeper Tim Warren, have finally mastered and released the rest of Peabody Co.’s recorded legacy on vinyl. The good news is that it’s a very good garage psych platter with mostly original compositions. They give a good reading of the Who’s I Can’t Explain, again with wild use of theremin and raw vocals. This track opens the LP (A side) and is very different when compared to the original recording by the Who. Other worthy gems on the A side are the garage punk of People Go/Better Life and two acid rock ballads Mountain High and Sunny Daze. Side B was even stronger, a true classic of acid punk. It opened up with the eastern style guitar work of A Hundred Percent of Nothing followed by a wigged out Seeds-like number titled Love. Both cuts are excellent. These songs are followed by Sleep, a solid garage rocker with a stop/start rhythm and a raga style solo (listen to clip below). The album ends on a high note with Tobacco Road. Again, song for song, the B-side is flawless and to this writer a highpoint in the local garage psych cannon.

Note there are no fuzz guitars or studio sound effects. This LP has a primitive sound that’s psychedelia is apparent through the guitarists eastern scales, guitar feedback and the occasional appearance of the theremin. If you’re into private press garage albums or acid punk this is a must own title that lives up to the hype.

Sleep from B-side:

:) Vinyl | 2020 | Out-Sider | discogs ]

The Pretty Things “Rock St. Trop”

Classic Rock,Psych

We are dedicating this next post to Phil May, who recently passed away in May, 2020. One of rock n roll’s great vocalists and personalities, he will surely be missed. The Rock St. Trop recordings date back to 1969, when rich French playboy Philippe Debarge hired the Pretty Things to be his backing band and record this fine album. Most fans usually refer to these recordings as Philippe Debarge. The album first surfaced in the form of a bootleg CD and then in recent years, two official releases became available through Ugly Things Records and Madfish.

At this point, lead guitarist and founding member Dick Taylor had left the group to be replaced by Victor Unitt. Philippe Debarge handles lead vocals but listeners can clearly hear Phil May on backup vocals. All tracks were written by Phil May and bassist/keyboard player Wally Waller and recorded in London’s Nova Studios. This album is the perfect bridge piece from S.F. Sorrow to Parachute. The recording quality is crude but highly listenable and the music surprisingly holds together as a cohesive album. Some of these tracks such as It’ll Never Be Me, Alexander and Eagle’s Son first appeared on the Electric Banana EP series. To me, those earlier Electric Banana versions (cut in 1967) are some of the best UK psych tracks ever waxed and have the edge as far as quality goes. But on the Rock St. Trop LP these songs are very good album cuts that lack the production values and studio trickery of the Electric Banana sessions. Also, Send You With Loving, an excellent folk rock number, appears on the Pretties’ BBC sessions though that BBC version was cut live in the studio and differs quite a bit from what’s here on the Rock St. Trop LP. As an album, this is strong all the way through. Of the songs I hadn’t heard, the opening jam Hello, How Do You Do is a highlight, notable for a long backwards guitar solo. You Might Even Say features fluid Spanish style guitar with mellotron making itself present during the song’s fade out. Other winners are You’re Running You and Me, a hard hitting acoustic rocker which effectively showcases the intricate three-party harmony vocals of May, Povey and Waller. I’m Checking Out has a strange vibrating guitar solo while New Day sounds like a good cut from Parachute, with strong guitar work and neat harpsichord flourishes.

While this is an album the Pretty Things never thought would be officially released, to this reviewer it’s a near classic work and a key album for fans of the band. The Pretty Things were on such a hot streak during the late 60s/early 70s that even their demo albums are better than most bands’ best work.

Send You With Loving:

You’re Running You and Me:

Peace:

It’ll Never Be Me:

:) Vinyl Reissue | Madfish | 2017 | discogs ]

Bobak, Jons, Malone “Motherlight”

Psych

The individuals behind the Motherlight LP never played a live gig as they were essentially a studio vehicle for Mike Bobak, Andy Johns, and Wil Malone. Morgan Blue Town, one of the UK’s leading psych pop labels, released this unsung gem in 1969. It’s one of the most collectible and expensive LPs from the 60s UK psych scene.

Wil Malone had previously led the prolific UK psych group Orange Bicycle and would go on to release a folky solo disc in 1970 and also play in another psych pop group named Fickle Pickle. The Motherlight project saw him write most of the album’s lyrics, sing lead, play keyboards and lead guitar while Bobak and Johns supplied the rhythm section. In my mind, the Motherlight LP is Malone’s finest work ever. The feel of this album is low key but ominous, unlike anything I’ve heard and it’s this quality that makes the LP so special. Tracks such as the masterful On a Meadow-Lea and the hypnotic Lens exemplify the eerie mood of the music and are genuinely psychedelic. Many tracks have tasteful but brief guitar solos that usually feature light distortion and fuzz. Other worthy cuts are Wanna Make a Star, Sam, which goes for a blues rock Procol Harum vibe without forsaking its pop roots. Mona Lose is the album’s hardest rocker with blasts of hard guitar distortion and a fast paced arrangement. For many, the album’s highlight was House of Many Windows, a beautiful progressive psychedelic piece with inventive keyboard work.

Overall, the Motherlight LP is a very solid 4 star album, not to be missed by UK psych fans. As mentioned above, it’s an album with a unique ambience but the songs are also very good and the listener never knows what to expect next.

Mona Lose:

On a Meadow-Lea:

Burning the Weed:

:) LP | Morgan Blue Town | 1969 | discogs ]

Bluebird “Country Boy Blues”

, Country Rock

Bluebird’s only album was cobbled together from their Jerden, London and Burdette 45s but also tracks that were cut for an aborted album. The group hailed from Mercer Island, Washington and were known as one of the best folk rock/country rock bands of the Pacific Northwest. Most of the cuts on Country Boy Blues were recorded in 1969/1970 but Piccadilly chose to release this retrospective LP in 1980. I managed to pick up a copy for a respectable price but it’s extremely rare and usually sells for over $100.

This is some of the best underground country rock I’ve heard. Modessa, a lost classic, sounds like one of the best cuts from the Byrds great Untitled LP. A pro level fusion of folk rock and psychedelia, it’s Bluebird’s most popular track due to 45 release in 1971. There’s a very good rendition of I Shall Be Released, with sparkling guitar work and world weary vocals. Goin’ Down sounds like one of the David Crosby penned tracks from Notorious Byrd Brothers, with strong raga style guitar leads and a jazzy feel to the arrangement. Other good cuts are Natural Feeling, a driving country rocker with crystal clear vocals and blasts of fuzz guitar. Travelin’ Ways, equally as good, is more of the same. Bluebird, unlike their peers, never fooled around with jugband sounds or tried to sound too Nashville or Bakersfield. There’s nothing pretentious about Bluebird’s music, just talent, class and a genuine feel for the music is on full display.

Bluebird would eventually change their name to Grand Theft and record another album which sounds nothing like Country Boy Blues. When people speak of great country rock records, this band and album rarely, if ever, get a mention. Simply put, more people need to hear this great album.

:) LP | 1980 | Picadilly | ebay | discogs ]

Billy Drake:

Goin Down:

Going to Nevada: