The Pink Fairies “Never Never Land”

Art,Pop,Prog,Psych

Never Never Land

The Pink Fairies were from the same trashy underbelly of English underground rock as the Edgar Broughton Band, the Deviants, Hawkwind, Arthur Brown, and Gong. Twink, one of the band’s founders, had been in the beat era Fairies, The In-Crowd, Tomorrow, the Pretty Things, and he even managed to released a great solo album in 1970, prior to this.

The Pink Fairies were special, a truly dynamic band that was England’s very own MC5. They released 3 albums during the early 70’s, and while their true swan song, Kings Of Oblivion, is usually cited as their masterpiece, Never Never Land is nothing less than stellar. It kicks off with the misleading Do It. The album version of this tune begins with an acoustic intro than blasts into a hard punk rocker that should really be a classic radio anthem. War Girl engages in some cosmic blues rock soul with some fantastic wah-wah and a great spacey atmosphere. Say You Love Me and Teenage Rebel are more proto-punk/power pop highlights that show off the bands impressive instrumental chops which were honed at countless outside festivals. Surprisingly, Heavenly Man recalls early 70’s Pink Floyd, with slow profound drumming, dazed vocals and David Gilmour style guitar flourishes.

The band’s sound was a combination of the burgeoning progressive rock scene, the earlier psychedelic revolution, proto-punk/garage rock roots, a small hint of politics, and good ole fashioned rock n roll. All these elements make the 10 minutes of Uncle Harry’s Last Freakout a joy to listen to. This is an undeniably great album from an unsung band. Never Never Land shows a vital band fighting for its life, creating some of the hardest outdoor festival music of the time. Anyone into the early Flamin’ Groovies, the Stooges, MC5, the Coloured Balls, or the Amboy Dukes should do themselves a favor and pick this album up.

“Do It (Single Edit)”

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Mandrake Memorial “Puzzle”

Art,Psych

Puzzle

Along with the Nazz, this was one of Philadelphia’s top bands throughout the late 60’s. Prior to Puzzle, they released two good rock albums that had a vague Doors influence, mixing keyboards with guitar oriented psychedelia. Puzzle, released in 1969, is an extremely challenging album that is not recommended to those who are into song oriented pop. It’s also a very progressive album that mixes classical/avant garde elements into a dreamy soundscape.

The album is really a mood piece, with plenty of strange moments including one track devoted to a choir of children praying while Whisper Play has, you guessed it, whispers amongst a classical backdrop. Randy Monaco croons throughout the album and there is the occasional guitar freakout, one heard at the end of the 9 minute instrumental Bucket of Air. The reoccuring theme, Just a Blur is a nice, short trippy piece of acoustic music that hints at a concept.

For the era, the Puzzle album is somewhat long, clocking in at around 50 minutes. The real meat of the album lies within the songs. Earthfriend and Hiding are so ambient and so full of great sound effects that they predate a style of psychedelia that Spacemen 3 pioneered throughout the late 80’s. Ocean’s Daughter is another great, menacing song, being a trippy psychedelic ballad with studio trickery and light orchestration. The song characterizes the album itself: confused, dark and unsettling on one hand but alluring and full of beauty on the other. Even the album cover art is really weird and demented, featuring a well known painting with chrome plated maggots inching their way up an endless flight of stairs.

While not for everyone, Puzzle shrouds itself in a velvet mystery. It’s a totally unique experience within the world of pyschedelia that sounds completely unfamilar!

“Ocean’s Daughter”

Del Shannon “The Further Adventures of Charles Westover”

Pop,Psych

The Further Adventures of Charles Westover

Here’s a psych-tinged outing that you wouldn’t expect from Del Shannon, but that you couldn’t hear from anyone else. In case you don’t remember, Del broke out in 1961 with “My Little Runaway.” Although he failed to equal his initial success afterwards, until he turned his sights to a more open-minded audience in 1968.

Del used his birth name on the title for this album, an erie and rocking mix of great tunes. The opener, “Thinkin’ It Over,” really nailed me the first time I heard it. But don’t let this “Care of Cell 44”-like great rollicking opener distract you from the rest. There are songs with great guitar work and lush string and horn orchestration. Del gets bluesy on “Be My Friend,” takes it down with “Silver Birch” and gets trippy on “Colour Flashing Hair.” Plus there is the awesome, driving “I Think I Love You” with sitar-like guitar work and a droning orchestra. Many great gems on this record. There are also a slew of bonus tracks on the reissue, including a chiller remake of “Runaway.”

Del has this tenor that is nice but kind of scary. It’s hard to describe. He sings with delicacy here and grit there; he knows what he’s doing. This isn’t just another psych outing from some has-been trying to get into the new trend. Sure, that’s probably the motivation behind this record, but it is finely crafted in songwriting and orchestration, an album worthy of some of the best of its competitors. Nice work Del.

“I Think I Love You”

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Bobby Callendar “The Way (First Book Of Experiences)”

Folk,Pop,Psych

The Way

An orchestral and eastern influenced psychedelic pop gem, Bobby Callendar’s “The Way” sometimes gets the shaft to “Rainbow,” but I like “The Way.”

Sometimes, when folks are asked if they could interview anybody from any time, it would be Gandhi. But, The Rising Storm chooses Bobby C. Seriously, somebody needs to get the scoop on this mysterious and intriguing record. Bobby’s intense lyrics are matched with a mix of eastern instruments, lush strings, and tambourine. I can’t say why but the tambourine sticks in my memory. Nothing says 60s pop like that wonderful percussion instrument.

Bobby C. was clearly very into the Mike Love style 60s eastern Buddhism thing. “Sitting ‘neath the bodhi tree… as one.  The Story of Rasha & Dhara is essential listening for psychedelic music fans. It’s pretty, and strange, and sports one of the smoothest basslines of the 60s.

Not to say that this record is flawless. There are a few skippable tracks, all in all it’s nothing to brag about, but there are some real nice gems in here. The opening is miraculous, while others are catchy, and others take you quite by surprise. Be prepared for religous themes and a generally trippy experience.

The lack of availability to this record is a disappointment; the sturdy digipak casing, reminiscent of some of the best vinyl record sleeves, should be a standard for CD reissues. And like I’ve been saying, this one is a real gem.

“Story of Rasha and Dhara”

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Big Boy Pete “World War IV”

Concept Albums,Psych

World War IV

Big Boy Pete is your quintessential slice of lost psych. Or is he? Re-releasing a string of solid material from the 60s in the late 90s and 2000s, “Big Boy” Pete Miller’s prolific and good quality works have caused some archivists to wonder. Yes, I have heard some people claim that Pete Miller’s stuff is fake.

But regardless of whether Big Boy Pete’s music was recorded back in the day, or in a home studio by a modern-day-super-psych-fan, his works have been accepted as psychedelic standards. World War IV, recorded in the late 60s and released in 2000, is a strange and interesting album. Most of the other Pete Miller works, found on the Catatonia collections and Summerland have a breezier, poppier thing going on. WWIV is a whole ‘nother story. Well, it’s certainly meant as a story, but I have never been able to follow it. A “Symphonic Poem” indeed.

But the sounds here are nice. Pete loves his guitars (definitely check out his home on the web here!) and there are some great fuzz rhythms and bass lines throughout. Some catchy moments but definitely not enough to DJ a party. Well, I guess that depends on how you like to party. Overall, I just have to mention that this is pure, pure psychedelia. Give it a run when you are in the mood for that.

“Movement 4 (Echelon)”

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The Gosdin Brothers “Sounds of Goodbye”

Country Rock,Folk,Pop

soundsofgoodbye.jpg

The Gosdins were no strangers to country-rock in 1968. The prior year the two contributed harmony vocals and guitar to Gene Clark’s exquisite masterpiece, Gene Clark and the Gosdin Brothers. They had also released some great singles that were caught between the earlier Byrdsian folk-rock sound and a new, emerging country-rock scene (check out There Must Be Someone or I’ll Live Today).

Sounds of Goodbye, released in 1968, would be the duo’s only album together. It was a groundbreaking effort that somehow slipped through the cracks. The originals, For Us To Find and The Victim are outstanding cynical country rockers that stand out for Vern Gosdin’s crystal clear vocals with an added Bakersfield twang. On The Victim, the acoustics sparkle and glitter beautifully with a slight psychedelic production that adds to the Gosdin’s unique vision. Sounds of Goodbye and She’s Gone are very wistful and sad but good nonetheless, recalling Gene Clark’s material from around the same time.

It’s an album that should be filed alongside Swampwater, Gene Clark’s 1st solo album, Roots by the Everly Brothers, and the late 60’s Dillards material. Even the covers on this album are done with taste and care, Let It Be Me (The Everly Brothers hit) particulary stands out in this vein. The cd reissue on Big Beat adds 13 singles and outtakes to the original album, most of which are essential. The above mentioned I’ll Live Today’s intro recycle’s Gene Clarks I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better but eventually evolves into a folk-rock masterpiece. Hang On, one of their hit singles, even finds the Gosdin’s successfully experimenting with a mellotron – in a country rock song!!!

Then we have There Must Be Someone I Can Turn To, one of the first country rock standards and a good enough reason to buy this album. The Byrd’s did a nice version of this song on their Untitled album, but nothing beats the original. The only strange element to the album is the sleeve, in which the Gosdin brothers look like a couple of squares in turtlenecks.

“The Victim”

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Mouse and the Traps “The Fraternity Years”

Garage

Fraternity Years

Yet another Texas group, the great Mouse and the Traps existed throughout the mid to late 60’s, sadly never having a chance to release an album. They did record a bunch of singles though, some of which are under different names/alias’. This compilation covers most of their singles and some outtakes (contains 25 of the 30 or so songs they recorded).

Nearly all of these songs are good and well worth a listen. On single, they forged 3 unabashed classics: A Public Execution, Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice and Sometimes You Just Can’t Win (a soulful why me rocker). Public Execution was a song that many radio listeners mistook for Bob Dylan’s next big single in 1966. This song as well as the excellent garage punk rocker Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice has been anthologized on Nuggets. Public Execution, while a great song, is not the best on this superb compilation, sounding like a bubblegum garage version of Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone. The followup, Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice is one of the greatest mid 60’s hard rockers with a great speaker shredding, mind frying guitar solo. This legendary performance showed the band could tear it up, they were strong musicians and Mouse was a good singer who speckled his songs with clever lyrics.

The album runs the gamut, showing the Traps to be a diverse unit that played love torn country-rock, psychedelia, sunshine pop, tex-mex, blues-rock, folk-rock and garage-rock (all effectively). Nobody Cares and I Am The One really catch the ear as melodic folk-rockers with a defiant edge and great outsider lyrics. Also, I Satisfy and Beg, Borrow and Steal are psychedelia with tons of fuzz, crazied vocals and imagination. They even released a nice baroque pop/psych-pop single under the Chris St. John name.

The Traps had personality in spades and it’s really strange how they did not succeed commercially/artistically. They ceased to exist by the early 70’s and by then the dream had faded.

“Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice”

David Bowie “Hunky Dory”

Pop,Power

Hunky Dory

File this under “No kidding.” Who cares if this album is holding an outside straight of massive Bowie classics (Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Queen Bitch).

The problem is the powerhouses tend to overshadow the real gems here. Kooks has to be the best song on this record! Quicksand is great as well, a well orchestrated ballad with rock band climaxes. The ultra catchy Fill Your Heart is another beautiful, piano-led, tune.

With Andy Warhol and Song For Bob Dylan following (before the undeniable Queen Bitch) it’s a wonder people consider The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust the better record. Anyway, that’s more of a Ziggy record than a Bowie record.

“Kooks”

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Algarnas Tradgard “Garden of the Elks”

Psych

Algarnas Tradgard

There are 7 tracks on 1972’s Garden of the Elks album by the mighty Algarnas Tradgard. Within these grooves are some of the spaciest rock ever committed to tape. It’s an underground masterpiece and just one example as to how fertile the Swedish rock scene was in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Anyone who enjoyed A Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd, or Amon Duul’s masterpieces will love this staggering record. The band was a loose knit community of artists, musicians and freaks who were into the avante garde and local folk scenes. You can hear these influences within the song structures and the way these musicians approach their instruments (the violin is an excellent touch!). The album itself is one of the eeriest recordings of its time and vocals are shared among male and female vocalists.

Children of Possibilities vaguely recalls Nico’s work with the Velvet Underground on their monumental debut, including bashing gongs, violin, a great production and serene, tripped out vocals. There are a couple of monster instrumentals that bookend the album. Two Hours Over Two Blue Mountains is a strong avante garde instrumental that drones for nearly 13 and a half minutes!! Rings of Saturn may be the album’s centerpiece though. It’s 7 minutes of pure acid space with some superb guitar playing and an overall doom laden feel.

I cannot express how essential this exploratory album is for heads (people into psychedelia). Garden of the Elks is so forward looking that even today, people still have not unlocked its secrets nor do they understand its worth. Anyone wanting to dig a little deeper should check out bands such as International Harvester, Amon Duul, and Embryo.

This album is listed either as “Garden of the Elks” or “Framtiden AR Ett.”

“Children of Possibilities”

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Margo Guryan “Take a Picture”

Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Take A Picture

Story goes: when Margo heard “God Only Knows” for the first time, she dropped everything. Steeped in jazz and composition, Pet Sounds was just what she wanted to hear. Inspired, and working in the glow of Brian’s masterpiece, Margo began work on “Take A Picture.”

The first thing to notice is Margo’s voice, a unique upper register whisper. Sunday Morning sounds like a garage funk band with studio rat talent. The album’s production is wonderful in that it is so expert, but never showy.

A sunday morning staple. It’s jazz, slightly psych pop, with all the ornaments of the Pet Sounds orchestra. A brilliant record, and I must also recommend the (almost more) wonderful 25 Demos as well.

“Take A Picture”

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