Posts Tagged ‘ 1968 ’

The Rockets (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Pop

The Rockets

The sole release by the band that would become Crazy Horse. While it may be a bit unfocused, there’s a lot of stellar, inventive material here. Lead vocalist Danny Whitten and guitarist Leon Whitshell each wrote about half of the songs. Traces of embryonic country-rock can be heard, but they mostly cling to a tougher blues-rock sound with interesting psych touches. If anything, it certainly earns originality points for Bobby Notkoff’s innovative use of the electric violin, which ranges from traditional country breakdowns (Hands in my Pocket) to some intense bow-slashing that sounds something like a steel-shed being mutilated by a chainsaw. (Let Me Go).

The album’s highpoint is undoubtedly the melancholic tour-de-force Won’t You Say You’ll Stay, which may be the best song Whitten ever wrote. Unfortunately the album actually suffers because of this”no other track comes close to touching its brilliance. And at least for the sake of consistency they probably should’ve discarded the two awkward blue-eyed soul attempts for something a little heavier in tone. But there’s still some high-quality stuff left, including the snotty, Stones-like Try My Patience and Shed Your Skin, where the ever versatile Notkoff uses the violin to capture a bizarre Eastern feel.

Even with its flaws, the Rockets is an important late 60s album that seems to have been written out of the history books.

“Wont You Say You’ll Stay”

:D CD Reissue | 2001 | Varese Sarabande | buy from amazon ]

Les Sinners “Vox Populi”

| Concept Albums,Pop,Psych

Original copies of this lp are fairly expensive, sometimes selling on ebay for a few hundred dollars. It’s worth it though, as Vox Populi is one of the great early concept lps and definitely one of the best French-Canadian albums bar none.

A little history on the band known as Les Sinners: they started out in Quebec during the mid 60s and before Vox Populi released two garage pop albums in 1967, their half French/half English-sung debut Sinerisme was an excellent, defiant effort that combined rowdy fuzz rockers with attractive garage pop numbers. The similarly titled Sinnerismes followed the debut album and while not as strong as the aforementioned record, it was still a respectable slab of garage pop. Vox Populi or “voices of the people” was the group’s highwater mark, a superb concept lp centered around life and people’s attitudes toward everyday situations. This 1968 release was sung entirely in French though it’s interesting to note that a recent English version cd reissue of Vox Populi (25 Succes En Anglais) appeared in the early 1990s! Both versions are recommended and differences between the two are very few. Only the French version of Everything Will Be Fine (Le Fou Du Roi) may have the edge over its English counterpart because it begins and ends with cool, distorted vocals.

Vox Populi bears a strong resemblence in sound to the Who’s Sell Out lp and shares a concept similar to that of the Kink’s Face to Face album. Many of the songs are 2.5 to 3 minute pop-art gems and the album displays a good stoned sense of humor throughout. It’s almost useless to pick out key tracks as Vox Populi is very consistent and individual. Everything Will Be Fine, Nothing Is Happening, and Today, Tomorrow are all strong psych pop tracks with good atmospheric vocals, an “english feel” and a nice, trippy production. Other hard rocking highlights are the muscular, lean rocker Late and the brilliant Don’t You Run Away. Don’t You Run Away is a killer fuzz laden psych punker that sounds similar to a really good cut off the Outsiders’ C.Q. or the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow. Another strong track, The Days Are Gone is a superb melancholy rocker that harkens back to an earlier time in rock history.

Les Sinners would go on to release another album or two during the progressive rock era though none of them matched the greatness of the debut or the legendary Vox Populi.

Early Sinners:

mp3: Sour as a Sidewalk

Vox Populi:

mp3: The Days Are Gone (Anglais)
mp3: Le Fou Du Roi (Francaise)

mp3: Don\’t You Run Away
mp3: Today, Tomorrow

:) Original Vinyl | Jupiter | search ebay ]

The Golden Dawn “Power Plant”

| Psych

I’ve owned this album for years and while I think it’s a very solid lp, it most certainly isn’t desert island status. Power Plant was this Texas group’s only album, released 1968 off the legendary independent label International Artists. Many rate this album as the best IA release all over but it’s nowhere near Easter Everywhere or 1966’s Psychedelic Sounds Of. Not the year’s most original release, George Kinney’s vocals sound a little too close to Roky Erickson and the band lacks the originality and vision of the Elevators.

Kinney was in a pre-Elevators band, the Fugitives and also played an important role in getting Erickson’s book, Openers, financed and published. I’ve been told that Power Plant’s original release date was set for sometime in 1967 but for uknown reasons IA held out till the following year. That being said, there are still many fine moments on Power Plant. Evolution, the leadoff track, is a good psychedelic rocker with chimes, snotty punk vocals and some nice fuzz guitar. The band plays hard and tight throughout and favor hard bluesy licks over fuzz as heard on songs like Starvation and I’ll Be Around. There are two undisputed classics on the album, This Way Please and My Time. The former is an excellent piece of acid drifter music while My Time may be the best song the Golden Dawn ever wrote. I hear bits of Gloria in My Time, the guitars are powerful with a rough edge and there’s a nice raga style solo making this an all-time, epic garage punk classic. Another highlight Tell Me Why stands out for backwards tapes and twisted Kinney vocals.

Power Plant is worth recommending on the strength of the above songs and it’s overall consistency. There have been numerous cd reissues though the Sunspot release comes in a nice mini lp sleeve with good sound quality. Kinney has made some late 60’s/early 70’s post Golden Dawn music which is reportedly very good but has never seen an official release.

“My Time”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | Sunspots | purchase ]

Van Dyke Parks “Song Cycle”

| Americana,Art,Baroque,Concept Albums,Pop

Song Cycle

“I’ve been in this town so long that back in the city I’ve been taken for lost and gone and unknown for a long, long time.” Beyond his work with the Beach Boys, Parks had an impressive and varied career, often working with a number of other groups, as varied as Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Byrds, Tim Buckley — all the way to Joanna Newsom. His marvelous solo debut, Song Cycle, is a classic and poetic tour de force.

Musically, I imagine it as a “song spiral.” Motifs aren’t recycled or revisited as much as they are abandoned for new ideas. The orchestration is borne of the poetry, the words directing each instrumental movement. Song Cycle is an album to let yourself soak in, to stay with for a week or even a year. I also recommend listening with the lyric sheet in hand because the layered sound of ever-changing chamber orchestra can be heavy for the mind to absorb concurrently with the poetry.

Being a fan of SMiLE most likely won’t offer a free pass to Song Cycle. The album is dense and difficult to infiltrate. There are traces of inspiration here and there, possibly a glimpse to what Brian could have done with SMiLE if he’d had the encouragement Van Dyke had in Lenny Waronker.

Truthfully speaking, I can’t really understand the concept behind the album. As far as I have read, the record was meant to span a breadth of American musical styles. I know the touch of bluegrass (Steve Young singing Black Jack Davy in a clip that introduces the record) and the homage to Gershwin/Showtune styles, a taste of jazz, but I just don’t really get it. While I’m happy to enjoy what is still unknown to me, for I do love this album, I would be grateful to hear from those who can lighten the mystery of Song Cycle.

“Palm Desert”

:) Vinyl Reissue | 2007 | Sundazed | buy ]
:D CD | 1990 | Warner | amazon ]

The Fallen Angels “It’s A Long Way Down”

| Concept Albums,Garage,Psych

It's A Long Way Down

People went crazy in the 1960’s and early 70’s. Great rock n roll was created everywhere, from New York City to Israel, big cities far and near. Rock music was a giant fuck you to the establishment and older generations.

“It’s A Long Way Down” by the Fallen Angels, from 1968, was a product of this revolutionary vortex. It’s a minor masterpiece, with a great cover. This album has been forgotten about, lost in the sands of time, a micro-organism lost in a virtual sea that produced an overwhelming body of music.

The Angels had released an uneven but generally exciting debut album in 1967 and some singles beforehand. There was some great highlights on the debut, but for their last album they produced the so-called Sgt. Pepper of Washington D.C. Just think of the Left Banke, late night, stoned and producing some serious outsider music.

Poor Old Man leads the album off and recalls late period (1968-) Zombies. A great song that gives way to A Horn Playing On My Thin Wall, a masterpiece of underground psych and what makes me believe that rock music is one of the best things that has ever happened to this country. Silent Garden and One Of The Few Ones Left are also strong and recall the good qualities of the great Left Banke. Look At The Wind has a hard, fluid jazzy groove while Something You Can’t Hide is pure paisley pop, a style which many current bands tend to mimic with less than desirable results.

This is a killer unknown 60’s album with a lot of great psych moves. Worth the search!!!!

“A Horn Playing On My Thin Wall”

:) Vinyl Reissue | 2007 | EMI Roulette | ebay ]
:D CD Reissue | 1994 | Collectables | amazon ]

The Twilights “Once Upon A Twilight”

| Pop,Psych

Once Upon A Twilight

The Twilights were an Australian 60’s rock group that had a guitar oriented pop sound pitched somewhere between the Beatles and Hollies. Down under they were a pretty popular band, releasing two albums and several charting singles. In the mid 60’s they mixed 50’s rock and British Invasion covers with garage pop/beat originals. Terry Britten, the groups guiding light, began focusing on writing group originals during the second half of the decade. With help from Norman Smith, the Twilights recorded in England, eventually releasing a string of acid pop gems.

Cathy Come Home is arguably the best of these singles and is usually cited as the group’s high-water mark. Other 45’s like Time And Motion Study Man, and Comin’ On Down were near classic efforts though, with a sound rooted in Australia’s burgeoning psychedelic culture. In 1968, the Twilights released their final album, Once Upon A Twilight. Once Upon A Twilight was a critical success though sales were very low, signaling the beginning of a downward spiral for the group. The album is consistent and full of brilliant production quirks, being one of the very few Aussie albums to have a classic British psych-pop sound.

It’s loaded with great songs, standouts being the minor key gem What A Silly Thing To Do (complete with Ringo drum fills and phased wah-wah) and the classic Stop The World For A Day. Even the softer numbers like Bessemae, Tomorrow Is Today, and Mr. Nice work really well, highlighted by very pretty string arrangements and strong melodies. Other worthy numbers are the sitar drenched Devendra, which sounds like a lost Dave Mason Traffic track from 1967, and the dramatic psychedelia of Paternosta Row. On the latter track the band feeds its vocals through Leslie cabinets. The lp’s only daft moment is the horrible cockney country-rocker, The Cocky Song.

Once Upon A Twilight is a classic pop-art album, that’s warm, friendly, and well worth a spin. A near mint original copy can cost you between $150 to $300 and was notable for its elaborate pop-up gatefold art. In 2006, Aztec Music released this great album on cd for the first time, in both mono and stereo sound.

“Stop The World For A Day”

:D CD Reissue | 2006 | Aztec Music | amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | search ebay ]

The United States Of America (self-titled)

| Art,Electronic,Prog,Psych

The United States of America

The United States of America album is the product of Joseph Byrd, former FLUXUS member, artist and UCLA instructor who managed to combine experimental art and early synthesizer technology with psychedelic rock in creating this brilliant record. Employing percussion instruments, electric violin and acoustic strings, electric bass, various keyboards, homemade oscillators and ring modulators, and Dorothy Moskowitz’s confident soprano, this record shows surprising pop capability for an avant garde project.

United States of America is a pioneering record and worth your attention. Everybody wouldn’t be expected to sit through campy synth exercises like “I Wouldn’t Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar,” but many tracks hold up as strong experimental rock numbers. It’s a must listen for fans of ear candy, or those who love delving into the details. Tracks like the opener, “The American Metaphysical Circus,” feature layers of burbly oscillators, organ, calliope, and sound effects or field recordings. Other tunes tear it apart pretty hard for a guitar-less album like “Hard Coming Love” and some more restrained numbers make great careful listening material like the excellent “Cloud Song.” Dorothy’s vocals are very strong and lead with unexpectedly memorable lines.

The melodies and flow of the record, the sampled recurring themes, and the politically charged lyrics give this album a concept record feel. It was critically acclaimed on its release in 1968 but failed to sell, of course. The band broke up after their masterful debut though Byrd would continue to create experimental music and Moskowitz would eventually sing with Country Joe McDonald.

Sundazed reissued this album in 2008 as a hi-def vinyl LP that came packaged with a repro of the manilla envelope like the original. If this one has been hovering on your list for years, now is the time to pick it up!

“Coming Down”

:) Vinyl Reissue | 2008 | Sundazed | buy from sundazed ]
:D CD Reissue | 2004 | Sundazed | buy from sundazed | amazon]

VA “Tropicalia: Ou Panis Et Circenses”

| Tropicalia

Tropicalia

Tropicália, or Tropicalismo, was at once a response to military dictatorship and an attempt to expand Brazilian music by infusing ideas from all parts of the globe, even so far as an attempt to create a ‘universal music.’ This monumental compilation is the work of a like minded collective – radicals that would subvert and forever change the art and politics of Brazil, specifically Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Ze, Nara Leao, and Os Mutantes. Leaders of the movement, Gil and Caetano, would be imprisoned and exiled for 4 years because of this record.

You can hear their urgency in the music itself. I can’t understand Portuguese, but this sound communicates through the language barrier. It’s a sound to make your eyes drop back in your head and swirl: a stirring blend of American psychedelia, traditional Brazilian music, African popular music, and English pop rock. Taken in by the rhythms and growingly addictive melodies, you will find yourself singing along in pidgin Portuguese before long.

The title of this record translates to “bread and circuses,” a phrase denoting cheap political handouts used to gather support. Makes me imagine the music was probably just an amusing distraction aiming listeners towards some higher cause. Regardless of your interest in the social importance of this record, I suggest you take the handout – it’s unlikely you won’t be carried away with Tropicália’s drama, intensity, stylistic range, and irresistible rhythms.

If you have any interest in the Tropicália movement, which was more recently popularized in the states by artists like Beck and David Byrne,  Panis Et Circenses is the place to start. I highly recommend you grab the 4 Men With Beards 180-gram vinyl reissue and spin it loud. Even if you balk at compilations, this is more, it’s the original and essential Tropicália comp. One that changed the world.

Gilberto Gil – “Geleia Geral”

:) Vinyl Reissue | 2008 | 4 Men | Order | Search ]
:D CD Reissue | 2002 | Universal | Buy ]

Maffitt/Davies “The Rise and Fall of Honesty”

| Americana,Country Rock,Folk,Pop

The Rise And Fall Of Honesty

Maffitt/Davies was a short lived duo who released one album off Capitol in 1968. Judging by the cover you’d expect psychedelic fireworks but The Rise and Fall of Honesty is really an Ameriana folk-rock record. This is another good one that never saw release in the cd era. I found a vinyl copy in the Boston area for only $15 dollars though lately this lp has been somewhat hard to come by. While labelmate lps by the Common People and Food attract more attention I think that Maffitt/Davies was a much, much better group.

The record starts off with a brilliant version of Bob Dylan’s Just Like A Woman. Maffitt/Davies transform this standard into a heartbreaking orchestrated folk track that must surely rank as one of the best versions of this song. Forest Lawn, the album’s failed single, has a distinct Face to Face Kink’s sound though it’s notable for its dobro and freaky church organ. Tom Thumb’s Blues is the other Dylan cover on this record and shows the band taking a Byrds/Everly Brothers vocal harmony approach. The playing is topnotch throughout the record (check out instrumental Lungi Dal Caro Beni) and the duo’s vocal harmonies are tight if a bit unconventional. This is a quiet, tranquil record that never bores and reminds me of prime late 60’s Dillards on their folk-rock outings.

One of my favorite tracks on the album is Landscape Grown Cold. This is a visionary slice of American music that predates the alt. country/folk boom with dark lyrics, strings, phasing towards the end, and a vibe similar to Texas band Euphoria. More noteworthy tracks are Kingswood Manor which is a good folk-rock track that flirts with psychedelia by way of tabla (and drug references within the lyrics) while country-rocker City Sidewalks is very trancey and will appeal to any true Byrds fan. About 3 or 4 tracks on the album include drums though electric guitar fans should note with caution that most of this disc is acoustic.

The music is time worn, ancient and has that lived in feel but always inventive and never short on ideas. What ever happened to these musicians? Does anyone know? Anyway, if Americana or folk-rock is your bag, prepare yourself for a really good one.

“Landscape Grown Cold”

:) Original Vinyl | Search eBay for Maffit Davies ]

The Savage Rose “Savage Rose”

| Pop,Prog,Psych

Savage Rose

This is one of the great rock albums from 1968. Denmark’s Savage Rose are one of the greatest European experimental, progressive bands with a career that successfully spans over 40 years. Legendary rock critic Lester Bangs ranted and raved over the Rose and lead singer Anisette’s stunning vocal approach. He once described the frightening, powerhouse lead singer: “Grace Slick at 78 RPM”; “Minnie Mouse on a belladonna jag” and claimed that the band’s early 70’s album Refugee alongside 71’s Who’s Next, were a reason to believe in the magic and life force of rock & roll.

The band was formed in 1967 by songwriters Thomas and Anders Koppel (keyboards, piano and harpsichord) and drummer Alex Riel. Their sound was organ/keyboard dominated but guitarist Flemming Ostermann lent a helping hand with some wonderful jazz influenced guitar licks. This stunning debut appeared a year later featuring 11 strong tracks straight from the streets of Demark. Incredible songs like A Girl I Once Knew, You’ll Be Alright and Open Air Shop are highlighted by Annisette’s wailing vocals but it’s the arrangements that are equally brilliant and a breath of fresh air. Some people refer to this disc as psychedelic but that’s not really the case as there are no whacked out studio sound effects, phased vocals, raga guitar solos and the like. Many of the songs are strongly influenced by European folk, jazz, classical and soul music though the organ playing occasionally delves into some trippy, underwater soundscapes. Other tracks like Sleep and You Be Free are beautiful, dreamy statements that drift away in a Euro haze but are equally as good as the more intense, hard rocking numbers.

This record is strong all over with impressive musicianship, excellent tracks, diversity and of course, great songwriting. It’s also worth noting that in recent years the band as well as Anisette’s vocal style have provided a major inspiration to many of the new folk and progressive artists. The Savage Rose’s first 8 albums are all worth getting but it’s In The Plain (68-), Your Daily Gift (71), Refugee (71), the progressive Dodens Triumf (72) and this fabulous debut that are considered great Euro rock classics.

“Open Air Shop”

Below is a track from the Your Daily Gift album. Unfold deserves special attention because not only is it a great track but it shows the band taking in an experimental C&W influence. Anisette’s vocals sound weathered, wise, and fantastic and Unfold is also notable for a fine harpsichord intro.

“Unfold”

[ Buy @ amazon | Search @ eBay ]