Found this band very early on and still listen to them occasionally. A psychedelic goodie, one of those albums that you'll like every track on. "Chocolate Moose" and "Love Machine" are lovely songs.
Album information:
01-Chocolate Moose 02-Written On The Wind 03-I've Been Waiting Too Long 04-Soul Drippin's 05-Get Some Beads 06-Ain't Nobody 07-Try Me 08-Love Machine 09-Have You Been Sleepin' 10-From A Camels Hump
Finally another band with female vocals! A nice psychedelic rock album. Their cover of "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" is amazing and a favorite of mine.
Album information:
01 - Sanctuary 02 - Good Old Friends 03 - Catch The Wind 04 - If In Swimming 05 - Follow Your Dream's Way 06 - Live And Let Live 07 - City Sidewalks 08 - Let's Get Together 09 - Winter Boy 10 - The Times They Are A-Changin' 11 - Johann Sebastian Cheetah
Another psychedelic pop/rock band that I found early on. Lovely vocals. Try it out!
Album information:
01 - What's A Man 02 - Sorry You Were Born 03 - Cadillac George 04 - Lonely Seabird 05 - So Much Love 06 - Make Love 07 - That's Good 08 - I'm Not Dead 09 - She Understands 10 - Come To Me 11 - You Will Be There 12 - Old Man
A compilation album of songs recorded in the late 60s.
Album information:
01-Cowboys And Indians
02-Looking Thru The Mirror
03-Self-Analysis
04-Gold Is The Colour Of Thought
05-Hobbit Symphony
06-Daisy Intermission
07-Fogbound
08-Song Thru Perception
09-Philosophy
10-Umbrella
11-Ritual Gypsy Music Opus 1
12-October Country
13-Odyssey
Band information:
The Smoke was an English pop group from York. They consisted of Mick Rowley (lead vocals) (born Michael Rowley, 29 June 1946, Scarborough, Yorkshire), Mal Luker (lead guitar) (born Malcom Luker, 3 March 1946, New Delhi, India), John "Zeke" Lund (bass) (born John Raine Lund, 13 November 1945, York, Yorkshire) and Geoff Gill (drums and compositor) (born Geoffrey Robert Gill, 15 May 1949, York).
The band originally performed around Yorkshire as "The Moonshots", changing their name to "The Shots" when they moved to London. There were two bands playing R & B and other cover versions, one was called Tony Adams and the Viceroys, who included John 'Zeke' Lund on bass; Mal Luker on guitar and Geoff gill on drums. The other band was The Moonshots, who included Mick Rowley on lead vocals and Phil Peacock on guitar. The band then came together as The Shots and made a single for Columbia - 'Keep A Hold Of What You've Got' which flopped. At some point Peacock left the band, who then changed their name to The Smoke.
The Smoke's biggest hit was "My Friend Jack" (German Charts: #2, UK charts: #45); the BBC banned airplay of the song over its alleged drug references. Guitarist Lund later became a sound engineer for Boney M., who recorded a cover version of "My Friend Jack".
Music by young people for the young people, I guess. Lead guitarist Randy Hammon was 16 at the time. A great band for those that enjoy trippy, psychedelic rock. "Tahitian Melody" stuck with me for a while.
13. River Deep Mountain High (unissued rehearsal recording)
Band information:
Founded in 1967, the group was signed to Mercury Records, on which they released their eponymous debut in 1968. Their album was produced by Abe "Voco" Kesh who is famous with his work with the band Blue Cheer andHarvey Mandel. Their sound was close to groups such as Love and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.Singer Bill Harper and bassist Steve Lage quit the band shortly thereafter, leading to the demise of the group. The band continued on touring until late 1968 and then disbanded.
Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond has cited the Savage Resurrection as one of his biggest influences and, in October 2008, performed a live set with guitarist Randy Hammon. There was some suspicion that Randy Hammon was actually Randy Holden due to some citing that was done in Joe Carducci's book, The Pop Narcotic; this seems to be a misconception.
Post 1968
Bill Harper went on to write and perform, notably appearing on an LP and several singles with The Stepford Husbands in the early '80s. Jeff Myer recorded and toured extensively throughout the '70s and '80s with Van Morrison,Jesse Colin Young, Janis Ian, Tom Fogerty, Terry and The Pirates (with Terry Dolan, John Cipollina, and Greg Douglass), and reggae band The Edge (with the Rowan brothers). Former band member Steve Lage, who was born Stephen Allen Lage on August 15, 1947, died on July 25, 2010 in Oakland, California.
Present day
A version of The Savage Resurrection has been performing since 2007. It features original members Bill Harper, Randy Hammon, and Jeff Myer, joined by Mike Stever on bass and Cliff Moser on guitar.
This Psychedelic rock band is one that I've come across when I was first interested in this genre. It sounded very much similar to the bands I was listening to at the time. The vocals are different on every song, my favorites off the album "What Kind of Life" and "Mister You're A Better Man Than I" are good examples.
Album information:
01-Hard Hard Year 02-Edge Of Time 03-Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled 04-A Boy I Once Knew Well 05-All I Really Want 06-Mister You're A Better Man Than I 07-What Kind Of Life 08-Other Side Of Life 09-I Know A Girl 10-Sit Down I Think I Love You
O Canada! The Churls is a psychedelic rock band with great vocals and lead guitar. Their first and second albums are put together with 19 tracks. "City Lights", "Time piece", "Gypsy Lee", all songs that you might put on repeat for a whole day.
Album information:
01 - Eventual Love 02 - Crystal Palace 03 - Think I Can't Live Without You 04 - Princess Mary Margaret 05 - City Lights 06 - Fish On A Line 07 - He Weeks Go By 08 - Where Will You Be Tomorrow 09 - Time Piece 10 - Reservations 11 - Gypsy Lee 12 - Send Me No Flowers 13 - I Can See Your Picture 14 - See My Way 15 - Long, Long Time 16 - Tonight 17 - Trying To Get You Off My Mind 18 - She Needs A Man 19 - Too Many Rivers
Reality is regarded as the first progressive rock album, and is very underrated, as far as I've come to notice. You will notice how ahead of their time this band was. "Mainliner" is the first song I've listened by Second Hand, since then this album has been in the archive. Another track "Reality" must also be noted. Enjoy.
Album information:
01 - A Fairy Tale
02 - Rhubarb
03 - Denis James the Clown
04 - Steam Tugs
05 - Good Old '59 (We Are Slowly Gettin' Older)
06 - The World Will End Yesterday
07 - Denis James (Ode to D.J.)
08 - Mainliner
09 - Reality
10 - The Bath Song
11 - A Fairy Tale [Alternative Mix]
12 - Steam Tugs [Alternative Mix]
13 - James in the Basement [Bonus]
14 - I Am Nearly There [Bonus]
Band information:
Second Hand were a British progressive rock band, established by teenagers Ken Elliott, Kieran O'Connor and Bob Gibbons in 1965. They recorded three studio albums (the firstwas released in 1968) until their breakup in 1972. The band is considered to be one of the first and most underestimated progressive rock bands in history.
Ken Elliott was 15 in 1965, when his schoolmate Kieran O'Connor, a drummer, suggested that they set up a band. Ken quickly learned to play the harmonica and the piano. Kieran also asked his friends Bob Gibbons, who played the guitar, and Grant Ramsay (bass) to join the group. The band's title was The Next Collection, the group was based in Streatham,South London. Ramsay was replaced by Arthur Kitchener soon afterwards. With him on board, the band won the Streatham ice rink battle of the bands and were awarded the privilege to make a demo recording at Maximum Sound Studios. The Next Collection recorded two songs during this session, "A Fairy Tale" and "Steam Tugs". These demo recordings were later released as bonus tracks to the 2007 reissue of the album Reality. Vic Keary, the owner of the studio, liked the band and decided to become their producer.
With Keary's support, the band signed to a prestigious Polydor label under the title The Moving Finger (a reference to one of the Omar Khayyám poems). The band started working on their first studio album, Reality with Arthur Kitchener on bass, but he quit the band during the sessions, and the bassist Nick South was found through an ad in Melody Maker. As a result, half of the songs on the album were recorded with Kitchener on the bass, and the other half with South. The album was to be released in September, but Polydor found out that the band called The Moving Finger had already released a single on Mercury Records, and so the band had to change its name. They called themselves Second Hand, as all their instruments had been bought used. The album was released at the end of 1968 and failed because of complete lack of promotional support by Polydor.
Mellow. I guess we can say this is a great psychedelic-folk rock album. If you need something to cool down your mind, this album will do fine. Love the vocals and keyboards. Songs "Oh Gosh", "David & Sally" and "All These Ties" are a favorite of mine.
Album information:
01 - Oh Gosh (Running Through the Forest)
02 - Two Blind Sisters
03 - David & Sally
04 - Love
05 - Endless Trip
06 - Better Dead Than Red
07 - All These Ties
08 - What Do You Think of the War
09 - Ma-Ma
10 - Ghost
Band information:
Rebecca and the Sunnybrook Farmers were a psychedelic-influenced band from Pittsburgh, PN, whose music was an interesting blend of country rock, folk rock, and sunshine pop. Featuring Ilene Rappaport on vocals, guitar, harmonica, and recorder, Ilene Novog on vocals, viola, and harpsichord, Mickey Kapner on guitar, sitar, organ, and backing vocals, Ernie Eremita on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Clifford Mandell on percussion and backing vocals, the group was a popular live act in Pittsburgh and was signed to Musicor Records, an outfit that specialized in country artists but was dabbling in rock sounds in the late '60s. Rebecca and the Sunnybrook Farmers released one album, Birth, for Musicor in 1969, recorded in New York City in either a week or a weekend, depending on who is telling the tale. While the album sold poorly, it became a cult favorite among collectors of rare psychedelia and was reissued by the British Fallout label in 2007.
I wanted to have this legendary band on the blog and here it is. Quicksilver is dear to me. Here is all of their albums, with the exception of Solid Silver released in '75. There isn't much I can say about them as we all probably know the band. However they are still very underrated, I'd have never heard of them if I was never interested in psyche rock. Should have been on a hall of fame of some sort. John Cipollina, is also a favorite guitarist of mine, rest in peace tall man.
Album(s) information:
(1968) - Quicksilver Messenger Service
(1969) - Happy Trails
(1969) - Shady Grove
(1970) - Just for Love
(1971) - Quicksilver
(1972) - Comin' Thru
Band information:
Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, and several of their albums ranked in the Top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. Though not as commercially successful as contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences and a strong folk background, the band attempted to create an individual, innovative sound. Member Dino Valenti drew heavily on musical influences he picked up during the folk revival of his formative musical years. The style he developed from these sources is evident in Quicksilver Messenger Service's swung rhythms and twanging guitar sounds.
After many years, the band has attempted to reform despite the deaths of several members. Recently, original members Gary Duncan and David Freiberg have been touring as the Quicksilver Messenger Service, using various backing musicians.
A great hard rock band Pulse, with psychedelic influence. Expect clean vocals and lots of lead guitar work. As almost all others, Pulse only has a single album released. "Another Woman", "Too Much Lovin'", "Hypnotized", "Lo-Down" all great songs.
Phluph is a good late 60s psychedelic rock band, with a single album released. Songs in the album are keyboards heavy, with clean vocals. Most of the lyrics are to me, of someone talking about their trip. "Death of a Nation" and "Love Eyes" are two beautiful songs and are a favorite of mine on this album.
Album information:
01- Doctor Mind
02- It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Here comes the British Nirvana. This is an album that has both prog and psychedelic sound. "Miami Masquerade" is my favorite, a beautiful song. Love the vocals on all songs. The complete album name is "The Existence of Chance Is Everything and Nothing While the Greatest Achievement Is the Living of Life, and so Say ALL OF US". Yes.
Album information:
01-Rainbow Chaser
02-Tiny Goddess
03-The Touchables (All Of Us)
04-Melanie Blue
05-Trapeze
06-The Show Must Go On
07-Girl In The Park
08-Miami Masquerade
09-Frankie The Great
10-You Can Try It
11-Everybody Loves The Clown
12-St.John's Wood Affair
13-Flashbulb (b-side single)
14-Oh! What A Performance (a-side single)
15-Darling Darlene (b-side single)
16-C Side Of Ocho Rios (b-side single)
Band information:
Nirvana was created as the performing arm of the London-based songwriting partnership of Irish musician Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Greek composer Alex Spyropoulos. On their recordings Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos supplied all the vocals. The instrumental work was primarily undertaken by top session musicians and orchestral musicians - with Campbell-Lyons providing a little guitar and Spyropoulos contributing some keyboards.
Musically, Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos blended myriad musical styles including rock, pop, folk, jazz, Latin rhythms and classical music, primarily augmented by baroque chamber-style arrangements to create a unique entity.
In October 1967, they released their first album: a concept album produced by Blackwell titled The Story of Simon Simopath. The album was arguably the first narrative concept album ever released, predating story-driven concept albums such as The Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow (December 1968), The Who's Tommy (April 1969) and The Kinks' Arthur (September 1969).
Unable to perform their songs live as a duo and with the impending release of their first album, Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos decided to create a live performing ensemble and they recruited four musicians to enable them to undertake concerts and TV appearances. Though hired to be part of the live performance group rather than as band members, these four musicians were also included in the photograph alongside the core duo on the album cover of their first album to assist in projecting an image of a group rather than a duo. However they were not core founding members of the group and within a few months Nirvana had reverted to its original two-person lineup. The four musicians who augmented Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos on their live appearances and television shows for those few months were Ray Singer (guitar), Brian Henderson (bass), Sylvia A. Schuster (cello) and Michael Cole (French horn, viola).
In 1968, the duo recorded their second album, All Of Us, which featured a similar broad range of musical styles as their first album.
Originally known as The Weeds, with distinct vocals of Fred Cole, a garage band with psychedelic influence, this band has a place on my archive. "You Must Be A Witch", "Don't Look Back" and "Who's It Gonna Be?" are my favorite songs. Beautiful sound, enjoy!
Album information:
01. You Must Be A Witch
02. Underground Railroad
03. Baby, Don't Go
04. Who'll Read The Will
05. It's Only A Reflection
06. Don't Look Back
07. Don't Close The Door On Me
08. It Ain't How Long
09. It's Makin' It
10. I'm Gonna Be There
11. You Don't Give No More
12. Sin
13. Someone I Know
14. Through My Window
15. Mr. Madison Avenue
16. Who's It Gonna Be
Band information:
The Lollipop Shoppe were a 1960s psychedelic garage rock band. They were originally known as The Weeds and featured Fred Cole, now of Dead Moon. After The Weeds signed to UNI Records (a now-defunct subsidiary of MCA), their new manager, "Lord" Tim Hudson, insisted they change their name to The Lollipop Shoppe to fit in with the current trend of bubblegum music. The band's actual recordings, including the 1968 LP Just Colour, are hardly bubblegum, but instead a mix of garage rock and psychedelia. The album and its single, "You Must Be a Witch," are regarded as period classics and still prized by collectors, though neither made the charts. The band opened for stars such as Janis Joplin and The Doors, and appeared in the biker movie Angels from Hell. The album has been bootlegged; the Music Maniac label has announced a reissue but it has not appeared. The Lollipop Shoppe released one more single, "Someone I Knew" b/w "Through My Window", before breaking up in 1969. They reunited as The Weeds for a 1971 single.
I think of this compilation (?) album as a mixture of heavy psychedelia, classic rock and a bit of garage rock. Which means you'll find something just for you, from "William" to "Eagle" to "1930", you'll see a difference in style and sound. "Eagle" is my favorite from this band.
Album information:
01 Prelude To Opus IV
02 Hideaway
03 When A Man Could Be Free
04 Madame Sunrise
05 1930
06 Freedom (Is Live With Giving)
07 They've Got The Time
08 (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
09 William
10 Of Paupers And Poets
11 (Under The Screaming Double) Eagle
12 What Have I Now
13 Rat
14 Hideaway [Edited 45 Mix]
15 Freedom [Edited 45 Mix]
16 William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger Theme)
Band information:
A Minnesota-based rock band that grew out of White Lightning, a "power trio" consisting of ex-Litter guitarist Zippy Caplan, bass guitarist Woody Woodrich, and drummer Mick Stanhope. Woodrich is said to have pioneered the use of redline compression on his instrument, before such compressors were generally available to the public. The music heard here was performed by this trio and a quintet formed by the addition of second guitarist Ronn Roberts and percussionist Bernie Pershey, who can be heard operating a xylophone on "When a Man Could Be Free." Technically, at least, Lightning was the name usually applied to the five-piece band.
They engaged in such colorful crowd-pleasing routines as an electrified rendering of Gioacchino Rossini's "William Tell Overture" (first performed in this version at the New City Opera House during the autumn of 1968), and a freaky take (à la Jeff Beck's "Bolero") on "Ghost Riders in the Sky" that featuredStanhope singing through a Moog synthesizer. "Of Paupers and Poets" was first released as a 45 rpm single on the Hexagon record label and made it to number five on the Top 40 in Minneapolis/St. Paul in January 1969. "They've Got the Time" was composed on September 18, 1970 in response to the death of Jimi Hendrix and was also dedicated to Janis Joplin and Brian Jones. Lightning was well received at rock festivals throughout the Middle West. They opened for (and reportedly upstaged) Grand Funk Railroad on December 31, 1970 at a concert in Des Moines, IA. One source claims that White Lightning (named after a notoriously potent brand of lysergic acid) existed in five distinct combinations between the years 1968-1974, and that six different Lightnings came and went between 1969 and 1990. None of these Lightnings are to be confused with Detroit's short-lived post-Guardian Angel five-piece unit that went by the name of Lightnin'.
Another favorite of mine, KAK. This album is perfect on all points for me. You will love every single song if you are into heavy stuff. "Trieulogy", "Electric Sailor", "Mirage & Rain", "I Miss You" are the songs I can't get enough of. Listen to the lyrics, enjoy Kak.
Album information:
01 - Hco 97658
02 - Everything's Changing
03 - Electric Sailor
04 - Disbelievin'
05 - I've Got Time
06 - Flowing By
07 - Bryte 'N' Clear Day
08 - Trieulogy
09 - Lemonaide Kid
10 - Rain (Single Version)
11 - Everything's Changing (Acoustic Demo)
12 - I've Got Time (Acoustic Demo)
13 - (Medley) Bye Bye & Easy Jack (Previously Unissued)
14 - Bryte 'N' Clear Day (Acoustic Live Version)
15 - (Medley) Mirage & Rain (Acoustic Live Version)
16 - When Love Comes In (Previously Unissued)
17 - I Miss You (Previously Unissued)
18 - Lonely People Blues (Previously Unissued)
19 - Flight From The East
20 - Good Time Music
Band information:
Although formed in Davis, CA, Kak were based in San Francisco for a good part of 1968, when they recorded their only album. Lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Gary Lee Yoder and lead guitarist Dehner Patten had been in the Oxford Circle, an obscure early Northern Californian psychedelic band that had cut one garage/psych single ("Foolish Woman"/"Mind Destruction") and played some shows on the San Francisco psychedelic circuit, while bassist Joe Dave Damrell had been on a 1965 single on Scorpio Records with Group "B".
The self-titled Kak LP was minor-league San Francisco psychedelic rock colored by a lot of influence from bigger Bay Area bands, particularly Moby Grape; the vocal harmonies and curling guitar work on tracks like "Disbelievin'" and "Everything's Changing" in particular sounded like a more pedestrianMoby Grape. There were also more distant echoes of Quicksilver Messenger Service (in the guitar work) and the Grateful Dead (in faint traces of country-blues-rock). Kak were best, and least derivative, at their quietest, as on the gentle country-tinged rocker "I've Got Time, " the good-time wistful psych-folk-rock of "Lemonade Kid, " and the harpsichord-decorated ballad "Flowing By, " which was as derivative of Donovan as much of their other songs were of Moby Grape.
Kak's album was barely promoted and sold little. It didn't help that the band played less than a dozen shows before breaking up in early 1969, Damrell having already quit prior to the split. Yoder did a single for Epic and then joined Blue Cheer. The Kak album eventually became a pricey collector's item, and was reissued on CD by Big Beat (with the new title Kak-ola) in 1999 with plenty of bonus cuts, including previously unreleased acoustic demos and Yodersolo tracks from the late '60s.
July is another band from England, like most other bands they were active in the late 60's. songs like "Dandelion Seeds" will carry you somewhere else. Get a taste of July.
Album information:
01. My Clown
02. Dandelion Seeds
03. Jolly Mary
04. Hallo To Me
05. You Missed It All
06. The Way
07. To Be Free
08. Move On Sweet Flower
09. Crying Is For Writers
10. I See
11. Friendly Man
12. A Bird Lived 13. My Clown (Single Version) 14. Dandelion Seeds (Single Version) 15. Hello, Who's There
16. The Way (Single Version)
Band information:
July were a psychedelic rock band from Ealing, London that were professionally active between 1968 and 1969. The band's music was a blend of psychedelic rock and pop, marked by lush harmonies, acoustic guitars, keyboards, and intricate lead guitar work. Although none of the band's records managed to chart in the UK or the U.S., July are today best remembered for their songs "My Clown", "Dandelion Seeds", and "The Way", which have all been included on a number of compilation albums over the years.
A band with a strange name, I wonder what they were thinking. Nevermind the band's name, this great album has 29 tracks, starting from the 14th, the rest of the tracks are by the Lost. Psychedelic rock and garage rock goes so well together. You'll find lots of songs to your liking, I'm sure.
Album information:
01. Feeling much better
02. Midnight hour
03. I'm so happy
04. When you're there
05. Four and twenty miles
06. Prelude to the town monk
07. Shadows
08. Dark street downtown
09. Protrait in grey
10. In my window
11. Satori
12. The Lost w. Space Kids - part 1
13. The Lost w. Space Kids - part 2
Band information:
Flat Earth Society's Waleeco is a mid-level psychedelic organ-and-guitar-driven rock record, with a more focused sense of song construction than many such efforts in the late '60s, although the results aren't all that special. A highlight is "Shadows," which sounds like a super tough variation on the Association. [The 2006 CD reissue combines Waleeco with material that the Lost, another Boston band of the time, recorded in 1967 as incidental music for Space Kids, an audio fairy tale.]
Probably one of the heaviest bands in my archive, both vocally and rhythm. Dragonfly, previously known as The Legend has released two albums the same year, '68; I'm amazed at how ahead of their time they were. Listen if you like heavy psychedelia.
