THE GOLDEBRIARS (EPIC 1964) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + 2 bonus

The Goldebriars were an early 60s folk quartet which is most notable for including a young Curt Boettcher as a guitarist and vocalist. The group also included two sisters, Dotti and Sheri Holmberg, and Ron Neilson, lead guitarist and banjo player. They recorded two very obscure albums for Epic Records in 1964 before adding drummer Ron Edgar to their lineup, who would later be a part of the groups The Music Machine and The Millennium. They recorded a third album in late 1964, in what has been described as a prototypical folk-rock vein. A single from this proposed album, June Bride Baby b/w I'm Gonna Marry You was released in early 1965, but the group broke up afterwards and the album remains unreleased.
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Curt Boettcher would go on a successful stint as a producer, songwriter and musician, eventually putting together the highly-regarded late-60s group The Millennium (which also featured Ron Edgar). Nothing has been heard from the others, except for Dotti Holmberg, when Sundazed Records surprisingly released an album of demos that she recorded in the mid-60s called Sometimes Happy Times, including one demo that had ended up on the Magic Time anthology and a demo of a song (I Sing My Song) that would later be included on the second Sagittarius album...
......A Unique Early Folk-(Rock?) Group!!!!......
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THE FREAK SCENE - PSYCHEDELIC PSOUL (COLUMBIA 1967) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

A great little record of hippie freakout almost like some of the weird bits you'd find in the ESP catalog from some of the sub-Fugs rock groups of the time! The songs have a very trippy nature, mixed with a bit of politics ("draft beer, not students") and the album's produced with lots of cool effects that make the guitars go wild, the voices sound spooky, and which introduce some sound snippets and a small bit of electronics! The whole thing's definitely a "Freak Scene" overall the kind of tripped out album that somehow sounds even better today than it did a few decades back. Titles include "The Subway Ride Thru Inner Space", "My Rainbow Life", "The Center Of My Soul", "Mind Bender", "Grok", "Watered Down Soul", "A Million Grains Of Sand"....
The album is virtually a second Deep LP and almost identical in style...[net]
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PHIL & THE FRANTICS (AUDIO RECORDERS, PHOENIX,ARIZONA 1965-67)

Phil Kelsey was born into a musical environment in Dallas, both his parents had jazz and gospel experience. His family later moved to Phoenix, Arizona where in his last two years of school he fronted The Four Gants, a fifties rock combo. Kelsey put together line-up 'A' of Phil And The Frantics in 1963. Jim Musil discovered the band playing at their own Phoenix club, The Cave, and became their manager and producer. Phil renamed the club The Frantic Den and enlisted his mother's assistance to run it. Their early recordings were much influenced by the British invasion sound. The first 45 made no impact at all, the second was a local hit and the third a smash hit in Phoenix. Both sides, particularly the flip, featured haunting minor key melodies making this their best record so far. However, I Must Run, which was produced by Waylon Jennings and largely based on I Must Move, an early Zombies 'B' side, went one better charting in many parts of the country although it was not a national hit...[net]
....Great Sound Quality....
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COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH - C.J.FISH (VANGUARD 1970) Master edition

Country Joe & The Fish's first two albums "Electric Music For The Mind And Body" & "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die" are packed full of numbers such as "Section 43", "Magoo", "Janis", "Thursday", "Pat's Song", "Bass Strings", "Grace" and "Colors For Susan" that capture the swirling, ethereal essence of Bay area psychedelia. Their third album "Together" failed to deliver any more, with only "Susan" coming near to recreating the "feel" of these early tracks.
By the time of CJ Fish (released in 1970) most of the band had gone, but Country Joe McDonald and lead guitarist Barry Melton manage to rekindle their original, quite unique sound on "She's A Bird", "Mara" and the superb "Return Of Sweet Lorraine" (psychedelia at its best) - intermingled with some enjoyable rock & roll and folk numbers, in particular, "Sing, Sing, Sing"
If you're looking to repeat the experience of their psychedelic masterpieces then here's a couple more....[net]
Everyone who love the end of the 60s soul and rock sound should have this album, especially for the Silver and gold, Rock around the world, The love machine trilogy which is a great moment. Amazing drum solo, classic lead guitar chorus and Country Joe Mc Donald in great form. Forget the often very peace-and-love lyrics and enjoy the music!...[net]
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SPENCER DAVIS GROUP - THEIR FIRST LP (FONTANA 1965) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve SHM-CD + 9 bonus

The Spencer Davis Group were were one of the UK's most convincing R&B bands to emerge during this period. They were best known for introducing a prodigious teenager, Steve Winwood, to the world. It was apparent from their first record that Winwood, with his ferocious soul drenched voice, belying his tender sixteen years, would be the focal point of the group.
Davis put the group together in Birmingham in 1963, and they turned professional a year later. From the outset of their recording career they made it plain that albums were as important to them as singles - unusual in those days.
The group's first three singles reached the lower end of the Top Thirty, but it was the release of their debut album "Their First LP" in July 1965 that established them as a major group...
It is basically a reflection of their early repertoire and very heavy on the R&B/soul standards. Dominated by covers of Ike & Tina Turner, the Coasters, John Lee Hooker, Little Walter, Brenda Holloway, and others, only three of the tunes are original. Two of these are written by Stevie Winwood, the other by Spencer Davis; Winwood's mid-tempo soul number "It Hurts Me So" is easily the best of them. Winwood is in fine voice...
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1. My Babe
2. Dimples
3. Searchin'
4. Every Little Bit Hurts
5. I'm Blue(Gong Gong Song)
6. Sittin' And Thinkin'
7. I Can't Stand It
8. Here Right Now
9. Jump Back
10. It's Gonna Work Out Fine
11. Midnight Train
12. It Hurts Me So
13. She Put The Hurt On Me (Bonus Track)
14. I'm Getting Better(Bonus Track)
15. I'll Drown In My Own Tears(Bonus Track)
16. Goodbye Stevie(Bonus Track)
17. My Babe(Us Version)(Bonus Track)
18. Searchin'(Us Version)(Bonus Track)
19. Every Little Bit Hurts(Us Version) (Bonus Track)
20. Midnight Train(Us Version)(Bonus Track)
21. Incense(As The Anglos)(Bonus Track)
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GALE GARNETT & THE GENTLE REIGN - AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING OF WANDS (COLUMBIA 1968) Japan DSD mastering cardboard sleeve

A Columbia classic from this cool California group. An Audience With The King Of Wands a record as trippy and nice as it sounds from the title! Gale's got a nice voice one that's a bit folksy, but more confident than the average folkie of the time, with bits of blues, country, and rock that creep into the lyrics at just the right moments. The album's got a bit of psyche and a bit of sunshine kind of shifting the mood from track to track, and making for a record that's got more levels than usual for this sort of act at the time. Titles include "Bad News", "Believe Me", "Breaking Through", "Ophelia Song", "Big Sur", "Ballad For F Scott Fitzgerald", "You Could Have Been Anyone", and "A Word Of Advice"....
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01. Breaking Through
02. Fall In Love Again
03. Mini Song #1: Ophelia Song
04. Ballad For F. Scott Fitzgerald
05. Big Sur
06. Mini Song #2: Tropicana High
07. That's Not The Way
08. Word Of Advice
09. Believe Me
10. Mini Song #3: Lament For The Self Sufficient
11. You Could Have Been Anyone
12. Bad News
13. Dolphins
14. Mini Song #4: Tropicana Low
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CONTRABAND (TRANSATLANTIC 1974) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

Contraband featured Mae McKenna, George and Billy Jackson, John Martin, Peter Cairney and Alec Baird. Their music was an exciting mixture of Irish and Scots traditional tunes, dramatic folk-rock arr/ments of classical ballads and other songs. They attacked their music with youthful vigour and energy. ''We loved playing together'' Mae recalls, ''We always used to play and sing on the way to gigs and coming back from them. Looking back I couldn't have wanted a better band to begin touring with''. Life on the road was an adventure and Contraband toured all over Scotland and England.
Contraband signed with Transatlantic records in 1973. They recorded their debut album ''Contraband'' in Chipping Norton studios in Oxfordshire. Released in May 1974 ''Contraband'' caught the young band in the cusp of their youthful musical prowess and joie de vivre. Mae sang and played violin, viola and piano and joined with George and Billy's multi instrumental talents, Peter's country tinged guitars, John's expert traditional fiddling and Alec's solid drumming to create a fresh new Celtic Rock sound. Contraband disbanded in 1975.
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This formative Scots electric folk group, comprising Mae McKenna (b. Coatbridge, Scotland; vocals, violin), multi-instrumentalists George and Billy Jackson, John Martin (b. 1 April 1953, Bellshill, Scotland; fiddle), Peter Cairney (guitar) and Alec Baird (drums), released an acclaimed album for Transatlantic Records in 1974. Sadly this was the band's sole release. The Jacksons and Martin later joined Ossian, and the latter joined the Tannahill Weavers in 1990. McKenna launched a solo career and established herself as an in-demand session singer.
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LOVE EXCHANGE (TOWER 1968) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + bonus

The Love Exchange were a typical support level Los Angeles band of the psychedelic era, right down to their name. Their chief claim to fame, such as it is, is their 1967 single "Swallow the Sun," a nice folk-rock-psychedelic tune that's emblematic of the time with its trippily optimistic lyrics, garage-like Mamas & the Papas female-male harmonies, and swirling organ. The record was anthologized on the Los Angeles portion of the Highs in the Mid Sixties series, and also on the folk-rock volume of the vinyl Nuggets series on Rhino in the 1980s. They also managed to put out an LP in 1968 that, in addition to featuring "Swallow the Sun," had an assortment of minor-league psych-folk-pop crossover efforts, few of them written by the band. "Swallow the Sun," incidentally, is a cover of song by the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, "Dark on You Now," with some different lyrics.
The Love Exchange grew out of some teenage surf and garage bands in the Los Angeles suburb of Westchester. It was teenage singer Bonnie Blunt who was the group's strongest asset, giving them the competent vocals in the soaring, folky Mamas & the Papas/early Jefferson Airplane style. (As an interesting trivial note, the first woman singer in the Love Exchange was Laura Hale, daughter of actorAlan Hale, famous as the skipper on Gilligan's Island.) They weren't good writers, though, and on their sole album, much of the material was penned by producer Larry Goldberg. These were pretty shallow garage-psych-folk-rock efforts with their utopian rose-colored lyrics and organ-modal-guitar combinations, like a minor league Peanut Butter Conspiracy...[net]
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BIG SLEEP - BLUEBELL WOOD (PEGASUS 1971) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

Released in 1971 on the Pegasus label, Big Sleep's “Bluebell Wood” represents a brief stepping stone between the Eyes Of Blue and several other groups who feature in Man's history. Big Sleep was the name chosen in an attempt by Mercury's UK A&R chief Lou Reizner to revitalise the Eyes Of Blue, but the group never performed live under the new name and folded within months of its release.
It's an accomplished album although the quirky nature of the production does sometimes fail to integrate the music into a seamless whole.With two keyboard players the album is laden with piano/organ textures and, as Martin Mycock noted in his 1993 TWC review, "Overall the album is definitely more coherent than previous [Eyes Of Blue] efforts with more emphasis on instrumental work - rightly so with players of the calibre of Taff and Phil". The album opens with 'Death Of A Hope' from John Weathers which features a liberal sprinkling of strings and an almost orchestral arrangement. Gary Pickford-Hopkins supplies the next track, 'Odd Song', with its subtly syncopated acoustic beat. Another, more successful Weathers song follows, 'Free Life'. The five remaining tracks all stem from pianist and bassist Ritchie Francis and these nicely bridge the gap between sixties pop and seventies progressive rock. 'Aunty James' includes some simple but beautifully appropriate organ fills from Phil Ryan, and then 'Saint And Sceptic' is introduced with some baroque if unimaginative wah-wah guitar from Williams. The title track, 'Bluebell Wood', is a progressive tour-de-force, mainly instrumental but with an occasional quasi-mystical lyric thrown in to season the recipe. 'Watching Love Grow' is a straight-forward acoustic-tinged ballad which leads to the final track, 'When The Sun Was Out', which seems slightly misplaced being a more obviously commercial number, perhaps conceived as a single...[net]
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Personnel:
Phil Ryan (Organ, Piano)
Ritchie Francis (Bass, Piano, Vocals)
John "Pugwash" Weathers (Drums, Vocals)
Raymond "Taff" Williams (Guitar)
Gary Pickford-Hopkins (Vocals, Guitar)

Album:
Bluebell Wood (Pegasus PEG 4) 1971
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CHAD & JEREMY - THE ARK (COLUMBIA 1968) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + bonus

Continuing in the same vein as their joyously experimental Of Cabbages & Kings, Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde let everything fly on The Ark, their wide-eyed Columbia finale. It's a hand-wrought gem studded with glittering acid-pop originals like "Painted Dayglow Smile" and "The Emancipation of Mr. X," from an album that was fitting testimonial to the radio friendly duo who changed from moptop minstrels to dazzling musical sculptors, right before our eyes...[net]
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Chad and Jeremy's "The Ark" was their most accomplished album. Following the less polished (but more brilliant) Of Cabbages and Kings, they combined the "concept album" approach of Cabbages with more diverse, commercial and lyrical selections. Still the title track "The Ark" has all the bite and satire of their finest works and the long version of "Painted Dayglow Smile" (contained on this album) is stunning. The album is beautifully orchestrated and has great sound quality...[net]
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It's a real mindboggler as to why this album hasn't gotten the recognition it so duly deserves.It would have done better I'm sure,if Columbia records had only promoted it properly.
A true psychedelic lost classic and worthy contemporary of both "pepper" and "pet sounds",if you're anything like me it'll stay in your cd player for ages...[net]
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QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - FIRST... (CAPITOL 1968) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

An American rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco and considered to be a part of the city's psychedelic scene. Essentially a jam band, Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe. Many of their albums ranked in the top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. Though not ultimately as popular as Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, the band was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences, as well as a strong folk background, the band attempted to create a sound that was individual and innovative.Member Dino Valente pulled heavily from musical influences learned 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 band members. With the modest success of these ventures, many members have also attempted solo careers. Among these is Gary Duncan, former guitarist of Quicksilver Messenger Service. He has had a prolific musical career after parting ways with the group.
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ACADEMY - POP-LORE ACCORDING TO....(MORGAN BLUE TOWN 1969) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

Sparsely but inventively arranged folk songs with slight jazzy and psychedelic overtones are to be found on Academy's sole album. The main attraction is the clear voice of Polly and the interesting woodwind parts. Male singer Hardy is less convincing. "Poor Jean" has pretty harmonies but is marred by some out of key intonations. The best tracks are "Munching The Candy" and "Rachel's Dream", the latter starting sentimentally but later on incorporating a lovely Russian theme. They were also issued on a 45.Interesting album. Recommended...
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Personnel:
Richard Cobby - Guitar
Damon J Hardy - Vocals
Polly Perkins - Vocals
Dick Walter - Flute
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Album:
Pop-Lore According To The Academy (Morgan Bluetown BT 5001) 1969
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45:
Rachel's Dream/Munching The Candy (Morgan Bluetown BTS 2) 1969
(credited to Academy featuring Polly Perkins)
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HERE WE GO `ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH (UNITED ARTISTS 1968) Remastered reissue

This 1968 British comedy offers a humorous look at one man's desperate attempts at losing his virginity. The film features pop songs by Traffic and The Spencer Davis Group, which were written specifically for the film, rather than the standard orchestral score. This prime slice of psychedelic R&B features the UK Top Ten title track as well as liner notes written by Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, who also wrote the original screenplay....[net]
For any one who remembers seeing this film with its vibrant, garrish colour and innocent aproach to sex, this album will be a "trip" back. For those who were not around for the sixties (or who cannot remember), this will give you an idea of the fun before the storm....[net]
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APPALOOSA - APPALOOSA (COLUMBIA 1969) Japan DSD mastering cardboard sleeve

The acoustic, folk influenced group Appaloosa was the project of violinist Robin Batteau and guitarist, songwriter, singer John Parker Compton. Their lone release 1969's APPALOOSA, bears the heavy scent of the '60s coffeehouse scene, with overtones ... Full Descriptionof jazz (there's some nice saxophone work here) and Renaissance minstrel sounds (a la Steeleye Span) threaded through literate, melancholic singer-songwriter fare. The combination works nicely, and makes for a nice listen....[net]
Appaloosa has a sound that is hard to put in a box, maybe folk rock baroque. The lead singer, John Compton, has an easy intimacy, which Robin Bateau's faithful cello complements through many of the ballads. Each song is a sweet private journey....[net]
The violin/cello solos and arrangements interweave to give the folk music a unique and unforgettable sound. This music is pure and vibrant, produced by the legendary Al Kooper....[net]
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HAL BLAINE & THE YOUNG COUGARS - DEUCES,"T's",ROADSTERS & DRUMS ###### (RCA VICTOR 1963) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + 12(!) bonus

Hal Blaine was one of the most innovative and gifted session drummers ever to come down the pike, at least the pike that was the L.A. studio scene in the '60s and '70s. Being a talented man with friends in high places, it was perhaps only natural that he managed to record a solo album or two. However, his career as a highly used session drummer and percussionist didn't leave him a whole lot of time to develop as a songwriter or singer, so it's not surprising that his solo albums are nothing to write home about, including this one. Deuces, "T's," Roadsters & Drums is the better of the two albums Blaine recorded, and it also contains the most original material. The songs are solid surf instrumentals that Blaine mostly co-wrote with album producer Lee Hazlewood, no slouch himself in the surf music composing department. In this case, the surf genre appears in the guise of the car genre, and every song on the main portion of the disc is preceded by loud drag-racing sound effects taken from the RCA library. Bad move -- the music would be much more listenable without them. It's jaunty, catchy stuff, if not terribly memorable. Blaine's percussion work lends a touch of exotica to the surf-and-drag twang of the guitars. The album sounds at times like a cross between Duane Eddy and Martin Denny. There are also 12 bonus tracks recorded at a different session, and they're better than many of the main album tracks. There's an R&B flavor to the latter part of the CD, with a female vocal chorus on some of the songs. And at least the extra tracks are free of car-racing sound effects...
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