SEEDS - RAW & ALIVE IN CONCERT (GNP CRESCENDO 1967) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

The Seeds were an exceptional band that never achieved the success that they inspired. This album has a truly psychedelic cover with too-dark-for-pastel colors, swirling letters over eerie faces, and dynamic black and white photos on the back. If you want to see the image of Iggy Pop clothed, just look at Sky Saxon in the bottom right photo on the back cover with the screaming girl holding a flower grabbing at him. He had the image down, as well as the music. "900 Million People Daily All Making Love" sounds so much like the Doors and Jim Morrison's "When the Music's Over," one has to wonder which came first, or did they copy each other? "Mumble and Bumble" is a trippy "Alabama Song," but where Morrison is looking for the next whiskey bar, Saxon is off looking for flowers and magic mushrooms. The band has great energy which is pierced by annoying canned applause a la the Rolling Stones' Got Live If You Want It. This is a record album, not a situation comedy TV show, after all; what's the point of overdubbing an audience onto what is really good music? Sure, "No Escape" is a prelude to the closer and hit "Pushin' Too Hard" with a tip of the hat to Martha & the Vandellas, while "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" is placed nicely in mid-set, a song after the truncated "Up in Her Room." The revelation that is this "concert" album is what a great band the Seeds really were, and how Sky Saxon's vocals have a gritty edge that he held back on us in many of the studio recordings. "Gypsy Plays His Drums" has a great chug-chug guitar, nice off-key backing vocals, and a driving pulse which is present throughout the performance. If you can ignore the extraneous additions, a song like "Forest Outside Your Door" shows really how creative and influential this pioneering band was, while "Satisfy You" is Saxon's direct sexual rock to Mick Jagger's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Sky claims he can get satisfaction, and can satisfy you at the same time. He then veers off into more familiar psychedelic territory with "Night Time Girl" which combines the sex and the psychedelia. If they taught rock & roll in school, "Raw & Alive" would have to be the textbook for image, design, and content.[allmusic]
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SEEDS - A WEB OF SOUND (GNP-CRESCENDO 1966) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 1 bonus

‘A Web of Sounds’ shows The Seeds continuing with the same caliber tracey Garage Rock they injected into the California rock & roll circuit with their debut. Though it was not much of a progression, it is easy to hear their influence on the upcoming psychedelic scene of 1967.
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Apart from the inclusion of instant Garage Rock classic ‘Mr. Farmer’, one of the most important, yet least impressive tracks on ‘A Web of Sound’ is ‘Up in Her Room’. THE SEEDS did have the longest recorded extended jam on a Rock & Roll LP on their debut with the 6 minute ‘Evil Hoodoo’. Since then, THE ROLLING STONES released their own extended jam titled ‘Goin’ Home’ on the LP ‘Aftermath’. Sky was obviously not satisfied with THE STONES retort and extended ‘Up in Her Room’ to 14.5 minutes. Their title would be taken forever a mere 4 months later when LOVE dedicated an entire side of their upcoming sophomore release ‘Da Capo’ to one song (‘Revelation’).
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Seed's music was a big influence on many popular bands of the day including THE DOORS. The seeds are often lumped into the NUGGETS crowd of 'One-Flop-Wonders' but with a little more awareness these guys could easily attain the current status that a band like, say, the MC5 have today. They were equally as important & ‘A Web of Sound’ makes that obvious...
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THE SEEDS - THE SEEDS (GNP-CRESCENDO 1966) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 1 bonus

The Seeds were formed in 1965 with Saxon joining as a response to an advertisement. Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the band's sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass. Guitarists Jan Savage and Jeremy Levine with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons.
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Their first single, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine", was a regional hit in southern California in 1965. The song was also played regularly on AM rock stations in northern California (and probably elsewhere), where it was well received by listeners. The band had their only national Top 40 hit, "Pushin' Too Hard", in 1966 (#44 in Canada). Three subsequent singles, "Mr. Farmer" (also 1966), a re-release of "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (1967) (#33 in Canada), and "A Thousand Shadows" (1968) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. Musically uncomplicated and dominated by Saxon's vocal style and flair for simple melodic hooks, their first two albums are today considered classics of '60s garage music. A later album was devoted to the blues (with liner notes by Muddy Waters), and another (Future, 1967) was full-blown psychedelic rock, with ornate flower-themed graphics to match.
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By mid-1968, with their commercial popularity flagging, the group's personnel began to change; the band was renamed "Sky Saxon and the Seeds" in 1969, by which point Bob Norsoph, guitar, and Don Boomer, drums, had replaced Savage and Andridge. Saxon continued to use the name "The Seeds", using various backup musicians, at least through 1972; the last major-label records of new material by The Seeds—two non-charting singles on MGM records—were released in 1970.
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"Pushin' Too Hard" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
"Pushin' Too Hard" was featured in one episode of the television situational comedy The Mothers-In-Law. A character in the show became the manager of a band known as "The Warts." The band was actually the Seeds.
"Mr. Farmer" was featured in the end credits of the documentary "King Corn".
"Pushin' Too Hard" was featured in the opening sequence of the movie "Air America".
"Can't Seem To Make You Mine" has been covered by seven different groups...
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THE SUMMER SOUNDS - UP DOWN (LAUREL 1969)

Mega rare album from the Dartmouth, Massachusetts fivepiece outfit which was released originally on the Laurel label (Laurel 331098) in 1969.Up-Down is an album of largely self-penned material (only 2 covers, one of which is a strong version of The Spencer Davis Group’s hit, Gimme Some Lovin’) with The Leaves Are Turning Brown, complete with cheesy psych organ and wonderfully earnest vocals, is the stand out track!
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Up-Down is a beat-garage concept album detailing the highs and lows of a summer vocation romance, with, as you would expect, loads of moody teenage angst and lashings of self pity. The songs are all catchy, and there are a couple of good ballads.Summer Sounds was one of the best groups of its genre and consequently a number of the band’s tunes have been comp’d, although this is the first time that this album, with it’s ultra cool cover, has been reissued.
Track Listing: 1. Small World 2. Hard To Please 3. Lonely Beach 4. Gimme Some Lovin’ 5. One Last Kiss 6. The Leaves Are Turning Brown 7. Summer 8. I Love You 9. First Date 10. You Told Me...
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KALEIDOSCOPE - S/T [MEXICO] (ORFEON 1969) Limited cardboard sleeve

Uno de los grupos mas legendarios de la escena rock en Mexico, considerado a veces como la mejor propuesta psicodelica de finales de los '60 en toda America Latina.
Aunque de conocimiento subterraneo, la musica de este grupo ha permanecido como un mito que renace cuando de repente se menciona y alguien dice por ahi –?si, CALEIDOSCOPIO, como no, yo tenia como 15 anos!… y de pronto, el album original que fue grabado por la etiqueta Orfeon y que produjo solo 200 copias, es reeditado en una produccion exclusiva para la etiqueta La Ciruela Electrica de Tijuana, limitando a 1000 copias su version CD, como intentando que la legendaria banda permanezca en los niveles bajo tierra. Y es que entre otras cosas, KALEIDOSCOPE grabo solo un disco y como dije antes, legendario.
La musica en este disco es funky, acida, 100% contagiada por la era Amor y Paz, con algunos tintes progresivos ocasionados por unos teclados incisivos, pero lo mas importante, llena de una busqueda por hacer lo diferente. Llena de un sentir rebelde, a veces sin sentido pero con mucha expresion. Se convirtieron asi en uno de los grupos mexicanos que se atrevieron a ir mas alla y por eso, sirvieron de trampolin para impulsar mas lejos a quienes se dejaron contagiar.
Existen al menos otros dos grupos de nombre igual y de epoca similar tambien; uno coreano y otro britanico, asi que ?aguas!, el mexicano es el de la portada que muestro en esta revision...
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Cardboard repro of the original Orfeon LP sleeve. This is a monster psych classic from Mexico City c.1968/69, one of the rarest and most desired psychedelic albums of all time! A great album, with all songs in English—heavy grooves, super fuzzified guitar and a raving, ranting, drooling savage garage sound...
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UNIQUES - HAPPENING NOW! (PAULA 1967) Vinyl Rip (from me)

In comparison to their 1966 debut LP Uniquely Yours, The Uniques' second album, Happening Now, was a little bit of a disappointment, though not without its assets. The main flaw is that, in common with numerous albums issued by good but not great bands in the mid-'60s, there are too many covers of familiar hit songs. In this disc's case, those include "96 Tears," "Oh Pretty Woman," The Animals' "Don't Bring Me Down" (which does have a remarkably accurate Eric Burdon-like vocal), The Outsiders' "Time Won't Let Me," the Swinging Medallions' "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)," and even Gerry & The Pacemakers' "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," which wasn't standard garage/frat band fare. This isn't as dull as it seems; The Uniques were a good group with a very fine singer/organist, Joe Stampley, and certainly sound like they would have been a hell of a band to have at your party or club if you couldn't afford bigger names. It's not all that original, however, even if it's a pretty good snapshot of mid-'60s Southern rock that adeptly blended more standard garage rock with soul and swamp pop. It does have a surprisingly nice cover of "And I Love Her" (even if it seems to be faded out prematurely), and a couple decent tracks outside of the hit cover category in the tough single "Run and Hide" and the more melodic "Look to Me," which has a really peculiar clavioline-like keyboard solo. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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UNIQUES - UNIQUELY YOURS (PAULA 1966) Vinyl Rip (from me)

Like many LPs of its time, the Uniques' debut album had a bunch of songs taken from previously released singles, with several of these dozen tracks showing up on 1965-1966 45s. But even if it was pasted together to some degree, it's a surprisingly strong (given the patchy standards of the era) set of mid-'60s Southern rock, mixing garage rock, blue-eyed soul, and swamp pop. "You Ain't Tuff," the somewhat "Gloria"-derived nasty garage stomper, is certainly the most famous of these cuts, and deservedly so. But there are also some pretty good originals, usually written by lead singer Joe Stampley. Stampley proves himself an unusually versatile rock vocalist, capable of fairly nasty R&B-pop on "You Ain't Tuff" and "Strange," but also more subtle and smoother soul-pop on "Not Too Long Ago" (which is slightly reminiscent of B.J. Thomas' early material), "Never Been in Love Before," and "Don't Be a Fool." And while this LP (again like many of its time) is padded out with covers, Stampley and the band do well on these too, especially on Aaron Neville's "All These Things" and (more surprisingly, considering how familiar the song is) "The House of the Rising Sun," where his odd ghostly organ is also a highlight. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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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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STANDELLS - DIRTY WATER (TOWER 1966) Mastered in mono + bonus

"Dirty Water" is their Tower debut. The title song is a Punk classic reproduced on numerous "Nuggets" type comps, and along with the five and-a-half minute b-side, "Rari" was recorded in Hollywood by Richard Podolor. Most of the remaining tracks - originals, covers, and songs written by Cobb, an accomplished sonwriter - were recorded a year later (April 1966) at Kearnie Barton's Seattle Studio, and were "over-modulated directly to the multi-track tape, causing the finished master to become a powerful...gritty and distorted wash of sound..." charactistic of the Northwest punk/garage bands recording at Barton's studio during the period (such as the Sonics). These early recordings contained influenced later groups like the MC5.
Drummer Dave Dodd (an ex-Mouseketeer!) had a sexy, delicately cool and seductive voice that influenced (N.Y. Dolls guitarist)Johnny Thunders' breathy singing on "Hurt Me" and other classics. Dodd sings about two-thirds of the material included and is a near-forgotton punk-rock progenitor. He could snarl with the best Jagger-imitators and convey the soft bad-boy sexiness that exudes both cruelty and vulnerability. (His vocal on the classic "Medication" is one of the most understated and seductive ever!). Despite scores of versions recorded in 1966, Dodd manages to make "Hey Joe" sound like it was written for him. Keyboardist Larry Tamblyn also contributes a couple of fine rockers. The bonus cuts are all worthy,including the pre-Cobb audition track, the early-Beatles influenced "It's All In Your Mind," and two solid outtakes from the "Try It" sessions...
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COUNT FIVE - PSYCHOTIC REACTION#### (DOUBLE SHOT 1966) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + bonus

Count Five was a 1960s garage rock band from San Jose, California, best known for their Top 10 single "Psychotic Reaction".
The band was founded in 1964 by John "Mouse" Michalski (born 1948, Cleveland, Ohio) (lead guitar) and Ken Ellner (born 1948, Brooklyn, New York) (harmonica, vocals), two high school friends who had previously played in several short-lived outfits. After going shortly under the name The Squires, and several line-up changes later, the Count Five were born. Roy Chaney (born 1948, Indianapolis, Indiana) took over bass duties, John "Sean" Byrne (born 1947, Dublin, Ireland, died 2008) played rhythm guitar and lead vocals, and Craig "Butch" Atkinson (born 1947, San Jose, California, died 1999) played drums. The Count Five gained distinction for their habit of wearing Count Dracula-style capes when playing live.
"Psychotic Reaction", an acknowledged cornerstone of garage rock, was initially devised by Byrne, with the group refining it and turning it into the highlight of their live sets. The song was influenced by the style of contemporary musicians such as The Standells and The Yardbirds. The band members were rejected by several record labels before they got signed to the Los Angeles-based Double Shot Records. "Psychotic Reaction" was released as a single, and found immediate popularity in the protopunk scene, peaking at #5 in the U.S. charts in late 1966. The band got along for about another year, but dropped out of view altogether when their only hit had fallen from public memory. Another setback to a potential career in the music business was the decision of the five members (who were between the ages of 17 and 19) to pursue college degrees...
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THE STRANGELOVES - I WANT CANDY++++ (BANG 1965-67) 20 tracks most in STEREO

It began as a lark,a gimmick,a goof,but when the dust settled,The Strangeloves had carved themselves a unique place in rock history having recorded three of the 60's lasting pop anthems in "I want Candy","Night Time" and "Cara-Lin".
Whimsically looking to take advantage of America's newfound fascination with music from abroad-The British invasion was hitting its stride-Brill Scene pop songsters/producers Bob Feldman,Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer playfully conceived of an Australian trio,wild,wholly and otherwise outrageous,The Strangeloves.
When the trio had their early singles explode up the pop charts,the gag turned serious...The Strangeloves were for real!!!
This collection of the group Bang's recordings also includes hard-to find collectibles from their Swan & Sire label efforts...
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FIVE AMERICANS - I SEE THE LIGHT (HANNA-BARBERA 1966) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

In 1966 & 1967, this Dallas group enjoyed some modest national success with the number five hit "Western Union," as well as a few other Top 40 entries, "I See the Light," "Zip Code," and "Sound of Love." Dominated by high, bubbling organ lines and clean harmony vocals, the group favored high-energy pop/rock far more than British Invasion or R&B-inspired sounds, although a bit of garage/frat rock raunch could be detected in their stomping rhythms. Recording prolifically throughout the last half of the '60s (often with ex-rockabilly star Dale Hawkins as producer), and writing much of their own material, they were ultimately too lightweight and bubblegum-ish to measure up to either the era's better pop/rock or garage bands. Their 1966 hit "I See the Light" is their toughest and best performance.
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