MELLOW CANDLE - SWADDLING SONGS (DERAM 1972) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

From Dublin, Ireland, MELLOW CANDLE specialised in imaginative psychedelic folk rock and early progressive rock, with the singing talents of two ladies (Alison WILLIAMS and Clodagh SIMONDS), in addition to bassist Frank BOYLAN, drummer William MURRAY and guitarist Dave WILLAIMS. They covered both ballad and rock domains equally well. The music displayed a prodigious degree of natural talent for songwriting, harmonizing, and arrangement. A folk-rock in the vein of FAIRPORT CONVENTION or FOTHERINGAY.
"Swaddling Songs" debut album is rich in varied and a true sonic marvel of beauty and simple melodies, and, most of all, a blending of two of the most beautiful voices in all of music. This is a fantastic album that deserves new discovery. A second album, "The Virgin Prophet", featuring unreleased and different versions of songs found on "Swaddling Songs", was released in the mid nineties.
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'Swaddling Songs' was released in April 1972 preceded by a double A side single 'Silversong'/ 'Dan The Wing'. Christened a 'Tax loss' by the NME, 'Swaddling Songs' was a glorious fusion of traditional and contemporary folk-rock, laced with Clodagh and Alison's soaring vocals and zigzag harmonies but bombed. Frank Boylan was replaced by ex Spirogyra bassist Steve Borrill and Mellow Candle changed their name to Grace Before Space but split up in 1973.
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....."Alison O'Donnell reclines on her living room couch in Brussels reflecting on her time with seminal Irish folk-rockers Mellow Candle. "It was an intensively creative period in my life. At the outset we were enthusiastic Dublin schoolgirls and were ready for anything!"....
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HOLLINS AND STARR - SIDEWALKS TALKING (OVATION 1970)

This is a perfectly produced and arranged popsike concept, an ode to the free mind structured by intelligent reconsiderations. It is an album that grows in depth with each listen. The songs are working on a different, almost meditative level, at times directing towards awareness in advance of a conscious dream state, with gateways of instrumentals like paths that direct this way, with a fundament of strummed guitar and flute improvisations, and lots of arrangements. “Hard Headed Women” is one of the most ambitious and longest tracks, starting with a more rockier singing, and with parts of almost classical & contemporary classical arrangements of brass with and without percussion, and another part with drums and kettle drums, while turning this again into something (prog)rockier, on “Home?”, in a progressive and ever changing way. This is followed by another flute part which sounds like a baroque improvisation, which is a Bach composition returning to a classical foundation. “Digress” is more up tempo and rockier as well, is almost avant-garde with its lyrics, like an anti-intellectual-chitchat song, powerful again, just like an ode to real expressions, evolving over a sound collage of thunder and street noises to a somewhat jazzier laid back song. The whole albums is mixed like a perfect musical story with lots of facets hanging together on many levels from a variety of experiences..[review]
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The sole album by this Chicago based duo is a treasure trove of strong melodies and dreamy vocal harmonies, which originally appeared in 1970 on the Ovation label. Expect a gorgeous, ethereal blend of psychedelic folk and offbeat pop
supported by an odd assortment of instruments including flute, bells and fuzz guitar.
‘Sidewalk Talking’ is sure to appeal to all fans of overlooked acid folk and popsike.
No wonder it has been sampled by DJ Shadow.
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YOUNG RASCALS - GROOVIN' (ATLANTIC 1967) Japan mastering

This is one of the great albums of the 1960's. The Rascals are often slagged for being a singles band. This assumption is far from the truth, many of their albums are excellent. This recording is where psychedelia, soul, folk-rock, garage punk, and ethnic elements mesh successfully into one cohesive offering. The hits (Groovin, How Can I Be Sure, and A Girl Like You)do not a need further explanation. You Better Run is an incredible early punk rock tune that has proved to be very influential. Find Somebody has menacing circular guitar riffs that grab the listener immediately. I'm So Happy Now could have easily found a home on the Beach Boy's masterful Pet Sounds album. Sueno burns with 60's experimentation including backward cymbals and a fiery spanish guitar style riff. Every song is a winner and very individual. This is the Rascals version of the Beatle's great Revolver album (still their best!) In addition, the Rascals voices sound excellent and they have not abodoned their soul roots. This is an essential listen for any 60's rock fan!..[net]
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"From the opening "One, Two, Three" of their debut 1966 smash "Good Lovin'," The Young Rascals were the hottest, most dynamic rock group New York had ever seen. The runaway train of chart-topping singles that followed--"I've Been Lonely Too Long," "Groovin'," "A Girl Like You," "How Can I Be Sure," "A Beautiful Morning"--and the four albums they came from, permanently retired the blue-eyed soul trophy"...
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CHICKEN SHACK - 100 TON CHICKEN ((BLUE HORIZON 1969) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

Chicken Shack was actually not far behind Fleetwood Mac in popularity in the late '60s, purveying a more traditional brand of Chicago blues, heavily influenced by Freddie King. Although Webb took most of the songwriting and vocal duties, Christine Perfect also chipped in with occasional compositions and lead singing. In fact, she sang lead on their only British Top 20 single, "I'd Rather Go Blind" (1969). But around that time, she quit the music business to marry John McVie and become a housewife, although, as the world knows, that didn't last too long. Chicken Shack never recovered from Christine's loss, commercially or musically.
Although they were one of the more pedestrian acts of the British blues boom, Chicken Shack was very popular for a time in the late '60s, placing two albums in the British Top 20. The front person of Chicken was not Perfect/McVie, but guitarist Stan Webb, who would excite British audiences by entering the crowds at performances, courtesy of his 100-meter-long guitar lead. They were signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label, a British blues pillar that had its biggest success with early Fleetwood Mac...
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"I wish to go on record as having always thought that the Shack were deserving of far greater acclaim than they actually managed to realise. That they were unable to come up with anything to match either "Black Magic Woman" or "Albatross" in terms of sales is a failure -- if indeed it could be considered to be such -- due to the greater street credibility of Fleetwood Mac rather than Stan's apparent inability to write a so-called hit song."
Mike Vernon
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TEXAS GARAGE BANDS IN THE '60s - THE "ORBIT RECORDS" STORY

This second volume from Collectables History of Texas Garage Bands series includes 19 tracks of raw power oddities with a definite psychedelic influence, including seven tracks by Lemon Fog and six from The Nomads. Also included are one-shots by Rebellers, Bo Jest, and David Sanborn. As is the case with many of these obscure comps, the song titles usually tell you what you're in for. In this case, if "Girl From the Wrong Side of Town," "The New Generation," "Three O'Clock Merrian Webster Time," and "Lemon Fog" sound like your type of trip, waste no time in getting this. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide
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"Three O'Clock Merrian Webster Time" was the original title of the first vinyl issue on "CICADELIC RECORDS" back in 1983,containing 14 tracks by "Lemon Fog" & the "Nomads".
One of the best "Cicadelic" outputs ever!..(to my opinion)
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Track Listings

1. Lemon Fog :: The Lemon Fog
2. Summer [Complete Master] :: David Sanborn
3. Echoes of Time :: The Lemon Fog
4. Day by Day :: The Lemon Fog
5. The Prisoner :: The Lemon Fog
6. Yes I Cry :: The Lemon Fog
7. Girl From the Wrong Side of Town :: The Lemon Fog
8. Summer [Backing Track] :: David Sanborn
9. The New Generation :: The Rebellers
10. Common People :: The Rebellers
11. I Walk Alone :: The Nomads
12. I'll Be There :: The Nomads
13. My Little Red Book :: The Nomads
14. Situations :: The Nomads
15. Mainstream
16. Three O'Clock Merrian Webster Time Demos :: The Nomads
17. Situations- Early Rehearsal :: The Nomads
18. Summer [Single Version] :: The Lemon Fog
19. Summer 95'
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FEMININE COMPLEX - LIVIN' LOVE (ATHENA 1969) Japan/Korea mastering cardboard sleeve + 14 bonus

This Nashville band featuring Mindy Dalton, Judi Griffith, Lana Napier, Pame Stephens, and Jean Williams has long been an enigma. There was even a rumour that they were a fictional band, and the material had been recorded quite recently by various American indie luminaries! This despite the original 1969 Athena Records album undoubtedly existing, and fetching astronomical figures
In fact, The Feminine Complex were an all-girl garage band, a rarity in Nashville, to be sure. They were even heavily featured on various TV shows including the nationally syndicated "Showcase '68" and the local "Nashville Now". The Feminine Complex made one of the few genuine "girls in the garage" albums (all original songs too!) in a time when the 45 was king (queen?), and an extraordinary album it is too, as extraordinary indeed as the story of the band...[net]
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Livin' Love is a breathtaking album of raw passion and energy. Astonishingly, it contains all original Feminine Complex songs, penned mostly by Mindy Dalton. Recorded in 1968, there is a strong sense of mind-altering musing displayed throughout Dalton's prose, which she denied carried with it any drug connotations. Even though the record is a polished outing, due mainly to the experienced backing-band brought in, there is no question that Dalton's songs demonstrated a considerable emerging talent, deserving of an "A-list" ranking in the league table of late-sixties' female rock stars. Sadly, Livin' Love came and went unnoticed; the original all-girl roster of the Feminine Complex disbanded amicably, and that was that.
The album's opening three numbers are delicately alluring, with a brooding seductiveness that betrays Livin' Love's punch on later numbers. Now I Need You is a swirling cry of desperation, whilst the refraining Are You Lonesome Like Me? possesses a startling songwriting maturity from Dalton; the song could feature on any of Dusty Springfield's better albums and you'd believe it were penned by Lieber & Stoller.
I Won't Run powers up the tempo scales with dashing freneticism and powerful rhythm chords. Exemplary throughout the album are the backing vocals - drenched in reverb, which add a very welcome leftfield edge. Run That Through Your Mind, I Don't Want Another Man and the powerhouse I've Been Working On You signal the very best late-sixties Aretha, suggesting the band’s versatility. It's Magic has a psychedelic ambiance that is ripped apart by a delicious chorus, complete with off-kilter vocal backing...
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TITUS GROAN - TITUS GROAN (DAWN 1970) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + 3 bonus

Titus Groan first came to prominence at the Hollywood Pop Festival of the weekend beginning May 23rd 1970.The happening, however, is better recalled as the launching pad for Mungo Jerry, whose brand of goodtime skiffle was apparently received with wild enthusiasm; so much so that it carried their subsequent single into the charts. From there it soared to No.1 and became a multi million seller, in turn providing their record label, Dawn, with its biggest success, a fact which was something of a paradox, as it was set up by Pye as an "alternative" outlet, on par with Harvest, Vertigo and RCA's Neon.Instead they began recording, and in October that year, Dawn announced a major release package with albums and maxi singles by Demon Fuzz, Comus and Heron, as well as the collection here, Titus Groan. However, as an added bonus, also included the three tracks which made up the Groan's only single, none of which has previously been on an LP. The top-side was "Open The Door, Homer", a Bob Dylan song also known as "Open The Door, Richard", which the Groans may have picked up from the "Great White Wonder" bootleg.
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"Titus Groan" was released the same month as their maxi-single. Consisting of a mere five tracks, it was abundantly clear that the group intended to continue the progressive aspects found on "Liverpool". They were extremely powerful instrumentally, Stuart Cowell's guitar and keyboard work combined perfectly with Tony Priestland's sax, flute, oboe and assorted woodwind, creating, and indeed suggesting, the mock-medieval textures also found in Jethro Tull (albeit, heavier), while John Lee and Jim Toomey provided the supportive bass and drums, particularly on the album's epic, "Hall Of Bright Carvings". Taking its title from the opening chapter of the novel which gave the band its name, it's here Titus Groan come closest to their inspiration as they wage a way through an ambitious, multi-part composition. The repeated theme adds a continuity as the piece shifts in mood, embracing a further Peake reference, "The Burning" on the way. The second side doesn't slouch either, Lee and Priestland offer contrasts on "It Can't Change" and "Fuschia", while "It's All Up With Us" is a collective offering. "An interesting, listening format... effective in live performances... a promising first album" - such remarks contained in the relevant 'NME' album review can only be echoed here..[net]
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FIFTH FLIGHT - INTO SMOKE TREE VILLAGE (CENTURY 1970[?])

Century Records was a California custom record label which pressed tens of thousands of small-run records for schools, church groups and obscure local bands and fith flight's into smoke tree village, with its rustic mill whee cover, was a garage psych album consisting mostly of covers, delivered with lashing of fuzz guitar and heavy, spooky organ.The organist is easing in at just the right moment, not too heavy, just right. The vocalist is, well, a bit amatuerish. The stand-out track is surely the band's awesome version of Neil Young's Sugar Mountain which over the years has gained a deseved reputation as a psych masterpiece....
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PERFECTLY TASTEFUL HAMMOND ORGAN!! GREAT COVERS!!
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BO DIDDLEY - FIRST LP (CHESS 1958) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve

Bo Diddley is the debut album by rock and roll pioneer and blues icon Bo Diddley. It is a compilation of his singles since 1955 & collects several of his most influential and enduring songs.An innovative guitarist, prolific songwriter, and sensational vocalist (check out "Dearest Darling"), Diddley had an influence on rock music from Buddy Holly to U2 that was all pervasive.
His songs often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic tension and release. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used a variety of rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style to doo-wop, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
Also he developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley's trademark instrument was the rectangular bodied Gretsch nicknamed "The Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter Dick Clark). Although he had other similar shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers, he fashioned this guitar himself around 1958 and wielded it in thousands of concerts over the years.
On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show, where he infuriated the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis penned, Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but, when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances.
He continued to have hits through the late 1950s and the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles — including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel — bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Chess/Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley...[net]
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EVERLY BROTHERS - "THEY'RE OFF AND ROLLING" (CADENCE 1958) Japan K2-HD mastering cardboard sleeve + 14 bonus

The Everly Brothers (Don Everly, born Isaac Donald Everly February 1, 1937, Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Phil Everly, born Phillip Everly, January 19, 1939, Chicago, Illinois) are brothers and top-selling country influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everlys are the most successful U.S. rock and roll duo on the Hot 100. Their greatest period came between 1957 and 1964.
They were competent guitarists, and used a simple harmony mostly based on parallel thirds. With this, each line can often stand on its own as a melody line. This is in contrast to classic harmony lines which, while working well alongside the melody, sound strange by themselves. One example of their close harmony is "Devoted to You".
The duo's harmony singing had a strong influence on rock and roll groups of the 1960s. The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel developed their early singing style by performing Everly covers. The Beatles based the vocal arrangement of "Please Please Me" upon "Cathy's Clown."
The Everly Brothers recorded their first single, "Keep A' Lovin' Me", in 1956, under Chet Atkins, but it flopped. However their next, "Bye Bye Love", been rejected by 30 other acts, including Elvis Presley), reached #2 on the pop charts behind Presley's "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", hitting #1 on the Country and the R&B charts. The song, written by the husband and wife Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller.
They became stalwarts of Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records label. Working with the Bryants, the duo had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Bird Dog". Others in this period include "Problems" (#2) and "('Til) I Kissed You" (#4)..[wiki]
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BAREFOOT JERRY - SOUTHERN DELIGHT (CAPITOL 1971)/SELFTITLED (WARNER BROS 1972) Remastered

Guitarist Wayne Moss remained the one constant member of Barefoot Jerry on the band's recordings for Capitol, Warner Bros., and Monument during the '70s. Moss had played in Charlie McCoy and the Escorts and several other rock and R&B groups before he joined Brenda Lee's backing band in the early '60s. Session work in Nashville brought him a credit on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde in 1966, and he also played again with the Escorts during the late '60s before forming Area Code 615 with several other Dylan alumni. The group recorded a self-titled album in 1970 and A Trip in the Country the following year, but musical commitments prevented them from touring. Area Code 615 played its only live show in 1970 at the Fillmore West, and broke up soon after. Moss was back in action by 1971, though, forming Barefoot Jerry with two members of Area Code 615, vocalist/guitarist Mac Gayden and drummer Kenny Buttrey, plus keyboard player John Harris.
The group signed to Capitol and released Southern Delight in 1971. By the time of the following year's self-titled LP for Warner Bros., Russ Hicks and Kenny Malone had replaced Gayden and Buttrey. Another label change (to Monument) and additional lineup replacements (Si Edwards on drums, Dave Doran on bass, Fred Newell on vocals) characterized 1974's Watchin' TV, which featured Moss' friend Charlie McCoy. Barefoot Jerry returned the favor on McCoy's country hits "Boogie Woogie" and "Summit Ridge Drive." The following year, after Barefoot Jerry recorded You Can't Get Off With Your Shoes On, Monument re-released both the Capitol and Warner Bros. albums on a double-LP set titled Grocery.
Moss assembled yet another group for Barefoot Jerry's 1976 update, Keys to the Country. His band included bassist Terry Bearmore, guitarist Jim Colvard, Warren Hartman on various keyboards, and Charlie McCoy, who again made a guest appearance. The same members (sans McCoy) returned for a final album in 1977, Barefootin'. Wayne Moss has continued to play and produce, especially for his friend McCoy...[net]
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These are two of Barefoot Jerry's greatest (& rare)albums in one (also rare!) package...
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TREES - THE GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY (CBS 1970) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + 4 bonus

Garden of Jane Delawney is the debut album of British folk rock band Trees. Whilst nearly every song on the album appears to be a traditional folk song, this is actually only the case for about half of them, the others having been penned for the album by front-man Bias Boshell. The title track is a particular good example of his apparent talent for writing songs that sounded like they had existed for hundreds of years as folk songs.
The album blends trippy, twin lead guitar, West Coast acid rock with lilting English folk. The delicate female vocals of Celia Humphries and a haunting production weave a dark magical Celtic spell over misty musical moorlands. Captivating, beautiful and timeless.The group broke up after two similar albums for British CBS, although they continued to play for a while in the early '70s with some personnel changes. Boshell, in an unlikely turn of events, joined Kiki Dee's Band, and wrote her biggest hit, "I've Got the Music in Me."...
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SWEETWATER - FIRST ALBUM (REPRISE 1968)

An unusual rock group in both the size of their lineup (which numbered eight), the instr/tation employed, and the eclectic scope of their material. Lead singer Nansi Nevins was backed not just by conventional guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards, but also flute (Albert Moore), conga (Elpidio Cobian), and cello (August Burns). Their debut album was the kind of release that could have only been the product of the late '60s, with the music flying off in all directions, and a major label willing to put it out. They blended Californian psychedelia with jazzy keyboards and a classical bent, especially in the flute and cello. Sweetwater was formed from a group of friends that jammed at coffee houses in Los Angeles in the mid '60s. Harvey Gerst, who had written a Byrds song with Roger McGuinn ("It Won't Be Wrong"), was an unofficial member of sorts, sometimes acting as road manager and playing guitar. For their debut album they were produced by Dave Hassinger, who had worked, as recording engineer and producer, with the Rolling Stones, Electric Prunes, and the Grateful Dead. In the late '60s they opened for a lot of big-time acts, and played a bunch of festivals without breaking into the headliner ranks. In fact, they were the very first band to take the stage at Woodstock.
In December 1969, twenty year old Nansi Nevins was in a serious car accident in which she suffered severe brain trauma and damaged her vocal cords, putting her in a coma for weeks and necessitating physical therapy for years. Although she had recorded a couple of tracks on their second Reprise album, she was unable to rejoin the band, which had to stop touring and lost any career momentum it had developed...[net]
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THE HOLY MACKEREL (REPRISE 1968)

That is quite likely to be your exclamation when you hear how good this record is! The Holy Mackerel was a loosely shifting organization (early Jefferson Airplane bassist Bob Harvey and Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin were among its members) but at it's heart was Paul Williams song writing in pop, country and psychedelic directions with the help of future platinum producer Richard Perry. The 1968 result was a record that should have sold a lot more copies than it did; the band broke up right after its release and Reprise didn't promote it, but be sure to catch it this time around.
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Though the album bears some of the pop smarts that would characterize Williams's '70s work, it is a product of its time: a psychedelic pop-rock outing with swirling melodies, Eastern influenced modalities, reverb and phaser effects, and high-flown harmonies. It's a fun, pleasurable listen...
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SKIP BIFFERTY (RCA VICTOR 1968) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + 8 bonus

Skip Bifferty’s only album is one of the very best pieces of British psychedelia. This Newcastle band started out life as a rhythm and blues based band named the Chosen Few (as did Lindisfarne). After a few very good singles, they morphed into Skip Bifferty in or around 1966/1967.
Their debut single, On Love was a great full throttle hard rocker that should have put them on the map, but sunk commercially. Other singles, like the splendid paisley pop of Man In Black followed, but this did little to enhance their commercial reputation. The above album captured all the excitement and buzz surrounding London, England in the mid to late 60’s.
Skip Bifferty could rock hard when the mood suited them, as heard on the punky fuzz rocker Planting Bad Seeds. Trippier songs like the tabla pounding Guru and the dreamy riff laden Time Track are also ace compositions. Lead singer Graham Bell sounds like a jazzier Steve Winwood, especially on the beautifully downbeat, piano dominated Follow The Path To The Stars. There are also some sweet, soft psych pop creations such as Orange Lace and Gas Board Under Dog that recall the Hollies Butterfly album.
The album is full of variety, creativity, and most of all great songs. Skip Bifferty were intelligent, skilled musicians with an original sound...[net]
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