The Asylum Choir
Look Inside The Asylum Choir (Rev-Ola; CD)
When most pop music fans think of Leon Russell, images of The Wrecking Crew and the Bangladesh concert
come to mind, but not long after his heyday as a session musician extraordinaire, Russell teamed
up with fellow studio cat Mark Benno to form The Asylum Choir, which released this ultra-fun psych
album in 1968. Look Inside The Asylum Choir is definitely a mixed bag,
being a deft combination of offbeat psychedelia, west coast soft pop and spontaneous silliness,
all wrapped up in Leon Russell's homespun Oklahoma sensibilities. The opening cut, 'Welcome To Hollywood'
could have been autobiographical for both Russell and Benno (Benno emigrated to LA from Texas), and it
manages to imbue all of the aforementioned sensibilities in under three minutes. 'Icicle Star Tree,"
co-written by Benno, could have been slipped onto a UK freakbeat compilation without anyone finding
out it didn't belong. 'Indian Style' opens in titular fashion, and morphs into some very cool chicken
fried psych, while 'Soul Food' and 'Blacksheep Boogaloo' are closest to the funky rockers for which
Russell would ultimately become known.
Look Inside The Asylum Choir is yet another long lost classic
that Rev-ola has had the good taste and sense to unearth. They also showed
good taste and sense by using the psychedelic cover art which had graced the original UK LP release,
rather than the U.S. "toilet paper" cover.
www.revola.co.uk
David Bash
The Flower Pot Men
Listen To The Flowers Grow (RPM; CD)
There have been several Flower Pot Men compilations to come down the pike over
the years, but Listen To The Flowers Grow might be the most interesting in that it was designed
to "represen[t] what a Flower Pot Men album may have sounded like if the front men of the touring band
had been given the opportunity". The story of who was actually in the touring band
is a bit convoluted, and is well explained by Mark Frumento in the excellent liner notes of this package,
but essentially The Flower Pot Men rose from the ashes of The Ivy League (who did the original
version of 'My World Fell Down', which was later made 'famous' by the US pop/psych band Sagittarius),
and essentially featured Neil Landon, Robin Shaw, Peter Nelson, and the ultra-ubiquitous Tony Burrows
(whose lead vocal ultimately graced 'Love Grows' by Edison Lighthouse, 'My Baby Loves Lovin'
by White Plains, and several other hits and near hits). However, the core
of The Flower Pot Men was definitely the songwriting team of John Carter and Ken Lewis, who stayed
behind to pen and produce most of the songs on this package.
Listen To The Flowers Grow opens with four pre-Flower Pots tracks which were sung by various
members of the band, the best of which is a nice slice of folky soft pop called 'Waiting Here For Someone'
and The Ivy League influenced 'I Couldn't Spend Another Day Without You'.
Then come the Flower Pot Men 45s, which are now legendary in soft pop circles.
Of course 'Let's Go To San Francisco' was already well known as it hit #4 on the UK charts
(and was not, as is often thought, a cash in on Scott McKenzie's US hit, 'San Francisco'),
but others like 'A Walk In The Sky' and the utterly brilliant 'You Can Never Be Wrong' certainly are
at least as worthy. The rest of the CD collects tracks previously released
under different noms de plume, but are essentially The Flower Pot Men, like 'Life Is Living,'
with its psychedelic leanings, 'Mythological Sunday,' which takes the psych ball and runs with it,
and the harmony-fest 'A Night To Be Remembered'.
The final tracks are the two parts of the nostalgic 'Let's Go Back To San Francisco,' which Carter/Lewis
recorded in 1981 to pay tribute to both the original hit and The Summer Of Love.
It's a shame that The Flower Pot Men never did have the opportunity to release a proper album,
but Listen To The Flowers Grow will stand as testimony to the band's skill
and versatility.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
David Bash
THE IDLE RACE
Back To The Story (Zonophone; 2-CD)
There was a time, not terribly long ago, when admitting to liking The Electric Light Orchestra was
as much of a social gaffe as meeting The Queen with spinach on your teeth, or coming out of the toilets
with your skirt tucked into your knickers, when you're a man.
For once, though, revisionism has got it right and ELO are now widely recognised as the perpetrators
of durable, burnished pop gemstones that they always were. Songwriter and mainspring Jeff Lynne
had already been doing this kind of thing for considerably longer than the public at large are aware,
however – a situation which the new Idle Race compilation, Back To The Story, seeks to redress.
Lynne's first band of consequence, The Idle Race are quite rightly spoken of in hushed and reverential tones
by psych aficionados because of the quirky magnificence of their 1968 debut album The Birthday Party
and the startling 1967 single 'Imposters Of Life's Magazine' – a kitchen sink production from
a kitchen sink presumably clogged with blotters of acid.
Back To The Story compiles absolutely everything officially released by the band, which pans
out as three albums and 10 singles – although some of these are already mopped up as album tracks –
plus a bonus handful of alternate versions.
I think it's safe to conclude that simply everything from the 1967-'68 period is essential to the ambience
of any self-respecting Shindigger's household. The combination of Lynne's already fully-formed,
Beatle-derived pop smarts and Eddie Offord's ambitious and playful production touches made for some
wonderfully inimitable moments, ranging from the avuncular, tightly compressed toytown weirdness
of 'The Skeleton And The Roundabout' and 'Lucky Man' to genuinely poignant and empathetic
vignettes '(The Birthday') and naggingly memorable sing-alongs ('On With The Show', 'End Of The Road').
The band's eponymous second album was an altogether more sober
undertaking in the main, and like me you may well find yourself yearning for the more innovative
and excitable tangents which characterised their debut. Lynne still took the odd left turn, however
('Mr Crow And Sir Norman', 'Hurry Up John'), and the mighty 1969 single 'Days Of The Broken Arrows'
is a true career highlight.
Lynne left the band in 1970, and without his input the third Idle Race album (Time Is)
was a makeweight affair indeed. Nevertheless, it's gratifying to finally have all of this music collected
under the one roof, so to speak. My advice? Nip back to the top of CD1 and wallow in greatness.
www.zonophone.net
Marco Rossi
MICHAELANGELO
One Voice Many (Fallout; CD)
Another "lost classic". Oh yeah? Yawn. I stopped caring a while ago, right after the twentieth
lost classic that week turned out to be a turgid trucker-rock throwaway with bottom-of-the-bill
Fillmore East aspirations.
But wait. What's this? This is actually pretty good. It's melodic and well played and the rather
floral lady clutching her autoharp for dear life on the front cover (aw, she's called Angel)
and one of her hirsute male colleagues can really sing together. She wrote
all the songs too and they're pretty good. One of them is an autoharp solo/instrumental called
'Take It Bach' and it rocks most verily in a medieval stylee. And then there's one called 'Okay'
that sounds like The Seekers and it makes me smile. The last track - the long one, natch – is all over
the place in a hugely huggable way and has fuzz guitar and a children's choir happening at the same time.
I played it two more times and I like it even more now.
Maybe not a lost classic but not an absolute waste of our time either, which is nice.
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Jason Jones
THE RUBINOOS
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About… (Sanctuary; 2-CD)
In the annals of pop music history there has never been a band
who better portrays the yearning element of teen angst as The Rubinoos. They accomplish this through
the clean, clear, candy sweet high tenor of Jon Rubin, the kind of harmonies that would make an authentic
R&B band bow their heads in tribute, and tantalising, melt-in-your mouth hooks!
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Rubinoos, But Were Afraid To Ask is a three-disc
box which compiles most of the nuggets from their long and fruitful career, and also includes the,
to quote the band, "hard to get" first and second album in their entirety.
Disc 1 contains the aforementioned albums, as well as a few b-sides and demos.
The debut, self-titled album is the one in which the band wears all of their influences on their sleeves,
from '60s pop (their excellent cover of 'I Think We're Alone Now') to '60s soul ('Hard To Get')
Coasters-oriented doo-wop ('Peek-A-Boo'), good ole fashioned rock 'n roll (the ironically-titled
'Rock And Roll Is Dead'), and the kind of teenage power pop that would serve as a very cogent foreshadow
('I Never Thought It Would Happen') as the next Rubinoos album, Back To The Drawing Board,
was filled with the kind of sweet, exquisite pop for which they became best known. In many ways
Drawing Board is sort of like what Raspberries would sound like if they used clean instead
of dirty channels, as gems like 'Fallin' In Love,' 'Drivin' Music,' 'Operator,' and 'Jennifer'
just roll of your musical palate with ease and grace. There's also the exquisite ballad, 'Promise Me,'
some junkshop glam in '1, 2, 3, Forever,' and one of the best slices of pure power pop ever set to vinyl,
'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend'. Simply divine!
Disc 2 culls Rubes tunes from the early '80s into The New Millennium, including many which were recorded
for prospective albums which were never released. Songs like 'Hurts Too Much'
and 'Hit The Nerve,' (which ultimately showed up in re-recorded form on a later album) are exemplars
of Rubinoos power pop, 'Handle With Care' is a heart-melting love song, and 'Too Up To Feel Down'
is exactly what the title suggests; go ahead and try to feel depressed whilst listening to this
one-I dare ya! There are also fine covers of 'Heroes And Villains'
and Lou Christie's 'If My Car Could Only Talk'. The end of the disc features
tunes from The Rubinoos most recent albums, and though the sound is "more mature", the essential
ingredients are still intact.
The final disc is a previously unreleased concert from 1 April,
1978 at Hammersmith Odeon, which proves that the guys could do it live as well. They have a lot of fun
with the crowd, spewing an obligatory April Fool's joke, getting the crowd involved in their encore
of The Archies' 'Sugar Sugar,' and ravin' it up with a cover of 'Pushin' Too Hard'(!).
The Rubinoos can certainly still do it live today-as their appearances
at the International Pop Overthrow festival would attest, as well as more recent concerts in Spain and Japan
(where they are praised as the pop supermen they deserve to be). As long
as The Rubinoos continue to perform and record, pop music will never die.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com
David Bash
TREES
On The Shore (Sony/BMG; CD)
On The Shore was released in 1970, the follow-up to the previous year's The Garden Of Jane
Delawney. While no one can deny that their debut is a thing of beauty and wonder, the leap made
by this middle-England folk rock quintet by the time they unleashed their second album is astonishing.
Long held in high regard amongst folkies and broader-minded psych heads, it's a startling album made by a
mysterious group with names like Bias and Unwin and headed by the sultry, siren-voiced Celia Humphris.
And it's housed in one of Hypgnosis' most arresting sleeve designs of the period.
This deluxe expanded edition seems to have emerged largely as the result of zeitgeist-defining
magpies Gnarls Barkley sampling one of the album's most haunting centrepieces 'Geordie'. Combined
with the unlikely celebrity endorsement of comedian/playwright Stewart Lee who contributes illuminating
and effusive notes here and the current climate of acceptance for all things 'acid folk', it seems
that Trees second coming is truly here.
For those who don't know the album, it's an exceptionally intoxicating brew of gothic folk songs,
eastern-tinged guitars, male-female vocal interplay and the kind of rock solid drum grooves now sought
after by discerning DJs and sample monkeys.
For those who do, there's a bonus disc of remixes which, before the alarm bells start ringing,
are alternate and often radically different versions of the songs featuring original keyboard,
guitar and vocal parts which were excised from the original release. 'Murdoch' in particular benefits
from an additional 90 seconds at its top and tail that make you feel you've never heard the song before.
The clarity and vivacity of these new mixes are staggering throughout.
A BBC session version of album out-take 'Forest Fire' and a contemporary demo, 'Little Black Cloud',
are nice extras and the booklet is stuffed with photos and recollections from the band themselves.
This is the first example in a long, long time of a major label taking so much care and attention
over a "niche" release and I sincerely hope it marks the start of a trend.
Impeccable stuff.
www.heyday-mo.com
Andy Morten
VARIOUS
A Visit To The Spaceship Factory: 20 Gems From The Early Years Of Prog (Psychic Circle; CD)
This one is another trip into early prog-psych or prog per se and comes up with some really cool tracks.
Treetops' 'Why Not Tonight' from 1972 is a classic case of the late '60s pop act gone heavy.
Not dissimilar to The Symbols and other over sugary harmony pop acts of that decade in all their
previous singles, 'Why' could have been a statement of intent or a last hurrah before the cabaret
circuit beckoned, who knows. In any event it is an excellent guitar and keys driven slab of wax with a
thick harmonised vocal chorus that makes you want more. Mouse's 'It's Happening To Me And You' like a
number of the cuts here, was a fabulous psychy B side to a more conventional and chart aimed top side.
Mouse was the vehicle for guitarist and ex John Barry Seven man Ray Russell. The guitar work here
is spacey, decorative, and highly effective. Great light touches on the wah-wah rather than overdriven.
Fab record, great controlled guitar work, I must find an original! Little Big Horn were a Brit
band with a German only released album (on Polydor) in 1970 from which 'Just A Game' is taken.
It's a fab example of the psych prog crossover. A strong rhythm with earnest vocals a good tune that uses
chord changes to good effect. I'd love to hear the whole album! One of my faves
on this comp is the totally unknown Sheephouse. Yet another B side, 'Ladder' is a frenetically played
acoustic and tabla led rhythm with a thick layer of harmony vocals and weaving electric guitar throughout.
It's definitely the most tuneful number on the disc and now another top want of mine. If Sheephouse
have the most melodic tune on the disc then Sunchariot have the best riff in 'Do You Wanna Know',
yet another B side to a Decca 45 from 1972. Essentially a rather dated lyric about the singer ditching
his woman and "leaving on the midnight train" is more than compensated for by
the sheer infectious riffiness of the backbeat on the verses and middle eight, it sticks in your head.
Jesse Hector (of Hammersmith Gorillas fame) features in a short lived venture form '79 called
Helter Skelter, but it sounds as primo-garage r'n'r as it does freak rock or indeed post punk madness!
All in all another winner of a comp, great stuff!
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Fairytales Can Come True: UK Popsike From The Late '60s (Psychic Circle; CD)
This is very nice pop comp that has some genuine discoveries to make you pay attention. It kicks off
with Pyramid's 'The Sumemr of Last Year' featuring a youthful Ian Matthews, immediately prior to being
offered the male lead vocal slot in Fairport Convention. It's the only 45 they made and it's probably
the nearest a UK group ever got to the Curt Boettcher/Ballroom/ Millennium sound. A genuine dayglo choral
vocal slides gracefully over a California soft pop backing. It's a £45 rated Deram label single and about
as Fading Yellow in every respect as you're ever going to find outside of that illustrious series.
The Lomax Alliance were the vehicle of Jackie Lomax, ex-singer of The Undertakers. He formed the Alliance
in New York, came to Britain and recorded an album with them, which remains unreleased to this day.
The only release was a lone 45; the top side of which 'Try As You May' is pedestrian at best (and not
featured here), the flip however 'See The People' is a brill Summer of Love observational piece and you
can hear it here. San Francisco Earthquake's 'Fairytales Can Come True (Have You Heard About Lucy)'
is a Rubble-esque toytown record with an engaging downbeat on the chorus that la la la's all the way
down like a skipping child, excellent! It's another obscure one-off act on the British Mercury label,
which like Dave Christie's enigmatic 'Penelope Breedlove' (also featured here as well as on
Fading Yellow vol.9) characterises that label's late '60s output.
There's a rather nice 'Trees' by Gallagher and Lyle, another outing for The Searchers best
track ever, the Kenny Young written 'Umbrella Man' from 1968 (worth the cost of the disc itself)
and The Darlings 'Saturday Town' is one of those rather nice (or twee depending on your perspective)
observational songs of c.1968 about the comings and goings in a town centre.
The disc comes, as do all the others, with succinct liners and group and label shots. Altogether, a very
nice collection that will be a must for all softies and parlour pop lovers.
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Who Needs Tomorrow: American 60s Garage Bands (Psychic Circle; CD)
Well, they had to come unstuck eventually and this is the one that does it. No, it's not garage, it's good
quality pop, soft pop, rock inclined pop but definitely not garage – although now and then the contents
veer towards frat. That doesn't matter especially, but many of the choices although largely uncomped
(commercially anyway), are not that inspired. Those that stand out and rightly deserve your applause for
inclusion are Randy Johnson's 'Fly Superman Fly', a great sloppy lambaste of a song released on Davy Jones
(of The Monkees) own label, (one of just four releases) that even pictured Jones on the label!
The flip side of Kinetic Energy's Cream-like take on 'Suzie Q' is a lovely gentle sitar led number
called 'Margaret Ann' and is a perfect Soft Sounds For Gentle People song. You'll love it.
The Will-O-Bees' 'If You're Ready' must I think, be taken as being sung by a deeply wronged or over sensitive
boy as the lyrics can otherwise only be construed as misogynistic. The tune itself is a keeper however.
Yankee Dollar's 'City Sidewalks' (complete with barely removed clicks and pops) is a real winner
with a lovely male/female lead vocal. Merrell Fankhauser & HMS Bounty's 'I'm Flying Home'
is a doozy because of the guitar effects that make it stand out significantly. The oddly named Lords
of T.O.N.K's 'Miniver Cheevy' is apparently a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson as was 'Richard Cory'
(famously rendered by Them) and is lyrically in much the same ballpark. The above are all commendable;
as for most of the others, they're a rum assortment of R&B, frat like rockers etc and all sound
much of a muchness, although the Liberty Bell's 'Recognition' is a head above the crowd.
www.soundlimnkmusic.com
Paul Martin
DOUBLE WHAMMY: ANDY MORTEN OPINES – Paul Martin also reviewed these last month!
VARIOUS
Lovin' Fire
Ballroom Beat Volume 1: I Walk The Line
On The Brink
Hide And Seek
White Lace & Strange (all Psychic Circle; CD)
A diverse array of comps devised by Mr Bevis Frond himself, Nick Saloman, to launch new
label Psychic Circle.
Lovin' Fire is subtitled Psychedelia Melts Into The Progressive and gathers twenty cuts
that were too late for psychedelia, too heavy for pop and too dirty for prog. Monster guitar riffs and
wailing vocals prevail on tracks like The Silence's 'Mother's Game' and The Influence's 'Driving Me Wild'
while softer keyboard sounds dominate The Exchange And Mart's 'I Know That I'm Dreaming' and
Pacific Sound's 'Thick Fog'. There are some fine acid-rock flashes on Mayroc's 'Lovin' Fire' (from 1974!)
and the super-phased 'Work Part II' from Germans The Royal Servants. Andromeda (formerly Decca psych
heroes Felius Andromeda) turn in a late psych bloomer with their lost 1972 swan song 'Rainbow Chasing'.
Ballroom Beat Volume 1: I Walk The Line takes us back to that fascinating yet brief era between
the first Merseybeat boom and the dawn of rock and psychedelia, boasting twenty tracks from obscure hopefuls
like The Secrets (featuring a young Clifford T Ward), The Druids, The Mighty Avengers and the beautifully
named Jynx alongside bigger names like Pete Best, Ian & The Zodiacs and The Zephyrs, whose droning
'She Laughed' is a highlight here. Other honourable mentions go to The Imp-Acts, whose strident
'If I Were The Only One' sounds like Georgie Fame fronting The Hollies and The Images' 'Head Over Heels'
which reminds this writer of The Kirkbys' scouse garage-beat classic 'It's A Crime'.
On The Brink is subtitled Return Of The Instro Hipsters which should spell out pretty clearly
what's on offer. A mouth-watering selection of instrumental gems that eschews the previous five volumes'
tendency towards beat and psych band anomalies and instead favours the freaked-out moments of easy
listening and library music heroes like Mike Vickers, Mike Cotton, Les Reed, Ken Woodman, John Schroeder
and the God-like Keith Mansfield. Brass, fuzz guitars, funky beats, sitars, Hammond organs
and flutes are all grist to the mill as our chain-smoking, whisky-swigging, roll neck-clad heroes
(well, that's how I like to imagine them anyway) turn up for yet another session, unwittingly creating
masterpieces of the calibre of 'Soul Thing' (later cut by Arzachel as 'Queen St Gang', psych fans!),
'Soul Serenade' (I challenge anyone to listen to this and not break into the biggest smile)
and 'On The Brink', a Northern Soul classic and not without good reason. Big Jim Sullivan's sitar version
of folk fave 'She Walks Through The Fair' and ex-Shadow Brian Bennett's sitar and flute fest 'Tricycle'
are standouts on a superb set that should please everyone.
Parping horns and Motown backbeats seep from every pore of Hide And Seek: A Collection Of British
Blue Eyed Soul 1964-69 wherein various provincial British acts temporarily forget that they're
actually bingo callers from Wigan and come over all Otis. There are some cracking tracks on offer here,
not least the authentic 'Turn On Your Light' by Barry St John (not surprising as young Barry was black –
and a girl to boot!), 'We Got Lovin'' by Jon & Jeannie and 'You Won't See Me Leaving' by Cinnamon.
Kevin 'King' Lear's throaty rock take of 'Cry Me A River' and Johnny & John's (actually Johnny Gustafson
and John Banks of The Merseybeats) 'Bumper To Bumper' deliver too.
Last but not least we have White Lace & Strange, subtitled It's All Gone Heavy Over There.
You know those late '60s/early '70s American major label albums by hirsute bands caught on the cusp of
the kaftan and the nudie suit, with names like The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump and The Illinois Speed Press
that you used to find clogging up second hand record shops? Well, that's exactly the kind
of stuff that's featured here. It's pretty much a US companion to the Lovin' Fire set,
containing predominantly that strain of guitar rock that bridges strung-out West Coast psychedelia,
stadium-filling hard rock and the last vestiges of British invasion-influenced rhythm and blues.
Not being a great fan of endless soundalike guitar solos and strangulated vocals, maybe I'm not the best
person to offer an opinion. Suffice to say, if you dig the heavier sounds of the era you're bound
to find something of interest here.
www.soundlinkmusic.com
Andy Morten
VARIOUS
Real Life, Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia Of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 (Sanctuary; 4-CD
box)
If, like me, Mojo magazine's Acid Drops, Spacedust And Flying Saucers and Nuggets II
boxes left slightly sour tastes in your mouth with their occasionally ill-chosen and misjudged content
then worry no more; your palate is about to be well and truly cleansed.
Real Life, Permanent Dreams is an altogether more appetising prospect, being curated by omnipresent
psych expert David Wells in conjunction with Sanctuary Music who, let's face it, have been responsible
for more archival psych-based releases than pretty much anyone else over the past few years.
The easy way to make this project happen would have been to simply reconfigure
Sanctuary's Psychedelic Pstones series, throw in some extraneous BBC sessions and the usual
bendy Kinks/Tremeloes/Small Faces/Marmalade/Donovan/Searchers contenders and be done with it.
To their immense credit, they've gone the extra mile and then some, not only by opening up the vaults
to unearth a surprising number of previously unreleased tracks but also by licensing in a fair percentage
of stuff from the rarely tapped catalogues of CBS and RCA.
As a result, RLPD boasts the first official appearances of such psych cornerstones as
Chocolate Soup faves Paper Blitz Tissue's 'Boy Meets Girl' and Winston's Fumbs' 'Snow White',
major label oddities like Jethro Toe's 'Sunshine Day' and Andy Ellison's 'Fool From Upper Eden',
neglected album tracks like Gun's 'Sunshine' and The Deviants' 'You've Got To Hold On' and some bona
fide discoveries (for this writer anyway) in The Yellow Bellow Boom Room's 'Seeing Things Green'
and Santa Barbara Machine Head's superb Hammond-heavy instrumental 'Rubber Monkey'.
OK, there are a fair few cuts that will be making their tenth appearance in many of our collections but
who can argue with the inclusion of perennials like The Turnstyle's 'Riding A Wave', The Smoke's 'Utterly
Simple', Fleur De Lys' 'Circles', Andwella's Dream's 'Felix' or Episode Six's 'Love, Hate, Revenge'?
Wherever possible, the better-known tracks - 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men', 'Love Me Til The Sun Shines',
'Man In Black' - are presented in their live BBC guises and are all the better for it.
At the other end of the spectrum, the previously unreleased material on offer includes Icarus'
awesome 'Yellow Balloon' (this would have been up there with the best of 'em by now if it had been
released back in the day), The Bobcats' floating 'Lord John', The Hill's supremely catchy 'Sylvie'
and Gilbert's 1940s-flavoured curio 'Disappear'. I'll leave you to discover which Gilbert
this actually is.
There's an incredible alternate version of Warm Sounds' 'Nite Is A Comin'' which is basically the same track
with a different vocal take and without the backwards trickery of its second half and eventual flipside,
revealing some truly amazing instrumental action and confirming it as a true Brit-psych classic.
The four discs are titled Sowing The Seeds, Plant A Flower Child Today, Happydaystoytown and
Circus Days Are Here Again, allowing the compilers to bunch tracks together stylistically
rather than purely chronologically, although the set does have a strong chronological flow to it
with the freakbeat and proto-psych gathered on disc one and the art/prog moments largely saved
for disc four.
Highlights are far too numerous to mention. Suffice to say it was extremely good to hear Lord Sutch's
atonal 'The Cheat', Honeybus' fuzzed-out foot-tapper 'The Breaking Up Scene', The Australian Playboys'
neglected riff-fest 'Black Sheep RIP', Eire Apparent's Hendrix-soaked backwards guitar-a-thon 'The Clown'
and The Rokes' furiously sinister 'When The Wind Arises' for starters.
And, despite my cynicism getting the better of me, even Fat Mattress and Humble Pie's unexpected
contributions to disc four kind of fit the bill. Sadly, the deadly dull Samson and Woody Kern ones don't.
At the time of going to press the full booklet and artwork weren't available for scrutiny but I think
it's safe to say that judging by Mr Wells and Sanctuary's previous efforts we won't be disappointed.
A resounding success and an essential addition for any self-respecting UK psych and pop fan.
www.sanctuaryrecords.co.uk
Andy Morten
VARIOUS
Fading Yellow Vol. 8: Hymns For Today (Flower Machine; CD)
It's been a long hiatus but at last here are two excellent new volumes of the cult Fading Yellow
series. Vol. 8 is collection of British artist album tracks of the period 1968-75 whilst Vol.9 deals
with British 45s between 1966-'72. I admit the first listen to Vol.8 didn't strike me immediately.
On a more concerted second listen however, it revealed itself to me as a beautiful confection
of pastoral shades and cotton wool clouds floating in a hazy Summer sky. Predominantly mid-paced
and lightly orchestrated, these are often acoustic based songs with electric underpinning. A few,
in the interval, have become more familiar, notably the two fine selections by Jan & Lorraine from
their recently reissued Gipsy People album. The majority however will be new to your ears.
The track selection and flow is pretty much faultless as one track melts effortlessly into the next,
working its magic on the ears. In some instances, tracks are surprising reworkings of the most
unlikely songs. For instance Raw's (aka New York Public Library) rendition of 'What To Do',
from their US and Germany released only Raw Holly album consists of covers of Buddy Holly
songs – this one is an orchestrated tabla and sitar version! There are the short sharp spurts
like the enigmatic (because there is nothing known about him) Michael Blount with 'Acorn Street'
from his 1971 Patchwork album, which at 1.58 leaves you wanting a lot more of the same.
P.C. Kent's 'After Dark' is from their self-titled Deram Nova album and is pleasingly pop (think a
lighter version of Blossom Toes's 'Postcard' for instance) whilst Vigrass & Osborne's 'Ballerina'
(which was also a single or a B side I think) has all the atmosphere, heavy with pathos of Mike Batt's
series title track 'Fading Yellow' from Vol.1. Storyteller's 'Alice Brown', Fuchsia's 'Me And My Kite'
and Evensong's 'The Smallest Man In The World' are also excellent. Overall, the FY signature
brand of soundscape is very much perpetuated here and fans of the series will lap this up.
There are as usual liner notes and band pics in the booklet which help contextualise the music nicely.
Buy with confidence.
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Fading Yellow Vol. 9: The Other Side Of Life (Flower Machine; CD)
Here we are squarely back in singles territory. Pop Workshop's 'Fairyland' is a good starter
and manages to be both brash and gentle at the same time. Suzi Klee's 'Punch And Judy Girl'
is a plaintive and tremulous pop ballad by this 'Swiss Miss' (I've always wanted to use
that somewhere!); it comes across like Jan and Lorraine produced by Mike Batt (only it was produced
by Georgio Gomelsky!). Dave Christie's 'Penelope Breedlove' makes its commercial compilation debut
(and is also included on Psychic Circle's Fairytales Can Come True comp also out this month);
a fabulous and atmospheric pean to the object of his affections, this is NOT the same version as
the 6AX acetate compiled on Syde Tryps Vol.7. Although it's the same song, the two versions are
markedly different in arrangement and timing, so you certainly need both. Pussyfoot's 'Hasty Words'
is another beauty with its lilting 3/3 waltz timing and a lovely choral vocal job to boot.
Mike Leslie's 'Office Girl' has been a long time want of mine in the original, a delightful ode to a
lonely clerical worker lost in the urban crowd as the singer puckers up the courage to approach her.
It deserved to be more than a B side too. Rodney Bewes' 'Dear Mother Love Albert' is the topside to
the already compiled and much sought after 'Meter Maid' and it has a similar vibe – was this the actual
TV series signature tune or was it written as a single in its own right I wonder? It sounds way too
magically bendy for 1970 television! Christian's 'Other Side Of Life' is another
restless orch popper with more than a passing reminder of The Apple's 'Other Side'
as well. A good string arrangement adds a lot to it. Tony Ritchie seems to have recorded quite a few
sides in Europe including the excellent 'Rain On My Window' included here with its urgent "loner"
vibe that would have suited Paul & Barry Ryan for instance c.1967. Maybe it's about time a Tony Ritchie
anthology was compiled? This is another excellent collection of emotionally challenging sides.
You may encounter some of these sides individually occasionally but it is only when they are compiled
with this level of aesthetic skill that they fully bloom. Giving rise of course to the now often
seen rider to seller's record descriptions on eBay (or 'eBait'!) of 'Fading Yellow friendly'.
This one has the usual tasteful booklet of liners and band pics and label scans as well of course.
Both volumes 9 and 10 were more than worth the wait. Look for them on Heyday, Wolfgang Voelkel and all
the other hip internet mail orders
Paul Martin
