The Truth about The Truth (D R Hooker)
Now Playing: The Alps "Hallucinations" on psyradio.org
Topic: Minor change or comment

After nearly getting fooled myself, I realized that the time has come to warn of the possible mix-up of an original copy of D R HOOKER's mighty '72 behemoth The Truth, and the fairly recent repro distributed by Scorpio. Unlike the Subliminal Sounds reissue, the Scorpio repro contains no markings whatsoever that identify it as a reissue once the shrinkwrap is off, and it reproduces the original labels too. Experienced record hounds will probably still identify it as a modern pressing from various clues, but then there are those that are either gullible or overly eager.

An original 1972 pressing of The Truth has the following dead wax markings:
- Side One: XPL-1029A-2NSP with PR etched on the opposite side
- Side Two: XPL-1029B-2NSP with PR etched on the opposite side

In addition, there was no lyric insert with the repro (unlike the Subliminal reissue), but of course that is easily fixed by an enterprising scoundrel. Be forewarned!

There may be ways to tell the no-label (Scorpio) repro from an orig just by looking at the cover, and if so we're interested in hearing them. Bear in mind that once a reissue is a few years old, copies will start to look used and people forget that the reissue existed, so things like "shiny sleeve" or "sharp seams" don't really cut it.

 Expanding your consciousness is fine.

Mad River addendum
Now Playing: Gene Zappaterreno
Topic: Addition

The outstanding Mad River demos that have been floating around on tape in closed circles finally see an official release via the Jersey Sloo mini-album from England's Shagrat label. There's an early version of "Wind Chimes" plus three unreleased tunes including the superb "Timothy". The other side is taken up by the title track, an atypical frantic rocker from the later, Paradise Bar & Grill era which has never been in circulation, although personally I get a bigger buzz from the '67 demos. In addition to the 5 tracks there's a massive booklet detailing the band's story by David Biasotti, and lots of rare and unseen pics. A very attractive and historically significant release, although I wouldn't have minded if they had added the San José '67 live tape and turned it into a full-length album. As it is, the San José tape (some 20 minutes in admittedly mediocre sound) remains available only on the ancient V.A California Easter bootleg (Penguin, Italy). A somewhat shorter version of the Mad River biography can be found in Flashback magazine #1, 2012.

MAD RIVER
Jersey Sloo 2011 (Shagrat MAD-1)  [12-inch mini-LP; booklet]
Five unreleased tracks from 1967-68.

Kathy Heideman
Now Playing: Kathy Heideman
Topic: Addition

Here's a new discovery I believe, sounds pretty good by the sound clips I've heard. Went for $500+ on the Bay.

KATHY HEIDEMAN (San José, CA)
Move With Love 197  (Country Flavour 1001)
Early 1970s femme singer-songwriter private press with an agreeable, laidback sound which leans more to the rural than the urban side of the s-sw demographics. A country music undertone has made for comparisons to Mistress Mary, and like that LP Ms Heideman gains much by having a real electric band backing her. Sixties psych remnants linger here and there. Solid songwriting, nice, heartfelt vocals, local DIY charm... not bad at all.

Roots of The Farm Band (updated)
Now Playing: natural silence

It's been something of a mystery what the origins were for the generally excellent and convincingly jam-oriented members of The Farm Band, as heard on their terrific debut double album in particular. As it turns out, these guys were indeed experienced Bay Area players, who simply hadn't been involved in any recording group before. Known as Phoenix, they played numerous SF gigs while members came and went, and there was also a connection to Mt Rushmore who had a couple of LPs. Their last incarnation was as Potter's Wheel, from which a live tape exists if I recall correctly. Following this band, three members moved to Gaskin's Farm in Tennessee.

Thanks to Terry P, some data has surfaced regarding the Farm Band's 'mystery' guitarist Walter Rabindeau, the mystery part being limited to the fact that he came into the Farm collective via another route than the other band members: '...Walter did not arrive with the others on their 1971 bus caravan from San Francisco, but did arrive shortly thereafter in 1971. A band had already formed, before they settled on The Farm Band moniker. Stephen Gaskin, the commune's spiritual leader, had a firm grip on things at first, and Walter was another "alpha personality", like Stephen. This was perceived as "a threat to Stephen's authority". Phil Schweitzer, who was already in the band, told Stephen how talented Walter was and that he should be part of the band. Stephen was reluctant to accept this, but eventually the other band members sort-of worked him into the group. He was a member of the band when they officially took on the name The Farm Band, playing lead guitar on their first album in 1972, the "Mantra album" double LP.

Thanks! As to whether Rabindeau recorded anything prior to the Farm Band album, this is still unclear. 

Random bits from the mind cosmos
Now Playing: Francesco Lavagnino "Lost Continent" OST
Topic: Minor change or comment

Steve Zahradnik of SEICHE dropped by to say that of the original LP, only 50 copies had the color cover; the rest came in plain white sleeves. The Seiche update below has been amended with this data.

Garage guru G.G informs me that the WAILERS' swansong LP Walk Thru The People exists in Mono, but only as a promo. Stock copies are all stereo.


In case there was any doubt, I can now verify 100% that the 45s from DAMON's classic private press trance beast Song Of A Gypsy are MONO mixes and thus unique versions different from the LP. As the old adage says, the rockinger a track is, the better it will sound in mono, and the 45 only mix of "Poor Poor Genie" is quite possibly better than the LP version. On the other hand, the flipside's downtempo "Don't You Feel Me" gained nothing from the 45 mono mix. The other 45 from the LP (with a non-LP composition even) is of course likely to be mono too, though I don't have it on hand. Seems a bit late do to mono mixes in 1969-70, but some people did.

Via Klemen B's interview with Grand Theft/Bluebird I have now received confirmation of the Acid Archives theory that Bluebird picked up "Cantaloupe Island" from the live set of local Pac NW heroes Daily Flash. Word on the supposed unreleased Bluebird album from the early '70s remains unclear, however.

I finally located the complete (I think) promo package for Capitol's amazing and classic documentary LP "L.S.D" from 1966. The kit consists of a printed outer folder, a letter about the LP, a few pages about Larry Schiller and the project, and three photo prints, two of which appear on the LP sleeve, but the third one is unique and shows Allen Ginsberg and a Capitol big wig listening to the recordings while cracking up; perhaps the bad trip of poor 'Brian' was on.

Fraction counterfeit
Now Playing: Pink Floyd "Best Of" (Israeli pressing)
Topic: Minor change or comment

The more or less exact reissues made of Fraction during the 1990s are now so old that they run the risk of being offered as 'originals', sometimes with no deliberate ripoff involved. I put together a simple guide how to tell at least one of these variants from an original. There may be other counterfeit variants, not sure.

Bill Rinehart (Leaves) Tiger Lily LP
Now Playing: Bill Rinehart
Topic: Addition

And here's one of the top scoops of the year...

BILL RINEHART (Los Angeles, CA)
Dynamite 1976 (Tiger Lily 14020)
In what must rank as one of the most remarkable discoveries so far on the notorious tax-scam Tiger Lily label, there surfaced a previously unknown solo LP from Bill Rinehart, in all likelihood the ex-Leaves guitarist. Sound clips from the album give evidence of a very good album indeed, seemingly from the inflection point where late '60s folkrock turned into '70s singer-songwriter. Comparisons to Steven Stills' early solo LPs (with the typical female backing vocals) or Ron Elliott's Candlestickmaker could be made, and Rinehart seems to have his shit completely together, with rich guitar-keyboard arrangements, rock steady (wrecking crew?) playing, melodic, slightly dreamy lead vocals, and soaring fuzz leads. Presumably recorded in 1972-73, Rinehart's mix of nicely finalized talent and laidback approach would have fit well on the Tumbleweed label. There is a drastically rearranged cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway" which was released on 45 in '73 (on the Mums label, with CBS distribution) coupled with the last track "Cut My Line", while the rest of Rinehart's album lingered in the vaults until the Tiger Lily mafiosos 'released' it in 50 copies or so. [PL]

PS the complete tracklist: Cherokee / Circle Circle / Dragon Fly / Dynamite / Loving Words / Revenge / Tender Loving Care / Runaway / Cut My Love  [should probably be Cut My Line]

PPS astute reader Griff points out that Bill Rinehart was also lead guitarist for the Gene Clark Group and Merry-Go-Round, and produced the Fields LP with a proto-Yahowan Sunflower Aquarian on bass. Someone should perhaps contact Rinehart for a pow-wow and a peace pipe, as there are likely stories to be told. 

Chris Ducey tax scam LP review
Now Playing: Croatia-Ireland 3-1
Topic: New review

See further down for release data and brief background, here's Aaron's review:

Chris Ducey: I Am A Rock (Krios, c1977)
This tax scam release is by the real Chris Ducey, the guy who was supposed to record what ended up being the Chris Lucey album.  It's a well-produced set of 70s pop (including orchestration), sounding like it was intended to be a major label record.  It's a far cry from his soulful DUCE OF HEARTS album (from 1975), and his voice here is a whole register higher than it is there.  Tax scam labels have been known to pull all kinds of tricks, but I do think it's him, as his work with Penny Arkade sounds reasonably similar to this, if quite a bit less sappy.  This evidences definite songcraft and has several catchy songs, but even when there's a lot of lead guitar (some with wah wah and fuzz) and some hip Latin rhythms, it's awfully sweet sounding, not miles away from fluffy bands like The Partridge Family.  How much you'll like this will depend on your sweet tooth.  I'm a big fan of power pop and even quality soft rock, but this stretches it a bit too far for my tastes.  Based on the production and Ducey's singing (assuming it really is him), I'm guessing it was recorded around 1973 or so, if not earlier.  There's no date on the record, but the tax scam time period is 1976-1977, so this probably sat in the vaults for a while. [AM]

Johnny Kitchen & the Santa Cruz ripoff
Now Playing: Exotic Sounds Of Tiki Gardens LP
Topic: Entry data revision

 

Our Northern-most correspondent Jens U recently forwarded the rather remarkable discovery that the contents of the Victims Of Chance Goin' Home Blue LP are lifted wholesale from the obscure Music Of The Santa Cruz Mountains LP. Mastermind behind the Victims Of Chance LP was the notorious music biz hustler Johnny Kitchen, and this case marks the first instance of him appropriating someone else's music in toto, rather than just using old studio reels and backing tracks. There may be other cases like this in the Kitchen catalog.

Both LPs are listed in the Acid Archives Second Edition, but the connection between them was unknown until now. Kitchen renamed some of the tracks and omitted two, and needless to say removed all credits from the Santa Cruz LP. This puts a release date of 1974 at the earliest on the Victims Of Chance LP; most likely it dates from the 1976-77 tax scam window.

Drywater hits the big time
Now Playing: Kaleidoscope "Taxim"
Topic: Entry data revision

Had to break this out into a post of its own, as various pieces of info flew in regarding Drywater.

This lengthy piece from a local newspaper details the mysterious scoop of Drywater, with all your favorite psych mafia guys name-checked. Mike A managed to namedrop the Acid Archives also, much appreciated!
http://meadvilletribune.com/x1358973881/Drywater-makes-it-big-three-decades-later

Follow up article:
http://meadvilletribune.com/local/x1704536727/Former-rockers-Drywater-enjoying-glow-from-albums-rebirth

The Backbone Of The Nation LP was originally pressed up in only 25 copies, making this a severe rarity even by Acid Archives standards. Apparently 25 copies was RPC's minimum order!

The band were from Ohio (aren't they all?). A 500-press vinyl reissue is now out from Time-Lag with 2 bonus tracks.

DRYWATER (OH)
Backbone Of The Nation  1973 (R.P.C. Z-70581)  [25p; lyric sheet]

 

Chris Ducey / Lucey oddity
Now Playing: Journey Of Persephone (George School) LP
Topic: Minor change or comment

There recently surfaced what looks like a 1970s tax-scam release credited to 'Chris Ducey'. Housed in a generic cover bearing the title I Am A Rock (Krios 01042) and a minimum of credits, the disc contains pure Top 40 pop with what to me sounds like a late '60s sound. As such it's not bad, and may have been recorded as a songwriter's demo primarily. The way the tax loss trip worked, these recordings then later fell into the hands of someone else (or Ducey himself) and were put to fiscal use, when nothing else came from them. The background and music is somewhat like the third Hobbits LP but with a little more consistency.

The obvious fantasy is that this LP would finally bring to light the recordings that Ducey did in 1966 which were later famously replaced by Bobby Jameson's tracks (see the Acid Archives book for details), but it's evident from the song titles alone that we are not so lucky. However, this odd little bird, which may appeal to soft-rock and vocal pop collectors, does mark yet another curious angle on the Chris Ducey saga, in addition to the existing Jameson & Maitreya Kali tangents.

Thanks to Mike M in Seattle for bringing this buried artifact to our attention.

Odds & Ends
Now Playing: Anonymous "Inside The Shadow"

Some minor Acid Archives updates have flown in from around the world, viz:

~ The Horses' album om White Whale (with Don Johnson) is self-titled, rather than being called 'Album No 1'.

~ The speculative relation between T R Crooks and the Farm Band seems to be non-existent, it was a mere coincidence of a similar studio name being invented. Also, an earlier version of the LP than the one shown in the Acid Archives 2nd Edition has been found, crediting the band as 'Tennessee River Crooks' but presumably with the same contents as T R Crooks' To A Brother. A self-released CD reissue of the album now exists.

~ Rebecca & The Sunny Brook Farmers' LP is titled Birth, not 'Rebirth'.

~ The proper release year for the Damien EIH album is likely to be 1974 rather than '73.

Steve Drake / Kaczorowski scoop
Now Playing: Moby Grape live CD on Sundazed
Topic: Minor change or comment

Ah yes, we have not reached the end of the exciting Kacz-man saga -- far from it! There are people out there who have been researching the Steve Drake case for 20 years, which is 10 years longer than me. Bob P and Paul L in New York recently forwarded the following revelation: the three mystery tracks on Cold Sweat are no longer mysterious! Our karaoke rock friend lifted all three from the same, obscure major label LP: the OXPETALS on Mercury (1970).

"...in a nutshell, on Cold Sweat the track Drake called"Cold Sweat/Don't Cry Mother" is called "Don't Cry Mother [on the Oxpetals LP]. The track Drake called "Glimpses Of The Future" is actually titled "Declaration Of Oneness". Finally, the track Drake called "Do You See Now" is actually called "Down From The Mountain". All three tracks are the base recording, and Drake added vocals to mime the Oxpetals vocalist. Although I've only played the Oxpetals tracks twice, I don't think much, if any guitar/keys were added. At the beginning of "Don't Cry Mother", there is a 30 second intro of drums/electric guitar that Drake chopped from 'his' version..."

There it is! This also means that all tracks on Cold Sweat have now been identified, while there still remain a number (seven in total) unidentifiees on What Time Are You and Nature Intended.

Check out my article in Ugly Things magazine #24, or the corresponding web-page, to learn what all the brouhaha is about... one of the wildest stories in the '70s private press universe!

Thanks again to Bob and Paul. The quest continues...

  

Fifth Pipe Dream / Indian Puddin' & Pipe / West Coast Natural Gas
Now Playing: Common People LP
Topic: Minor change or comment

A snazzy-looking retrospective LP featuring the West Coast Natural Gas titled Two's A Pair is now out on the renowned RD Records label from Switzerland (RD#22). The liner notes give the band's story for the first time, and helps sort out the confusion around the Matthew Katz clusterfuck of Fifth Pipe Dream & so forth. The data in the Acid Archives book basically checks out, to which can be added that "Aquarian Dream", credited to It's A Beautiful Day, was recorded by a one-off group with producer Mark Uzilevsky (aka Rusty Evans), his girlfriend, Tripsichord's lead guitarist, and 1-2 guys from West Coast Natural Gas. This track, which is cool cheese psych, is NOT included on the RD Records sampler, while all the other WCNG numbers on Fifth Pipe Dream (where Katz credited them to Indian Puddin' & Pipe) are. Like several second wave Bay Area groups, WCNG were originally from Seattle and relocated to SF in mid-1967. The tracks heard on Fifth Pipe Dream were recorded locally in early 1968.

The Whims
Now Playing: The Whims
Topic: Addition
WHIMS (Norton, MA)
Truckin' 1971 (no label XPL 1021)
Someone suggested that this long-running school group from the all-female Wheaton College might deserve a place in the Acid Archives, and after checking out what is probably their best LP, I agree. While not a lost Search Party or such, it is a solid dose of charming femme folkrock with a genuine 'rock' feel, not white-scrubbed pop or academic folk. The songs are mixed ensemble and solo performances, and the lead singers have quite attractive voices. What puts this above their other albums is the selection of covers, which includes things like "Good Day Sunshine" (Beatles) and the title track (Grateful Dead), the latter which sounds quite odd coming from a girl group. Less surprising are the CSNY, Peter Paul & Mary and Mamas & Papas numbers, while a possible highpoint is a lengthy, spooky interpretation of "John Barleycorn". There is one group original. Well worth hearing and a must for femme vox collectors. Released via the same custom label as D R Hooker! [PL]

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West Coast Pop Art & California Spectrum enigma
Now Playing: Glimpses Vol 4 comp
Topic: Minor change or comment

A lot has been written about the great West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band over the past 10 years, yet there are still chunks of their story that are shrouded in mystery. This applies in no small part to the off-shoot California Spectrum, and a few obscure 45s connected to this franchise.

Reading the established storylines so far, it would appear that California Spectrum was a 1968 side-project led by Shaun Harris while his brother Dan was recuperating from a nervous breakdown, and the WCPAEB were on a hiatus. However, the California Spectrum project seems to have been both lengthier and different than what this implies.

Exhibit #1: as early as August 1967, before even the 2nd WCPAEB Reprise album had come out, Dan Harris, Shaun Harris, and "Jim" (possibly Jimmy Greenspoon) were playing live gigs in Illinois under the name California Spectrum. This is known for a fact, since they gave a lengthy interview to Chicago underground paper "The Seed" at the time. 'Dan' and 'Jim' talk about the band, their light show, and hint at their heavy music scene connections in San Francisco and LA. They claim that Grateful Dead stole one of their songs, and that Blues Magoos were always just a bit of hype! There are zero references to the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band; what is presented is the impression of a hip westcoast band called California Spectrum touring the Midwest. 'Shaun' (Harris) is not present for the interview,but is mentioned.

In other words, there was a lot more to the California Spectrum project than just some one-off thing from late '68 -- the band name was being promoted and supported by live gigs as early as August '67. A reasonable guess is that this was the Harris brothers' attempt to escape the strange golden cage that Bob Markley had built for them, and get something going for themselves. With their Midwestern roots, they knew their way around locally, and apparently didn't mind laying on a bit of westcoast showbiz hype in the process. There is good reason to believe that Michael Lloyd was involved with the California Spectrum trip too, although he may have remained stationed in LA.

Exhibit #2: the California Spectrum discography is restricted to two 45s, both with 'Harris' and 'Lloyd' all over the credits:

CALIFORNIA SPECTRUM (Los Angeles, CA)
1. Sassafras / Obviously Bad (Rasberry Sawfly 9735)
2. She May Call You Up Tonight / Rainbo (Shana 7915)
-- The release dates for these 45s have elsewhere been given as 1967 and 1969, but this is inaccurate. In actual fact, they were released in short succession in early 1968; the matrix numbers show that they were pressed in early January and mid February, respectively. This is also borne out by...

Exhibit #3: The Rasberry Sawfly 45 charted, briefly yet most gloriously, on WKY in Oklahoma City, reaching #19 in February '68. No chart data has been found for the Left Banke cover on California Spectrum's second 45.

Note: "Sassafras" is the exact same recording that appears on the awe-inspiringly rare WCPAEB debut LP on Fifo, and it was also released as a Fifo 45 at the time (1966). "Obviously Bad" is a lightweight instro unique to the 45. The short studio experiment "Rainbo" on the Shana 45 appears to be one of the few songs in music history named after a pressing plant; at least Rainbo Records in LA is where all these obscure 45s were pressed! The intriguing background behind this atypical track, somewhat related to WCPAEB's famous "Leiyla", is detailed on the WCPAEB 'Companion' release on Sunbeam. 

Exhibit #4: as late as 1969, Shaun Harris was still touting the California Spectrum band via his Midwestern media connections; the group is promoted with a photo and phony member names in Tiger Beat, and according to the recent 'Companion' set, Harris had an office in Denver from which he handled his Midwestern music matters... far away from Markleyan intervention.

The point being? Well, the California Spectrum story is by no means the brief one-off trip that WCPAEB lore would have you believe. The band, or the idea of the band, was an active entity from at least mid-1967 to early 1969. They played live gigs in the Midwest, had their own light show, made a certain impression in Chicago, and released two records. There is little doubt that the Harris brothers were the main engine behind this outfit, but the view that it was just a studio concept is clearly incorrect. California Spectrum was a real '60s band and should be treated as such. Their activities, calendar-wise, can probably be mapped against corresponding inactivity within the WCPAEB domains.

But that's not all. In 2009, an online auction website called "eBay" listed an intriguing disc credited to California Spectrum, a 10" studio test pressing or acetate (by the look of it) featuring the two tracks "Transparent Day" and "High Coin". These two numbers appear, as you know, on the band's first Reprise LP, and a tentative interpretation of this test disc is that the Harris & Lloyd trifecta were considering with-holding the two numbers from Markley, and possibly try to sneak them out on their own, credited to California Spectrum. The tracks remain unheard so far, and may or may not be identical recordings to the Reprise LP. Assuming they do date from this early era, it would push the birth of the 'California Spectrum' concept back yet another 6 months, to early '67. The test disc ended up selling for $750+, unsurprisingly.

But even that's not all. Curiously missing from the 'Companion' sampler, and almost all things you read about the WCPAEB, is the best thing they ever recorded under pseudonym; the Fabulous Apostles 45. The familiar pattern is there, with two 'Lloyd-Harris' credits on the label and released via the Shana imprint (almost certainly Shaun Harris' own creation).

FABULOUS APOSTLES (KS / Los Angeles, CA)
Dark Horse Blues / You Don't Know Like I Know (Shana 097)
-- the release date can be pinpointed to May 1968, which would make this the third effort in the flurry of non-WCPAEB releases from Harris & Lloyd in early '68

If the story behind the California Spectrum 45s is odd, then this one is outright bizarre. To begin with, there really was a Fabulous Apostles band; a regional Midwestern outfit in the Kansas show-band tradition. Some might assume this to be a coincidence, but not so! The connection between the WCPAEB guys and the Kansas show-band appears to have been the latter band's manager, who arranged for a 45 to be recorded (in LA) and pressed up in the Fabulous Apostles' name, even though they didn't appear on it. Who did appear on it is not known, but an educated guess suggests the usual crew of Harris, Lloyd, Greenspoon, maybe Ron Morgan. The B-side soul cover is the one suited for the Kansas band's needs, and upon receiving the 45 they let it be understood among their fans that they had gone to Los Angeles to record this disc, althought they had never left Kansas. The Lloyd-Harris axis, for their part, probably saw this as a chance to throw a cash-in exploitation 45 on the wall and see if it would stick; the "Dark Horse Blues" bears all the classic hallmarks of '68 psych-fuzz exploitation. It's pretty damn good too, and can be heard on Glimpses Vol 4 if you find the original 45 elusive.

Exhibit #5: the Fabulous Apostles band -- the real one in Kansas -- have a website where they include one side from the Shana 45, along with a vague reference to recording it in LA. However, a band member I talked with admitted right away that it wasn't them on the rekkid, but a studio recording with their name attached. He also told me of being familiar with Lloyd and Harris, and it seems that he relocated to LA in the late '60s for a pro musician career, and that this 1968 single played a part in making his business connections. In any event, the Fabulous Apostles never released any 'real' records on their own, but have only this WCPAEB curio in their back catalog.

Note: as far as I know, "Dark Horse Blues" has only ever been reissued on the Glimpses vol 4 comp, while the flipside "You Don't Know Like I Know" (an uptempo, organ-led teen version of this popular tune) has never been reissued. Most would probably agree that this clandestine Lloyd-Harris effort surpasses both California Spectrum 45s.

Finally: there is at least one more known 45 on Shaun Harris' Shana label, released by Kansas pop group the Jerms, whose earliest sides have a certain cachet with garage fans. This outing from 1968 appears to be less scintillating, but the producer credit and use of his label imprint offers further proof of Harris' Midwestern activities at the time.

THE JERMS (KS)
Not At All / Who's (Shana 7195) 1968

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Surely not THE END, but for now this will have to suffice. Thanks to Erik Bluhm for the release details and Moptop Mike for the matrix number analysis.

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Children Of Sunshine / Dandelions correction
Now Playing: Pearl Jam "Jeremy"
Topic: Entry data revision

Thanks to Juan in Spain for alerting me to the rather vital fact that the currently popular girl-pop album the 'Dandelions' is incorrectly listed pretty much everywhere. The band name was Children Of Sunshine, and Dandelions was the album title. However, the group name Children Of Sunshine appears nowhere on the record label, while 'Dandelions' does, so the confusion isn't surprising. Some might prefer to credit the band as Tres & Kitsy for clarity, but according to Tres, they were the Children Of Sunshine. The girls were both 10 when the LP was recorded in 1970. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F07o5_AP6zw

CHILDREN OF SUNSHINE (MN)
Dandelions 1971 (KBK MK 27-41)


DANDELIONS see Children Of Sunshine


TRES & KITSY see Children Of Sunshine 

Deep "Psychedelic Moods" press size
Topic: Minor change or comment

Although Rusty Evans has been interviewed many times in the past, I don't think anyone has had the foresight to ask him about the press size for Psychedelic Moods until Klemen at the It's Psychedelic Baby blog did so recently.

Rusty says 'about 5000 copies' were pressed of the Deep LP, which seems reasonable. Mono seems to be slightly more common and may have had a larger share of the 5000 made. A lot of copies ended up in cut-out bins and may even have been melted down to recycle the vinyl.

Rusty still insists on having no psychedelic drug influence at the time of doing this LP and the Freak Scene, which is amusing when you listen to them and hear two of the most acid-drenched rekkids of all time.

 

Mu press size
Topic: Minor change or comment

Merrell in a recent interview sez 3500 copies pressed of the first MU album, which certainly sounds a lot more likely than the '300' copies stated by bullshitting record dealers in the past. Mu was a real band with a manager and a record contract, not some private press experiment. At the same time, the first (RTV) pressing is pretty rare, so factoring in the 2nd press on CAS which reportedly had 1000 copies made, I'm going with a total press run of 2500 RTV + 1000 CAS for the Mu debut for now.

 This does not include the vintage foreign pressings in England and Brazil.

Seiche & Dose After Dose update
Now Playing: Kyuss "Demon Cleaner"
Topic: Minor change or comment

The "It's Psychedelic Baby" blog clears up some vital data regarding Chicago hardrock band Seiche, whose retrospective album on Hexamon is one of the best archival releases from anywhere in the past 15 years; dynamite progressive hardrock way ahead of its time.

Most of the info in the Acid Archives 2nd Ed entry checks out, with band leader Steve Zahradnik confirming a demo press release of 150 copies (the AA book says 100) of the original Seiche album; recorded ca 1978-79 but not pressed up until 1981.

SEICHE (Chicago, IL)
Demo Press 1981 (no label) [150p; 50 with color cover, 100 in plain white cover]
Dose After Dose 1999 (Hexamon 001) [partial reissue; 500#d; 2 inserts]
Seiche 2006 (CD Warp Drive) [full reissue of the 1981 LP]

The rest of the material on the Hexamon release is not 'Seiche' but a later band called 'Dose After Dose' (this became the title for the Hexamon album). These tracks are more recent than has been stated in the past; Zahradnik places them in the 1990s, which is interesting considering how well they fit with the late '70s recordings. The Hexamon liner notes clearly indicate which tracks are from the Seiche and Dose After Dose eras, respectively.