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Acid Archives 2nd Edition Updates
4 April 2013
Bluebyrd
Now Playing: Hay! Kelly!
Topic: Addition

This one is not in the AA at all but clearly belongs, even without the recently observed $300+ going rate.

BLUEBYRD (White Bear Lake, MN)
Sweet Thoughts 197  (no label MT 1501)

An obscure private press with an unusual and attractive sound for local early '70s trips, the all-male Bluebyrd quartet delight the listener with a moody folk-pop sound seemingly rooted in the mid-'60s stylings of Peter & Gordon and Simon & Garfunkel. Recorded mainly as a demo for a studio project, the emphasis is on the songwriting and the vocal harmonies, both of which are quite attractive. While a rare style to pursue in later years, it is not completely unique, and the hallowed Schibbinz offer a good reference point for the best aspects of Bluebyrd. Comparisons could also be made to Lazy Smoke and Fredric, as long as one bears in mind that this is neither psychedelic nor underground, and does not offer much room for the secondary instrumentation beyond the distinct guitar-picking, and any 'trippy' production tricks are completely absent. The timewarp magic is disturbed by a couple of lesser tracks in a peppy '70s pop bag, one of which copies the melody to "Moondance". If these guys were bent they might have sounded like Dyckman-James, but they are straight as an arrow without sounding clinical. One of the more interesting Acid Archives type things I've run across in the last year or so. [PL]


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 00:09 MEST
Updated: 19 December 2013 20:27 CET
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31 March 2013
Spanky & Johnny
Now Playing: Perry Leopold
Topic: New review

One of the more expensive tax-scammers gets a real review, replacing the brief entry in the AA 2nd Ed.

SPANKY LEE & JOHNNY LEE ( )
Spanky & Johnny c1977 (Tiger Lily)

There really are a lot of very good albums on Tiger Lily, but listening to something like this makes me wonder how collectors would have responded to it if it had been the major label release the band probably intended. (A good example is Michaelo/Michael O’Gara, or the Steve Drake albums, where collectors ignored the cheap and easy-to-find major label copies of the very same music.) This is an odd and highly professional mix of soft rock and funky rock, with jazz flute (occasionally echoplexed) on some songs. There were some mainstream bands that sounded like this in the mid-'70s, and I can think of one collectable that resembles it at least a little bit (the album by Hollins & Starr), but this is still pretty distinctive. So, maybe collectors would have picked up on it even if it wasn’t on a collectable label. “Superstar” and “Winter’s Mourning,” in particular, have a cool dreamy soft-rock vibe that is in the same realm as some 70s psych bands, and there’s a pretty stunning little bass break in “Morning Song.” Two songs rock reasonably hard. There’s also some nice understated synth work in a few places. Overall, this is a strong album for sure, if you can swing with the cheesy bits. Lyrics range from the ethereal to the horny to one Christian song. I think they were just a step away from going disco, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. I don’t believe this is the same Spanky Lee who made a terrible AOR/metal album in the 1989. [AM]


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 01:07 MEST
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30 March 2013
Easter Everywhere!
Now Playing: Easter Everywhere
Topic: Minor change or comment

Easter Everywhere is one of the more important events in the psychedelic calendar and should be observed with proper hedonism and joy. From the egg into the flower:


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:36 MEST
Updated: 30 March 2013 22:35 MEST
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28 March 2013
Cellutron & The Invisible
Now Playing: Trees "Christ Tree"
Topic: New review

Here's a real review of Cellutron, replacing the incomplete one in the Acid Archives book.

CELLUTRON & THE INVISIBLE (Northfield, VT)
Reflecting On The First Watch, We Uncover Treasure Buried For The Blind 1978 (Green Mountain Records)

This weird synth experiment can be most closely compared to the work of Nic Raicevic. It has the same basically random sound to it, and while it is more varied than Raicevic's work, it's also less hypnotic. The record is comprised of four "songs," which don't sound any more planned out than George Harrison's Electronic Sound album, but do have enough odd noises, and enough of a psychedelic atmosphere (lots of fading in and out) to make it pretty fun to listen to. Yeah, probably any of us could have done it, but it's still cool enough. The best moment is a bit near the middle of side two when the synths unexpectedly speed up. A bit of guitar varies the mood some, but this is still about as pure as synth music can get. Only one song has any vocals, and those are spoken. Though this dates 1978 , it definitely sounds more like a psychedelic record than anything else. There's absolutely no new wave influence here. It doesn't really hold up for 35 minutes, especially since there's no musicianship or melody to speak of, but a bit at a time, or as something that you let drift in and out of your consciousness, rather than listening to intently, it's more entertaining than a lot of equally inept albums by singer-songwriters or bands. [AM]


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:55 MEST
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27 March 2013
David Habeck
Now Playing: David Habeck
Topic: Addition

This obscure album was recommended for inclusion as a recent discovery, and why not.

DAVID HABECK (Bowler, WI)
The Circle Meets Itself Each Time Around 1981 (Makin' Jam 1001)

Little known acoustic rural folk/singer-songwriter LP from the tail end of the hippie era. Habeck sings in a high register yet manages to sound gentle and inviting, given ample support by acoustic guitar tapestries. It sounds like his voice is double-tracked, or else he's harmonizing with someone else, but the vocal richness helps steer the impression away from the dull solo loser folk, and towards more of a CSN vibe--something like "Helplessly Hoping" is not too far from Habeck's style. The overall vibe is a little like Michael Styers or John Villemonte, laidback and reflective, but the lack of amplification is a drawback. Still, a pleasant encounter.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 23:06 MEST
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23 March 2013
Down by the Riverson (updated)
Now Playing: Bobby Dylan Live in Sydney '66
Topic: Entry data revision

One of several excellent obscurities on Canadian CBS, the increasingly popular Riverson may be headed towards the $500+ zones where label-mates like It's All Meat reside. However, few collectors outside Canada seem to be aware that there are in fact two different pressings of this LP, despite its rarity. The pressings are easy to tell apart, as the earliest one comes with the old CBS '360' label, while the second variant has the red label with circular yellow lettering that CBS used in the '70s (not sure how this label design is usually referenced).

Both discs were pressed at the same plant and reportedly display no aural differences, but the issue is still significant as most known copies have a pressing defect; a 'stick' or repeat skip on the track "Take Me" which closes side 1. The defect has been described as 'fixable', for those with steady hands and the needed cojones.

When I first posted about this I assumed that the second pressing, does not have this defect, since a few known copies of this run (yellow/red label), including my own, play with no notable problems at all. It seemed a reasonable theory that the repeat skip defect only affected the first pressing and was corrected for the second pressing, during which time CBS also switched label designs.

A neat theory--a little too neat, in fact, for the ever enigmatic domain of vinyl records. A German collector got in touch and pointed out that he knew of a second pressing with the repeat skip defect, which sort of ruins my theory. Things got increasingly confusing when we compared matrix numbers and found that the first and second pressing were manufactured from the same stamper; the dead wax notations are identical. I checked with a couple of other proud Riverson owners, and they confirmed that the dead wax data was the same (side A): 'ES-90136A-1A', and on opposite side 'C2-G' and some tiny squiggles.

In a nutshell, both pressings (with completely different label designs) were manufactured from the same stamper, yet some copies have the pressing flaw on S1T6, and some do not. It appears that all copies with the 360 label have the flaw, while some (but definitely not all) copies with the yellow/red label have the flaw. I see no reasonably simple explanation for this, theories are invited. It's not quite as mysterious as the Madrigal madness (see old post), but close. 

Regardless of the stamper mystery, the collector faces an interesting dilemma--the first pressing has the usual cachet of being the 'original' run, but has a rather troubling defect, which some copies of the less attractive second run lacks. So which one do you want? To complicate things further, it seems that the playability of the defective track differs between turntables, probably due to tonearm weight. As mentioned above, the Riverson pressings are otherwise identical, both are Unipak gatefolds.

On a related note, both Perth County Conspiracy's CBS debut and the Roger Rodier LP exist in two different versions, like Riverson, but PCC is the only one of the three where the basic pressings differ. The earliest PCC run from 1970 comes in a regular gatefold (later replaced by Unipak), is pressed on better vinyl than the 2nd press and includes a booklet which the c1972 reprint lacks (I think). In the case of Rodier it is simply a case of two different pressings, with neither defects or booklets to complicate matters. I hope.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:46 MEST
Updated: 27 March 2013 22:28 MEST
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14 March 2013
The Santa Cruz Connection (part 2)
Now Playing: Bob Dylan "Live At Albert Hall" (TAKRL boot)
Topic: Minor change or comment

This story keeps jumping forth in bits and pieces, and it is probably necessary for someone to take the time to sit down and create a coherent picture from what has emerged. I'm only at the receiving end here however, and must settle for forwarding the data as it surfaces.

As noted in an earlier post, there is some connection between the Music Of The Santa Cruz Mountains sampler LP and notorious music biz hustler Johnny Kitchen. This is based on the fact that the Kitchen-produced 2nd Victims Of Chance LP (the one with the generic mill wheel cover) contains music lifted directly from the Santa Cruz album. See my previous post for details.

My Northern associate Jens U now forwards me a bundle of new info related to the Santa Cruz nexus, some of which is quite startling. First of all, to the existing spider's web we can now add the illustrious name of Eddie Callahan. Callahan is an Acid Archives alumni with a much loved private press LP under his belt. That he was related to the Santa Cruz LP, just like Johnny Kitchen, was however news to pretty much everyone. The connection is made clear via the track "Santa Cruz Mountains", which can be found on the SC sampler LP credited to J J Johnson AND on Eddie Callahan's False Ego LP under the same title but with songwriting credited to Callahan! It is clearly the same song, but in different recordings.

OK--so Eddie Callahan is involved here somehow. But wait--it gets even better. The next piece of info adds Bob Berry, of the very rare and highly rated Heavy Berry album, to this same Santa Cruz net! Berry is another Acid Archives graduate, and his demo LP is one of the more expensive finds of the 2000s. His name appears on the Santa Cruz sampler LP credits, but it was unconfirmed whether it was the same Bob Berry, or some namesake. Now, the reissue of the Eddie Callahan LP contains a reference to 'Robert Berry', and from this link and the overlapping "Santa Cruz Mountains" track, a puzzle with several interconnected pieces emerged. One of our knowledgable sources says that:

Bob Berry & Eddie Callahan had been in bands together in the late 60s, well before the Santa Cruz sampler LP or 'False Ego' were recorded. Since Bob was very behind the scenes on these releases (not even credited with playing on 'False Ego' originally) I'm guessing he co-wrote 'Santa Cruz Mountains' with J J Johnson and then offered it to Eddie. In both cases, the singers took full credit... The two versions of the song are quite different, with J J's version adding a couple verses, and Eddie's changing some words... Eddie insists the 'False Ego' recordings were just the trio of himself, his wife, and Bob.

Before moving ahead, I should mention that Bob Berry had also been in '60s garage band the 4th Street Exits who cut a highly rated garage 45, and whose members may figure in this story somehow. Regarding connections between the main protagonists in this saga, our source speculates that:

The real key here must be the band Mahatma which was Eddie Callahan's 5-piece rock band in the early-mid 1970s. They toured & played a ton, but never recorded. I believe Bob Berry was in that band, and I'm guessing J J Johnson was too... and possibly other names that would overlap with Victims Of Chance -- in which case the overlapping 'Santa Cruz Mountain' song could have been a Mahatma song that both singers then claimed as they own and altered in their own ways.

Another source believes that the guitar-player on the first three tracks on the Santa Cruz Mountains sampler (and Victims Of Chance) is the same as heard on the Eddie Callahan LP. As revealed via the reissue, Bob Berry partook in Callahan's recording, a fact which Callahan did not credit on the original. So here is yet more evidence of Berry's involvement with both Callahan, the Santa Cruz sampler in general (where he's credited repeatedly) and the opening J J Johnson tracks on the sampler in particular. The simplest explanation is stated above--Bob Berry, Eddie Callahan and J J Johnson were long-time musical comrades, and the multi-talented Berry emerged as a connecting link between the various LPs discussed here (including his own).

But the album where our Detective Columbo script took its beginning, the second Victims Of Chance with its confirmed Johnny Kitchen involvement and presumed tax scam origins, is left somewhat out in the cold by these cozy Santa Cruz weedhead collaborations. How did the material from the obscure Santa Cruz sampler end up in Kitchen's hands? Via Berry, Callahan, Johnson... or someone else? If they were involved, was it because they had submitted the sampler as a demo to some LA label, or did they willingly agree to the Kitchen tax scam?

This may be revealed in our next chapter. Meanwhile, here is a recap of the records and artists involved so far in the Santa Cruz Connection:

MUSIC OF THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS 1974 (Santa Cruz Mountains)
-- various artist sampler including J J Johnson, with Bob Berry credits

BOB BERRY : Heavy Berry 197? (no label)

EDDIE CALLAHAN: False Ego 1976 (Ocean)
  [reissue exists]

VICTIMS OF CHANCE: Goin' Home Blue 197? (no label 1014)
-- if one accepts the tax scam nature of this, the year is either '76 or '77

Possibly relevant 45 featuring Bob Berry, other members currently unknown:

4TH STREET EXIT (San Jose, CA)
Strange One / A Love Like This  1967  (Rowena 792) 

 


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 00:00 MEST
Updated: 14 March 2013 00:39 MEST
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10 March 2013
Talking of Michael Angelo
Now Playing: Michael Angelo on Guinn
Topic: Minor change or comment

 

One of last year's better scores was a strong copy of Michael Angelo on Guinn, a long-time want that more often than not seems to bring in four figures these days. Adding an original means that a reissue is sprung loose, and while packing the repro up for its next owner, I noticed that there really is very little that marks this repro as a reissue and not an original. I don't think it was intended as a counterfeit, but there is this spooky gray area where one can imagine a future where people remove the miniscule signs of the reissue status, and offer it as an "original". This has happened with the Maitreya Kali "Apache" bootleg, for instance.

In this case -- and I'm of course talking about the German, pre-Shadoks reissue of Michael Angelo, not the Void one -- the only tell of this being a reissue is a tiny numbering on the backcover, with '/450' printed, and the individual number added by hand. Placing a sticker on top of this, or creating a fake cover tear at the spoit in question, means that the printed contents of the German reissue looks exactly like the 1977 original down to the smallest detail.

However, there are significant differences that should make the identification easy. The reissue is board-printed on glossy, modern paper stock, while the original has cover slicks in the traditional old style. The spine of the reissue has printed text, while the original spine is blank. The labels are almost identical with a slight difference in color hue only, but the dead wax carvings are completely different. The reissue has 'Guinn 1050' in the deadwax, while the 1977 original contains no mention of Guinn, but instead a reference to the famous 'Rite' pressing plant (it's Rite # 338431) along with some other scribblings.

That should do it. This gave me the opportunity to listen to this extremely good LP once more, which was my hidden agenda all along.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:59 MEST
Updated: 11 March 2013 00:19 MEST
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25 February 2013
Odd Hoi Polloi celebrity scoop
Now Playing: Bohemian Vendetta
Topic: Minor change or comment

A recent discussion of the Hoi Polloi LP and the related efforts by member Charlie Bleak brought forth a fun tidbit that is worth preserving for posterity. As mentioned in my old Hoi Polloi webpage article, band member Jeff D'Angelo was brother of noted Hollywood actress Beverly D'Angelo, once famous for "Hair" and Chevy Chase's suffering wife in the "Vacation" movies, and more recently in the spotlight again via the "Entourage" TV series. Well, it turns out pretty Beverly wasn't just a hangaround on the Earlham College scene, but does in fact appear on Charlie Bleak's solo LP on Pickwick 1976. I have this album but oddly missed the fact that she's credited with backing vocals, while I duly observed the presence of several ex-Hoi Polloi guys (including brother Jeff). So that was Bev in '76, and just a couple of years later Milos Forman cast her in the movie version of "Hair" and her star was made.


All this in much more will hopefully be covered in an upcoming vinyl reissue of Hoi Polloi with bonus tracks and thorough background research. It's amazing to think how much has evolved from this story, which began with me receiving a copy of the unknown, undocumented Hoi Polloi LP back in a trade back in 2004 or so.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 23:17 CET
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22 February 2013
Acid at your fingertips
Now Playing: Goddard High Stage Band "In A Gadda Da Vida"
Topic: Minor change or comment

Here's some news regarding the Acid Archives book itself, rather than the A-Z contents. We're entering the world of cyborgs and androids via a cutting edge man-machine interface known as a tablet PC (not tablet LSD), surf pad, Ipad, e-Reader, or whatever. It's that thing where you read books on a glowing digital screen rather than by turning paper pages. While I'm not overly interested in this particular technology, I can definitely see the advantages of being able to carry the Acid Archives A-Z with you as you're out record digging, at record fairs, or going through a deceased hippie uncle's old LP collection.

After a long and tricky conversion process due to our 3-column format and inline images, the Acid Archives 2nd Edition is now available as an e-book that can be read on any major digital platform. Download the complete Acid Archives A-Z and... carry it with you on your mobile phone, Ipad, Kindle reader, handheld PC, tablet PC, laptop, etc.
Should be easy to find, Amazon carry it for example.

Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 00:43 CET
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10 February 2013
Corpus delicti
Now Playing: J D Elias LP
Topic: Entry data revision

The long-running mystery around the various pressings of the TX private press classic Creation A Child by Corpus turns out to be not so mysterious after all. There exists at least two, probably three different bootleg reissues, of which one may date back to the 1970s (it may in fact even be a legit 2nd press). One of these, on the notorious bootleg Breeder label from Austria c1987, is easy to tell from an original as it openly credits 'Breeder', and comes with a yellow label.

The earlier bootleg/counterfeit/2nd press is a little trickier since it has no markings to indicate it not being an original BUT they-that-know verify that this riddle is easy to solve: the true Corpus original has a purple label, whereas the later pressing has a red-orange label. Once you've seen these side by side there's no problem in telling them apart -- the purple label really is purple, and it's the only one that is the real thing.

Also, the red label counterfeit/2nd press comes in a thick cover like those used for certain 1980s boots like Morly Grey, while the true original is a slightly thinner sleeve typical of the early 1970s.

The Acid Archives entry needs to be updated thus:

CORPUS (Corpus Christi, TX)
Creation A Child 
1972 (Acorn 1001) [purple label; true original]
Creation A Child  197  (Acorn)  [red-orange label; counterfeit or 2nd press]
Creation A Child  197 (Acorn)  [green/pink label; unbanded tracks; 2nd press]
-- existence of this press variant unconfirmed
Creation A Child 
1986 (Breeder 567, Austria)
...
(Akarma reissues omitted here, see AA book for details)

I was also told that true Corpus originals are exceedingly rare, more so than Homer or Josefus or such, and this may have contributed to the confusion around the pressings -- very few people have seen an actual original. Checking the internet you can spot several red label reissues/counterfeits being sold as originals, sometimes up to $700-800.

Like Dr Leary says, Just Say Know when buying rare rekkids.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 17:56 CET
Updated: 10 February 2013 22:13 CET
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3 February 2013
Random unheard '70s dawgs
Now Playing: Simla Beat '71
Topic: Addition

A couple of very obscure titles that are added since reliable people speak in favor of them... I have yet to hear them.
 

RICHARD KNEELAND ( )
Present Your Errors 1976 (Gothic)

New England private press described as 'loner introspective folk psych' with flute, synth, nocturnal moves.

ELEANOR WALLACE (CA)
Songs of the middle way 1966 (no label)

Female acoustic folk with crystalline vocals and mostly originals, has been compared to Vasthi Bunyan. Housed in the same colorful generic sleeve as one of the Hellers LPs ('Johnny Spots').


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 23:59 CET
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24 January 2013
Magenta
Now Playing: Anonymous "Inside The Shadow"
Topic: Addition

This is a recent discovery that remains unheard by me for the present time. It has commanded good money on repeat occasions and may be one for the '70s folk/s-sw crowd.

MAGENTA (OH)
Featuring Graham & Wesley 1972 (Virgin Enterprises 208319)
  [no sleeve]
Pressed at QCA in Cincinnati.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 16:38 CET
Updated: 25 January 2013 00:13 CET
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16 January 2013
Stonewall story (updated)
Now Playing: Them "In Reality"
Topic: Minor change or comment

My old non-blog The Eternal Now has recently been cryogenically frozen to forever rest in a state of unchanging limbo. While its many years of psychedelic rants can still be enjoyed here, some of the contents are valuable enough to be recycled elsewhere. This includes the saga of the mysterious STONEWALL, whose LP of blazing hardrock is the most coveted Tiger Lily LP of all. Courtesy of veteran tracker Miguel Rodriguez in Germany, the facts can now be unveiled, including a recording date for the album that is surprisingly early. This info reached us in time to make it into the Acid Archives Second Edition, but few people seem to have discovered it. Here goes, by way of Miguel:  

Stonewall was the house band of a recording studio owned by James (Jimmy) Goldstein, based in Long Island during the late '60s.

Goldstein was also a part-time member of the band, occasionally playing keyboards on their sessions. He was a performer of his own, using the stage name of "Jay James". Under that alias he recorded the album "Good Times And Bad Times" that was released on the Tiger Lily label (same as Stonewall).

Stonewall´s drummer Tony (Anthony) Assalti was the drummer on this rather weak country album by Goldstein. However, Assalti was never aware of the Stonewall album being released, and apparently became upset after learning about the Tiger Lily release in recent years. He still plays drums with drums, and is involved with the biker scene. He's not interested in the Stonewall recordings these days.

On the other hand, the guitar player Ray Dieneman was a good friend of Jimmy Goldstein. Dieneman was not aware of the Stonewall album until he saw a copy in Goldstein´s house in New York during a visit. Ray never owned a copy of the album, but was more amused than angry about the Tiger Lily release. It appears that Dienemann is the only band member to know about the Stonewall record being released at all.

According to Ray D, Stonewall broke up at the end of 1969, which would place the recordings heard on the album (which wasn't released until the mid-1970s) sometime in the late 1960s. The other two Stonewall band members -- vocalist Bruce Rapp and bass player Robert Demonte -- have not yet been tracked down.


ADDENDUM - Acid Archives reader James B generously forwarded some additional info on Stonewall that has recently surfaced from bass player Ray Dieneman:

Jimmy Goldstein who produced, engineered, and played keyboards on the Stonewall album passed away in 2009. The album was recorded at Jimmy Goldstein's Studio Tower Sound, in the Ed Sullivan building in NYC. According to Dieneman the band didn't record any other music on the album, so basically the entire LP on Tiger Lily is all of their music. 

PS the Stonewall band member names on the Akarma bootleg reissues are completely made up.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 22:15 CET
Updated: 19 December 2013 20:35 CET
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13 January 2013
Too Smooth
Now Playing: Sampdoria-Milan
Topic: Entry data revision

The action on the tax scam fringe continues, most recently with an eBayed copy of Too Smooth, one of the rarest Tiger Lilys, which ended up selling for circa $1000.

This is however less interesting than the fact that the story of this band is now emerging. Contrary to what has been claimed before, this really is the long-running Austin TX band Too Smooth, who in other words were given the Tiger Lily treatment with the band name intact. There are (at least) two possible sources for the TL tax scam album, one being a set of unreleaed recordings the group cut for Just Sunshine in California 1974, the other being a prospective LP they recorded for Mercury/Phonogram in 1976. One might speculate that the '76 material may have been a little too 'hot' even for Tiger Lily's fearless production norms, but it's impossible to tell currently whether it's the '74 or '76 recordings that were used. The album, incidentally, is very good Southern rock with a professional finish like most Tiger Lily jobs--see Acid Archives review for details.

The source for the above info also pointed to an (official) 45 release by Too Smooth from 1980, which has a re-recording of a track also on the Tiger Lily album, spelled slightly different:

TOO SMOOTH (Austin, TX)
Non-LP 45 from 1980:
Side 1: "Mamie Mama" (3:47)
Side 2: "Don't Stop Lovin' Me" (3:33)
Label: Armadillo Records (Austin, Texas)
Catalog #: ARS 80-3 Stereo

The band existed between 1973-1981 and seem to offer excellent prospects for a retrospective reissue/sampler.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:06 CET
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16 December 2012
Two buried folkies
Now Playing: "Zodiac" movie
Topic: Minor change or comment

We are reluctant to add folk genre albums to the Acid Archives unless they pack both underground vibes and collector appeal. Most '60s-70s collectors are simply not interested in plain acoustic recordings, and it's also a style where there's a heck of a lot more quantity than quality on the private press scene. The occasional true find aside, you shouldn't expect to find much folk stuff in these update pages.

That said, I should mention a couple of odd birds in the field that should make it into the Attic if nothing else. On RPC Z 442061/2 comes a bunch of sailors from the US Naval Station in Rota, Spain with their Coffee House 1 album from 1976. Pressed up in order to finance a coffee house on the base, it opens rather promising with "Endless Trip", a slightly psych-tinged female folk track. Alas, this turns out to be the album's peak as the rest is simply average contemporary folk, mostly with male vocals. An atypical cool-jazz groover with sax closes the LP.

 

Somewhat similar is the Old Stone Singers, a k a Kathy & Joe Allison, who self-released their From The Hearth album in 1971 on DB Records #121271. Despite having sold for substantial money on occasion, I hear nothing to set this apart from dozens of other local Peter Paul & Mary combos who kept the folk-boom aesthetics way past its due date. There's a nice dual acoustic guitar interplay throughout and not too shabby vocal harmonies. "Early Morning Rain" highlights side 1, while side 2 has a version of "Get Together" and a charming original (?) titled "Close Your Eyes". There is none of the dark, gothic late-night moods that psych guys might fall for and could have warranted an Acid Archives inclusion. Hardcore folk genre fans might dig this for the reasonably adept (male lead) vocal and instrumental performances, somewhat like Colours from TX, but that band had electric instruments and much hipper record collections.

 


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 00:49 CET
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13 December 2012
Sorting out the Seeds
Now Playing: Pentangle "Bramble Briar"
Topic: Minor change or comment

I finally got around to putting together a long-planned overview of original 60s mono pressings of the first SEEDS LP. As you may know, this is an album that sounds a heckuva lot better in mono than in stereo. The organ fuzz on "Evil Hoodoo" is pure apocalypse in mono!

The Normans at GNP have kept the inferior stereo pressing in print for like 40 years, making it very difficult to single out true stereo originals. With the mono it is easier - the monos are always 60s pressings (with one possible odd exception shown below).

Enough of this empty-headed banter, time to dive into the universe of 2 chords!

 


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 16:57 CET
Updated: 13 December 2012 20:39 CET
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12 December 2012
Liquid Smoke
Now Playing: Lee Michaels "Carnival Of Life" LP
Topic: Addition

Although a '1-tracker' in some people's ears, the obscure Liquid Smoke album has begun to see some real action on the collector market, enough so that it's time to bring it down from The Attic and add it to the regular Acid Archives.

LIQUID SMOKE (Long Island, NY)
Liquid Smoke 1970 (Avco Embassy AVE-33005)
 
On the unpredictable Avco Embassy label, here's a white soul band who amped up their sound enough to attract the attention of psych collectors. The organ/guitar backing rocks pretty hard, but this is only one step removed from all of those horn bands that collectors hate. The band is pretty tight and tough, but aren't even remotely original. The highlighted songs are well-known covers, the singer postures throughout (not a single growl or groan sounds like it hadn't been rehearsed a hundred times), and while a few songs have half-decent hard rock backing tracks, the arrangements are aimless (backing vocals come straight from the adult contemporary playbook and most of the guitar solos are bland and dull) and the singer always annoys. Records this lousy make me wonder if all you needed to get a recording contract in 1969 was a fuzz box and a drummer who could keep time. Exception: "Reflection" is a pretty solid hard rocker, and even has a decent guitar solo. [AM]


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 21:39 CET
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10 December 2012
Franklin & Hayes & other folky tidbits
Topic: Entry data revision

Except for the insightful (?) review, the Acid Archives entry for the obscure Franklin & Hayes folk LP is woefully short on info. A copy now excavated and sold allows for an update of the basic release data:
FRANKLIN & HAYES (Olmstead Falls, OH)
Autumn To May 1969 (WR Productions WR1-69)

The equally obscure TRANSITIONS album from Michigan also turned up recently with what may be the second known copy. Unlike the one reviewed by Mr DMT in the Acid Archives book, this copy included the back cover paste-on, which has some mighty boastful liner notes plus detailed personnel credits. As it turns out, the album is one of those college project things, a product of 'Maury Dean's Modern Music class' at Monroe County Community College, to be precise. The record is described as featuring a mix of South Detroit 'gutrock' and rural melodies. For a fuller description I refer to the AA review, which accurately speculated on the college project nature of the thing. The title indicates this being the second album in a series, but the first one may never have reached the vinyl pressing stage.

Finally, our Spanish correspondent Juan C pointed out the odd fact that the first album by CHUCK & MARY PERRIN is routinely referred to as 'Brother & Sister', while this supposed title is actually nowhere to be found on the original LP. In other words, this is actually a self-titled LP (the original label gives the title as The Chuck and Mary Perrin Album), which has 'aquired' a new title over the years. Another minor adjustment to the entry: the catalog number is in fact '2101', not '2101/2'.


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 23:00 CET
Updated: 10 December 2012 23:22 CET
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Jim Sarkissian revisited
Now Playing: John Villemonte
Topic: Minor change or comment

A copy of the highly obscure Jim Sarkissian Windmills LP popped up with accompanying sound clips, which allows me to extend the Acid Archives review with the observation that this definitely could work as a fringe title for some. It's not as flipped out as Tweddle or Grudzien, but it hits a strange spot that can only be described as "Gordon Lightfoot on Datura". There isn't much of melody or steady beat, yet Sarkissian gives it a shot anyway, using mostly piano, his own mannered, non-rock, vocal style, and on several tracks an odd percussive sound that seems to follow a beat of its own -- a bit like the kitchen sink xylophone on Jerry Solomon's first LP. And like Solomon's songs, this may drive you nuts at times, but way past midnight, when the last toke hit you really weird, this could be a useful record. Not for everyone, but clearly Acid Archives-worthy, much as the tentative review in the 2nd Edition indicated. Thanks Jim... the copy now sold lacked even the paste-on sleeve but still brought in a neat $300+.

 


Posted by Patrick at Lysergia at 22:37 CET
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