Jefferson Airplane - surrealistic pillow

So Jefferson Airplane's second album from 1967 and a key release of early psychedelia and folk rock. Really it is good fun and unlike some "classics" lives up to the bill and still sounds fresh. "Somebody to love" and "White rabbit" are of course famous songs heavily played to this day, but still retain their urgency and invention.


Moving beyond these tracks "She has funny cars" is an enjoyable stomp, pretty garage-y. "Come back to me" is mellowness personified. "Today" is so beautiful and atmospheric. It was a hugely popular song during the Summer of Love and you can hear why. It sounds real. Man.

The Sugar Shoppe

The Sugar Shoppe were billed as the "Canadian Mamas and Papas", and you can certainly understand why, they were Canadian for a start. They had a brief period of success in their own country and released this album originally for Capitol "down south" in 1968. Their period of success was brief but one of the members Victor Garber later made a good name for himself as an actor in films like Titanic and Argo.

The Sugar Shoppe are 60s groovy and appear at first glance to be a bit bubblegum, but behind some whimsical song titles like "The candy children song" and "poor Papa" and cute arrangements, including a vibraphone at times, the music is solid mainstream late-60s pop. Its fun and light pop, the other side of the late 60s to all that psychedelic noise. We all need a break yeah?

"The attitude" is atmospheric and adventurous with groovy sounds and a multi-faceted song structure. The cover of Donovan's "Skip-a-long Sam" is sweet and irrelevant. "Let the truth come out" some how managed to be laid-back and urgent at the same time, with a funky bluesey undercurrent. The aforementioned "Candy children song" has a bright and sweet melody with a trippy feel. This is one of the missing links of the 60s pop scene, oh yeah.

The Fox - for fox sake

There were many obscure British psychedelic bands who largely disappeared without trace after the odd record or two. That was until the mastertapes got unearthed from a vault or ziggurat in the 2000s so the albums could be re-released...

Some of these bands were quite frankly rubbish which makes their obscurity no surprise and their disappearance was no great loss, in some cases they probably should have remained buried. However some of the bands were truly special, producing some amazing music, and their failure can only be described as mysterious, and even a crime. The Fox, of which this is a reissue of their one and only album from 1970, is one of the latter.

Coming at the end of the psych era The Fox have a heavier rock vibe underpinning superb songs like "Second hand love". They probably would have ended up as a prog rock band doing 59 minute long flute solos so maybe its best, as they say, to burn brightly then burn out than fade away. "Look in the sky" is another brilliant track, rolling along with plenty of tasty chords and organ. So check them out for fox sake!

The Mirage - tomorrow never knows

To be honest i'd never heard of The Mirage before i got this record (and apparently they were never that big) but the music is not bad at all though some of it isn't of the greatest sound quality (especially the lost sessions) and sounds like it was recorded in a toilet... on a dictaphone... that was a bit broken.

It maybe isn't that original either, you can certainly hear their influences which are clearly laid out. But the influences are pretty good...  the title track for example is a cover of that Beatles song which pretty much heralded the British psychedelia scene. The Mirage do a good job of it though the best songs are arguably elsewhere on this compilation.

The highlights of this compilation are songs such as "The wedding of Ramona Blair", the song is full of quirky psychedelic sounds, some of which are pretty hard to recognise. It has a nice pop feel too, it  qualifies as a lost psychedelic classic.

"Ebenezer Beaver" is another solid track with psych guitar menace and some cool echo and keyboards.  "Mrs Busby" is another good track, though sounds like you are hearing it through some else's wall. The percussion sounds a bit like fuel air explosives and the organ screeches through you like a buzz saw. Of course these are by no means bad things.

So while this isn't a "lost classic", it is well worth checking out for some delicious psych sounds.

Susan Christie - paint a lady

It might sound really odd these days that record companies could pay for albums to be produced and then not release it but it did happen quite a bit in the olden days, and Susan Christie's album "paint a lady" is an example of one. She had a minor hit with a novelty pop song in the late 1960s and then went onto make an album of psychedelic folk however it was not released by Columbia as it was not thought commercial enough.

Happily the album was finally released in 2006, 36 years late, and what do Columbia know? Its a really nice record, a bit strange perhaps and unpredictable with its sometimes haunting and sometimes funky melodies and introspective atmosphere but it wasn't too far out for 1970 by any means. Pick of the album is the cover of "Ghost riders in the sky", one of the best versions of this song i've heard.

MV : "Rainy day" by Susan Christie

Lovely song, just bought the album this is off in fact...

Love - forever changes

Regarded as one of the finest albums to come out of the Summer of Love, "Forever changes" was Love's third album and includes lovely psychedelia and beautiful folk rock with baroque flourishes. Some great pop hooks too, "Alone again or" for example has a delicious urgency and a juicy brass assisted melody.

"A house is not a hotel" is another shuffle of a track with tasty razor sharp guitar licks. "The red telephone" is an irresistible slice of psychedelia with whimsy, tempo changes and lush sounds a-plenty. It is a great album that has not dated any, sounding as fresh in 2013 as it did in 1967.

Donovan - a gift from a flower to a garden

This collects together 2 of 60s singer songwriter legend Donovan's albums, the electric "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" and the acoustic "For Little Ones". Originally released separately and then together as one of the first rock "box sets" and only the third rock double album ever apparently fact fans.

I prefer the electric album especially on tracks like "Mad John's Escape" (who came from Birmingham apparently and ran away from Borstal and make it to Torquay). It has lots of late 60s pop feel and a healthy dose of psychedelia, some of the Eastern philosophy in the lyrics maybe sounds a little twee now but it was of its time. And was meant well, there are far worse philosophies to write lyrics using.

Musically it can be quite twee as well, which i like. The vocals are soft and chilled, its definitely an album to calm down to rather than use to try and get pumped up.

Live : The Grateful Dead (Santa Clara, CA 27/06/15)

Disclaimer, i wasn't there physically but i was there spiritually maaan. In other words I had to make do with the live web feed but thats the closest i will ever come to seeing the Grateful Dead live (unless i can find a bucket of cash before the final shows in Chicago early next month). Its the 50th anniversary of the forming of the band and 20 years since the death of Jerry Garcia and the final concerts of the Grateful Dead. To add a proper full stop to the story the surviving 4 members of the band and some friends have got together for 5 final shows.

Its formless and well formed, a fluid psychedelic jam of blues, funk and rock. Songs begin reasonably familiarly before heading off into sonic exploration. Like a guitar shaped Voyager probe. It all sounds amazing too and the visuals accompanying the music were also gorgeous. The only glitches being Phil Lesh's microphone seemed to be playing up but the guitars sounded fine.

Cream Puff War was the highlight if one can pick anything out like that, that dates back from the very first album. Indeed much of the first night of five's songs came from the early Dead period. Maybe this also brings the 60s to a close too? But no, the legacy lives on and will mutate and grow into many other forms. The originals are getting old now but younger generations have taken up the baton and taken it in new directions.

Sagittarius - present tense

Although remaining pretty much unknown to the general public Sagittarius and their 1968 "present tense" album has a following amongst the underground hip scene, so is it justified? Lets note first that there wasn't really a group called Sagittarius this being a studio project mostly of Gary Usher but helped by Curt Boettcher and a host of guest musicians including Glen Campbell lending vocals on the excellent "My world fell down".

Musically it is a gem of late 60s psychedelia with folk and baroque flavourings. Its trippy and its pretty hippy. "Another time" is my favourite track, it is an excellent song with a lush, slightly hushed but catchy melody. The album lacks that bit extra to elevate it into a genuine lost classic but its a perfectly fine record, very much of its time.

Tina & David Meltzer - poet song

Celebrated Beat Generation poet David Meltzer recorded this album with his then-wife Tina (now passed away) in 1969 following on from another more psychedelic album they did together (with a few others) under the name of The Serpent Power. A mixture of songs and spoken word pieces, the former handled by Tina who has a lovely warm voice, indeed David said the album was written to showcase her voice and it surely does.

Highlight for me is "Lullaby", a truly beautiful song, a gentle yet slightly haunting melody supported by strings. To me its a true lost treasure from the late 60s. Unfortunately nothing else really matches up to that song to make this album a genuine lost classic but its well worth a listen anyway.

"Pure white place" is an "of its time" song with its themes and rootsy feel and is an enjoyable listen. Less essential maybe but perfectly ok are songs like the county tinged "Hymn to love" and "It is for you", a lightly fluffy and somewhat throwaway song but still fun.

Shapes & Shadows - Psychedelic Pop And Other Rare Flavours From The Chapter One Vaults 1968-72

The endless depths of the late 60s/70s psychedelic vaults produce yet another compilation of obscurity, this time from the Chapter One label (no me neither). As usual this is a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good is pretty good though, i like the soaring vocal of Jason Cord on the epic "Spring never came twice" and The Californians' cover of "You got your troubles" is very decent. March Hare's "cry my heart" is a sweet song with some interesting tempo changes that moves from melancholy to sunny pop in a heartbeat. Sad People's "lonely man" is quite as you might imagine, a reflective organ led pop track.

Nothing else stands out that much though there is plenty of enjoyable music on here, some great bands names too like Tandem and Philwit & Pegasus.

MV : "Ghost riders in the sky" by Susan Christie

Great cover!

Jimi Hendrix - are you experienced

The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album from 1967 was one of those albums that changed music history. It still sounds pretty amazing nowadays with its psychedelic rock assault, but must have sounded like it was from another planet back then. Who was this alien Jimi Hendrix and how was he able to produce such sounds out of his guitar? Songs like "Foxy lady", "Purple haze" and "Hey Joe" have become total rock classics.

However its not a perfect album, there are a few places where you wish Jimi would have stopped pissing around and got on with it. But thats a minor point, the album's fusion of heavy rock noise with accessible song structures changed the world. Dude.

The Monkees - the birds, the bees and the monkees

The Monkees' fifth studio album from 1968 and came as the band's star began its downward trajectory. The TV show that had propelled them to stardom had been cancelled, the movie failed and this album was the first not to reach #1 in the Billboard chart (it had to make do with #3). However it was still a solid piece of work that spawned the wonderful "Valleri" and "Daydream believer".

Other highlights include the rootsy "Auntie's municipal court" and the lush Davy Jones number "We were made for each other". Mike Nesmith's psychedelic "Tapioca tundra" is also an entertaining and interesting song. "The poster" is a simple but sweet 60s pop song.

There isn't anything bad about the album at all though it does sound as it was, the start of the band's slide downwards.

94 Baker Street : The Pop-Psych Sounds of the Apple Era 1967-1969 (RPM)

Another in RPM' interesting series of psychedelia compilations presenting songs from the Beatles' Apple record label. This one concentrates on the period when Apple was trying to be a normal record label and not just for Beatles records. There are some great songs on here by bands largely forgotten nowadays but well worth rediscovering (in some cases). Some of the songs have not been released before including Focal Point's amazing "girl on the corner" who also score with the scruzzy psychedelia of "Sycamore Sid".

The album is dominated by Focal Point and The Iveys (who later became Badfinger). Their sweet pop sounds can be enjoyed on "Maybe tomorrow".

Another interesting track is Paintbox's bouncy pop thrill on "get ready for love". While a couple of the tracks are a bit forgettable taken overall this is a lovely compilation of lesser known bands and sounds from the psychedelia era. One final point, the track listing on the back of the CD is wrong which adds to the mind-bending fun of course.

Tops in Pops of the 60s

A new album but reissuing many songs recorded for covers albums in the 1960s, the Top of the Pops series being the most notable. Whats different here is that the singers who covered the songs are credited at long last. So we know that Danny Street sang on the impressive version of "In the year 2525", i thought that was the highlight of this collection but there are a number of other good ones too, and some less than good but thats staying true to the covers album legend! Its available on eBay (at the moment anyway) so hurry!

MV : "You've got your troubles" by The Californians

Lovely and obscure 60s sounds.

An Apple A Day : More Pop-Psych Sounds From The Apple Era 1967-1969 (RPM)

This is volume 2 in RPM's collection of re-releases (and in some cases releasing for the first time) of songs by artists on the Beatle's Apple Records in the late 60s. Bands and artists include the likes of the Iveys (later Badfinger), Gallagher & Lyle and the wonderfully named Turquoise. As with the first volume some of the previously unreleased tracks sound like they should have remained so but some of the others are wonderful.

Best tracks are The Iveys with their psychedelic pop rush of "black and white rainbow" and Denis Couldry's wonderful "I am nearly there", all deadpan vocals and tempo changes. Majority One's "Charlotte Rose" has plenty of psychedelic whimsy and great 60s pop moments. Its a mixed bag, like a mix of sweets you used to get from the shop as a kid. Sometimes the sweet shop owner would put in a couple of sweets you wouldn't like but you just knew that the good ones would make up for it.

Paul Parrish - the forest of my mind

Some "lost 60s masterpieces" arn't really, well apart from being lost and from the 60s. This album from 1968 is very much of its time, with flutes and strings highlighting a trippy light psychedelic feel. Its rather Donovon-esque in many ways. The songs are intricate and sweet such as on "Suzanne" and on the flowery and reverb happy "Walking in the forest of my mind".

There is also a bit of a Motown feel on "I can't help myself" which in some ways works better than the psychedelia which errs on the wrong side of the twee-cool divide at times. Its still an interesting work but a bit patchy.