THE TURTLES/TURTLES GOLDEN HITS WW 115 (-67) US MONO

Very rewarding collection of cuts recorded 1965-67, some of them rare as they appear here. "So Goes Love" and "Is It Any Wonder" previously unreleased. "You Know What I Mean", "Outside Chance", "Can I Get To Know You Better" and "Grim Reaper Of Love" formerly 45 only, the rest album tracks. As far as I know this was the only sixties compilation from the band and also the only one where you can get some of those original mono mixes on a reasonably early album. It shows they were a lot more than just "Happy Together". About every song has something special, but if I have to chose favorites - "It Aint Me Babe" (killer cover I much rather listen to than the original), "Can I Get To Know You Better" and "She'd Rather Be With Me" (top pop songs with true sticking power). I've seen people complaining about the audio on this mono, but I don't get that at all. Maybe not totally up there with the singles or original mono albums, but for me who don't have time and money to hunt down everyone of those it is a very welcome shortcut providing quite enjoyable listening. Also as stereo (WWS 7115). To my knowledge only released in US and Canada (same label, number and cover) and never reissued on vinyl or CD. Premiere US had blue label as shown here (later greyish) and glossy cover. (YZÄ*) (ÖXCÅ*)

THE SOFT MACHINE CPLP 4500 (-68) US

The Wilde Flowers was a popular UK sixties band from Canterbury. They went through a number of settings from 1964-68 without releasing any records, but the break-up resulted in two well known combos - Soft Machine and Caravan https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/02/caravan-vlp-6011-69-uk-mono.html  . Wilde Flowers was mainly responsable for creating and developing the "Canterbury Sound" - a mix of psych, folk, rock and jazz with a British touch. The two offsprings went in slightly different directions. While Caravan initially embraced a melodic folk psych style which is shown on their first album, this Soft Machine debute is something else. At the time down to a trio consisting of keyboardist Michael Radledge, drummer Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers on bass and guitar they got a contract with American ABC:s newly founded Probe label. Recordings took place at Record Plant, New York, in the presence of two experienced producers - Tom Wilson and Chas Chandler. I wonder how big part those professional surroundings had in the end result. Cause the outcome here is not what you'd expect from a UK psych trio debute in the sixties. The quirkiness is there, the long improvised interventions, the form experiments, dissonances and challenging lyrics. But it's never messy, unbalanced or amateuristic. I get well planned where the weirder sections blends with calmer melodic pieces, thus making it easier to embrace. They are truly skilled musicians, sometimes pushing the psychedelia towards what would later be called "prog" and maybe this album was one of the inspirations to that emerging genre. So if you're only into saggy mental garage or really disturbing stuff this is not it, but if you want very good psych/prog, performed and produced by some of the better from the period with top audio, it's a trip worth taking. Favorite tracks - the hypnotic "We Did It Again", the weirdly intrusive "Hope For Happiness" and "Why Are We Sleeping" (partly reused by Ayers for his 1974 "Confessions Of Dr. Dream" album  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2012/08/kevin-ayersthe-confessions-of-dr-dream.html  ). 1968 releases in US, Canada (same label, cover and number) and France (Barclay 920 082). Initial US cover was withdrawn and replaced with a plain censured one omitting all nudity. First UK 1976 on ABC (27135 ET) came with alternate sleeve design. 1990 US CD on One Way Records (MCAD-22064). Premiere US had label as shown here, fold/out windowed cover with rotatable card inside and uncensored nude pictures. (YZÄ*) (CÖLÖ*)  (ÖYÄL*)

THE DON ELLIS ORCHESTRA/ELECTRIC BATH BPG 63230 (-68) UK MONO

Those were the days...when a jazz band could record an experimental album and that becoming a Grammy nominee and awarded "album of the year" by a major US music magazine. It must have been a revelation in the midst of psych and early prog rock. One of a kind back then and in a way it still is. Played by a big band setting reinforced by sitar, electric keyboards and assorted exotic rythm instruments. I hear hard core modern jazz including atonal parts and rythmic gaming mixed with cool lounge music, sometimes borderline psychedelic and sometimes spiced with eastern influences. Very hard to tag - maybe genreless fits best, or a very early exemple of jazz fusion still firmly rooted in sixties music. Could it be this was one of the main influences to just fusion? I guess Frank Zappa must have listened, at least to the title track where the dissonant layers sound a lot like what he did on Burnt Weeny Sandwhich a couple of years later. I'm usually not a fan of big band jazz or fusion though this has other qualities. Don't know if it was meant to be positively playful, but that's how I get it - a happy boundary-breaking moment. This UK mono has reference to the US mono number on label and sounds great so I take it's from the US mono tapes. Premiere 1967 releases in US and Canada on Columbia (CL 2785/CS 9585). 1998 CD on Columbia Legacy (CK 65522). First UK had structured label as shown here and thin laminated cover with CBS ad inner. (CLÄZ*)

HITPARADE INTERNATIONAL 60 370 (-64) MONO GERMANY

I keep posting early samplers here containing stuff I heard on radio while growing up in Sweden during the fifties and early sixties. In that context this ten inch may seem somewhat misaligned as it'd relate more to German former radio freaks about my age. But it's not that off for me either. The northern European tastes was quite conformist back then - multilingual artists moved around between markets singing in different languages and the US or UK big hits always struck hard. You couldn't avoid Supremes "Baby Love" or "Honecombs "Have I The Right" wherever you were and even if Acker Bilk's "La Paloma" wasn't high on my list it was played a lot here too. Swedish female vocalists Siw Malmkvist and Ann-Louise Hanson were already big domestically back then, but succeded to get a new fan base abroad by singing in German. Can't say I hold any of the other tracks close in memory, but even if the song choice as a whole may mean more to a German sixties collector it also strikes a chord in this old Swede because of the audio, sleeve design and sheer atmosphere of it all. Released in Germany only and to my knowledge never reissued in any shape. It had label as shown here, thin glossy cover and polylined inner with handeling advice in German, English, French and Spanish. (GÖXÄ*) (SÄM*) (FÄV*)

HLJÓMAR SG-018 (-68) ICELAND

(Band also sometimes listed and recognized under its English name - "Thor's Hammer"). For background check post on their debute LP. That had the same eponymous title, but since both were recorded for and only issued in Iceland everyone there could tell them apart anyway. With only a year inbetween you could expect this to be about the same - well performed right on garage pop. But the band had clearly developed a lot in that short time and what you get here is an elaboratedly produced and arranged album in a "summer of love" atmosphere, shifting between soul, baroque pop and psych. I wonder if that had anything to do with their newly recruited female singer Patricia Gail Owens - here under her then artist name Shady Owens. Of mixed heritage - American father and Icelandic mother - she grew up in US and already there aiming for a singing carreer, among other things participating in the less successful dou "Shady & Sonny". 1967, at age 18, she moved to Iceland and within a year got contact with Hljómar, became a member and just after a week or so participated in these recordings. The album is divided into two parts - side one has self-penned numbers while side two relies on covers of original US compositions - from Pickett to Bacharach. Owens does lead vocals on four of the cuts and background for some of the others. She has a lovely voice and as bilingual singing in Icelandic while her idiom is clearly American. The male vocals are fine too, but with the bands own well written songs and the catchy covers I can't help thinking that an alternative version where Owens did all vocals in English would have helped them to reach outside the domestic market and maybe even an international breakthrough. It is that good. Favorite tracks - "Er Han Birtist" (beautiful baroque ballad with Owens to full orchestral backing), "Ég Älska Alla" (Owens doing up-tempo US style soul) and "Lífsgledi" (very catchy pop/rock with fuzz guitars and shared male-female vocals). Recorded in London and produced by Tony Russell. Front sleeve photo by Dezo Hoffman. 1994 CD on Spor (SGCD 018). First vinyl had label as shown here and glossy flip/back cover. (SCÄ*) (FÄV*) (CCÖ*)

MARSHA HUNT/WOMAN CHILD 2410101 (-71) UK MONO + STEREO

American writer, actress, model, editor, activist and singer who by a combination of stunning looks and multiple talents rocked the British music circuits after moving there 1966. She performed with Alexis Korner and Ferris Wheel, made success as Dionne in Hair and appeared on the poster ads for the musical, but apart from a minor hit with "Walk On Guilded Splinters" never made it on the charts solo. As it seems she had a an interesting dating life in the UK. After a short marriage to Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine for visa purposes, there were also love affairs with Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger (with whom she also had a child 1970 - Karis Jagger). The Rolling Stones hit "Brown Sugar" was based on her and there are references to her in contemporary Bolan compositions. This was the first of only three original solo albums, all issued in the seventies. Containing cuts recorded 1969-71 - "Walk On Guilded Splinters", "Hot Rod Pappa" and "Keep The Customer Satisfied" appeared on 45:s, the rest otherwise unreleased at the time. Session backings included Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones. One track produced by Gus Dudgeon, two by Kit Lambert and the remaining by Tony Visconti. Rear cover also has thanks to a certain "George" at Apple Studios (your guess is as good as mine). So you could call it a collection of random recordings separated by time and place, but I'd rather see it together as an early cover album in the same vein as "Pin-Ups" or "These Foolish Things". She does stuff from Dr John, Traffic, Troggs, Dylan, Paul Simon, Supremes, John's Children, Tyrannosaurus Rex and more and it's good. All cuts shaped in a common almost genreless atmosphere somewhere between soul and psych. Audio is great conveying a cozy atmosphere. As a Bolan fan I like "Desdemona", Stacey Grow" and "Hot Rod Pappa" (gender transformed "Hot Rod Mama") best, but the whole record has something magic about it making me wanna listen again and again. Everything above put together - background, participants, track choice and appearence - makes this a true gem and in a way one of a kind. German original vinyl on Polydor (2383-081), reissued 1974 as "Desdemona" on Brunswick (2911 504). 1987 UK CD and vinyl reissues on See For Mile Records (SEE/CD 209) came with "Hippy Gumbo" as bonus track. Premiere UK had label as shown here and thin matt cover. (FÄV*) (TRÄC*) 

                                                                                

                                                                                   

                                                                            

                                                                                

                                                                             

 

GENESIS/NURSERY CRYME CAS 1052 (-71) UK

Not making a full review here. Don't have to cause this album is totally self-sufficient. A meeting between two worlds - late sixties whimsical British psych and sventies progressive rock. Yet baked together this way with the stories told, the catchy melodies and the performance including Peter Gabriels significant vocals, it's neither psych nor prog, but transcends all contemporary genres and even stands unique in relation to the group's other work. As a singular album it's timeless, uncomparable and my guess is that, together with "Foxtrot", it'll last longest of all Genesis albums. It's been a true friend of mine for over forty years and I know we'll be together till the end. Impossible for me to pick out favorite tracks, but if I feel like having a pleasant adventure "The Musical Box" or "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" will fit just fine. Frequently issued and reissued through all possible medias. First US on Charisma scroll label (same number). Premiere UK on scroll, still this early "mad hatter" copy also has the original -1U/-2U matrixes and the structured E.J. Day cover. Don't know if that went on a long time or only for a limited number of transitional copies. In any case as it has 1st press matrixes and sleeve I keep it as an original and see no need for update. (CÄX*) (GYÄ*)

THE EAGLES/SMASH HITS FROM THE EAGLES NPL 18084 (-63) UK MONO

A blast from the past and reminder of times when guitar groups were hot and their instrumentals topped lists all over the world. The Eagles was a British combo existing 1958-64, not the most famous but with slightly faster and rawer style than for exemple Shadows or Ventures, making them special in an otherwise quite inflexible genre. In 1963 after getting an impressario in rewarded writer/producer Ron Grainer (1922-81) - known for the "Doctor Who" soundtrack and composing music to a large number of British TV-series - they were on the go with a couple of 45:s on the lists, doing a major British tour - where they supported US artists as Stevie Wonder, Del Shannon and Dionne Warwick - and recording this debute LP. 1964 started good with a big selling vocal version of "Wishin And Hopin", but shortly thereafter targedy struck. Ron Grainer went blind thus unable to help them further and drummer Rod Mecham suffered a nervous breakdown and had to leave. The band broke up same year and this debute also became their only album. Track choices are rather common for the genre as converting different kind of standards to guitar rock - e.g. "Sukiyaki", "Hava Nagila" and Exodus". In comparison to more renowned contemporary colleagues less mellow and further towards rock'n'roll. I get the impression of live in the studio recordings not standing back to the others in skill, just more eagerly performed with less adjustments. I especially like the galloping bass supporting "Hava Nagila", the drums in the intrusive "Scarlett O'Hara and the rather weird "The Desperados". Originally also released downunder (Australian on Astor GG-489) and in a couple of Southamerican countries, but not in US. 2001 CD on Myria Records as a 30 track, with about all they ever recorded. Premiere UK had ridged label as shown here and laminated cover. (PÖY*)

VAN DER GRAF GENERATOR/68-71 CS 2 (-72) UK

UK prog/psych combo from Manchester existing in periods 1967-72, 1975-78 and from 2005 onwards. A band that to me for some reason always been in the outskirts so I'm now learning about them and wondering why it took so long to get them in focus. Just picked this compilation from a used bin and it's great in so many ways. Not only because I get very rare cuts, but the music is beautiful, having elaborated melodic numbers, lots of organ and excellent guitars. "Necromancer" and "Afterwards" from their in UK initially deleted debute album "Aerosol Grey Machine", making this the first time the songs were released on home soil. "The Boat Of Million Years" a former 45 B-side only and you also get the single mix of "Refugees". The numbers are firmly rooted in contemporary UK psych/prog with some resemblance to Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and early King Crimson. Still listening and learning and happy to have found a "new" band from my favorite period to get into. Hoping to find more of their albums eventually. For background on the group I recommend this very exhaustive and interesting Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Graaf_Generator . Early releases also in a couple of other European countries, but not in US and to my knowledge never reissued on CD though most of the tracks have shown up on other CD compilations. UK reissue on "mad hatter" label. First had "scroll" as shown here, matt stickered cover and Charisma inner. (CÄX*)

MADE IN SWEDEN/ THE BEST OF MADE IN SWEDEN GP-9997 (-71) SWEDEN

You don't see "Best Of..." budget compilations from odd jazz/prog groups very often and since most fans had the band's original albums already back then it's no surprise this didn't sell much on release and almost never shows up nowadays. Up to 1971 they'd just released one Sonet single - "I Don't Care". The B-side to that included here - the cool jazzy intrumental "Sunset" - was their only non-LP cut, the rest figured on ordinary albums. As compiled here - two from the "...With Love" debute, three from "Snakes In A Hole" and two from "Made In England" - all recorded 1968-70. I've already posted their first two LP:s, so for closer background on band and music check those. To summerize - well played early prog with emphasis on jazz, but some roots still in r&b. Top guitars by Georg Wadenius including elaborate octave shapes and occational scat song. It's a representative collection, as rare as the original albums but a lot cheaper when it shows up, so if you're into this kind of music and lucky enough to hit it in a used bin - pick it up and go for a spin. This was the only release. It came with label as shown here and fully laminated cover. (SCÄ*) (CCÖ*) (SÖNÄ*)