Tangerine Dream- Alpha Centauri (1971)

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Ok, let's try and assume Electronic Meditation never happened and consider this Tangerine Dream's debut. In a way it is since Edgar Froese is the only member remaining from the last album. Joining him is Chris Franke, who was hired as a drummer but would be the Dreamer to dive head first into the electronic waters and match Froese's influence in the band for the next 15 years. We also have organist Steve Schroyder who would vanish in a drug induced haze following this album.

The band's trademark sequencer patterns are still nowhere to be found here, and there is still plenty of conventional instrumentation. In fact, Alpha Centauri is very much a "space rock" album. But we do start to hear experimentation with electronics, particularly the VCS3 synth, which Pink Floyd would also use extensively (no Moogs yet though). The band was from a rock background, and didn't really know how to properly program the synth (although Brian Eno suggests that synth players throw away the manual anyway), but they still conjure up some awesome sounds here.

The band is a lot more mellow here. They occasionally whip up some noise, but it's much more controlled than on the last album, and performed with purpose. The players are actually playing off of each other here. Most of the music is minimalist, but arranged and playing with maximum effect.

Once again the band has a concept, which I think is a space voyage to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. Honestly, I'm not sure if that was the band's intention, but it's what I visualize and what's better than a concept conveyed completely instrumentally? There are only three tracks present here, and each of them create a ton of effective imagery. I see the album as such:

"Sunrise In The Third System" is shortly after takeoff, drifting around the earth. The organ tones have no trouble evoking an orbital sunrise. With the 13-minute long "Fly And Collision Of Cosmos Sola," we launch into hyperspace, with VCS3 patterns streaking by. Eventually we enter the Alpha Centauri system, and make a tricky landing through a turbulent atmosphere. The side long title track would be a tour of this distant planet.

Alpha Centauri is an early masterpiece by the Dream. In fact, they'd continue making stylistic changes, and never really return to this sound. There's a great mix of space rock and early avant garde electronics here in a perfect balance.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes Alpha Centauri)

Tangerine Dream- Electronic Meditation (1970)

Quality: 1.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 (but it's a bad trip)

The long and convoluted story of Tangerine Dream 70+album recorded output begins on this unfortunately disappointing disc. It's a shame as the personel present garners very high expectations. Of course mainstay Edgar Froese is here wailing away in his early psychedelic guitar mode. Soon-to-be electronic guru Klaus Schulze appears as the drummer and Ash Ra Tempel's Conrad Schnitzler complete this first version of the band. Even before the release of Electronic Meditation Tangerine Dream would fracture and only Edgar Froese made it to album #2.

The problem here is that Electronic Meditation is not a properly thought out or conceived album. There is some gobblygook about a "cycle of life" concept glueing the album together, but the fact is that this was basically a recorded rehearsal. None of the members ever thought of this as their first album. The tapes found their way to the brand new Ohr label, who wanted to put the recordings out as one of their first releases. Finding themselves in need of income, the Dream consented to this.

The cover art and title are extremely misleading. We see a heavily wired modular synth looking thing tied to a doll. Especially considering Tangerine Dream's (and Schulze's) later role as electronic pioneers it seems safe to expect that this is an album focused around electronic sounds. For better or for worse, this is really a very psychedelic guitar/bass/drums album with a touch of flute and just a few synthesized sounds basically functioning as sound effects.

Still, there are of course plenty of great albums with traditional instruments. The bigger problem is that there are no melodies here to speak of or any sort of forward motion. The band doesn't seem to have any purpose or goal. They're basically screwing around. In fact the only thing resembling a theme shows up in the only standout, "Journey Through A Burning Brain." Even here though, the theme explicitly recalls Pink Floyd's "Saucerful Of Secrets" and the revised version of Tangerine Dream would create a far superior track like this on their next album.

I teach English to Japanese students, and in my discussion class last week we tried to define the line between noise and music. I have a wide definition and would still classify this as music. One student thought that if the music is played by professionals, it is music, even if it is very avant-garde. So, that too would classify this as music. Other qualifiers included having a theme and/or concept. For the most part this album is lacking those (except for what seems to be a tacked on concept), and about half of my class probably would not call Electronic Meditation music.

I'm not here to slam Tangerine Dream. The 70's Dream in particular were certaintly one of the most ground breaking bands around, and second only to maybe Kraftwerk in terms of electronic music. But I highly recommend starting with the second album. Give this one a try if you're a completist and are already familiar with Tangerine Dream's later masterworks.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes this album along with three far better ones)

The Seeds- Future (1967)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

First off, I think that I have to admit that this album is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. The Seeds, while a very distinctive band, did not possess the talent of the best, or even above average artists of 60's rock. On their psychedelic opus, Future, we hear the sound of a band that has a huge recording budget, but no clue what they're doing. Fortunately, what they ended up creating is a wild 60's pop art display, which contains little nuance, but tons of charm. Future is the sonic equivalent of a 60's cult film like The Trip.

The Seeds began life a few years prior to this recording as a prime garage/psych band out of LA. They'd already scored a few minor hits with "Pushin' Too Hard" and "Can't Seem To Make You Mine." They cashed in on their newfound clout to create this weird and freaky distorted mirror image of Sgt. Pepper's. The strange thing is, Future is arguably a more fun album than that Beatles classic.

Let's hit the bad points first. Sky Saxon was a notably crazed singer, but he didn't really have the focused punch of somewhat like the 13th Floor Elevator's Rocky Erickson. Without the sonic adornments on this album, his singing easily becomes tiresome after a few tracks.

The Seeds compositional skills were also far from enviable. The songwriting usually doesn't stand out much here, and when it does it's practically a rewrite as on the "Pushin' Too Hard" clone "The Flower Lady And Her Assistant."

What raises this album to classic status for me is in the execution. "The Flower Lady And Her Assistant" is a far from original composition, but the disorienting harps and strangely meandering clarinet takes song into a brand new realm. Something like "March Of The Flower Children" becomes a great song because it ends up pointlessly and manically orchestrated with blaring horns and a tuba replacing what would normally be the bass line. The album continues with other random kitchen sink productions culminating in the epic length and wildly strange "Fallin'."

Film director Ed Wood is often cited as the worst film director of all time, but I disagree with this sentiment. Although his technique is painfully inept, his love and joy of filmmaking shows through in something like Glen Or Glenda and makes his films incredibly entertaining. I think the same thing applies her. The Seeds sound like they're trying to convey what they believe is an important message and create high art, and they're having a blast doing it. It doesn't matter that they really didn't have the talent to create another Sgt. Peppers because they're having so much fun trying. Fortunately, they also had a lot of money to make this quixotic attempt, and that just makes Future all the more charming.

This is far from a masterpiece of psychedelia. It is, however, a lot more fun and entertaining that many of those classics. Future gives "guilty pleasure" a good name and inhabits a special goofy place in the pantheon of 60's rock.

Note: The buy me link below includes A Spoonful Of Seedy Blues on a two-fer. I find that album much more dull and ill-fitting with Future, but it is the best place to get Future on CD.

Buy Me:
The Seeds- The Future/A Spoonful Of Seedy Blues

Aphrodite's Child- It's Five O' Clock (1970)

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3 out of 5

Aphrodite's Child made a serious change of gears on their second long player, It's Five O' Clock. Whereas on their first disc they were firmly a strange psych-pop band, they try to adopt a more country-rock sort of vibe here with just a few hints of psychedelia. That's right, a Greek band playing country rock.

They really don't do a bad job of it at all. Unfortunately, the eccentricities that made the first album so interesting are mostly smoothed over here and the overall sound is much more bland and less distinctive. In fact, I had trouble believing thart this was the same band until the fourth track, "Annabella," where Roussos finally returns to his amusingly overly dramatic vocals. Some of the songs, while well written, don't really take off until the band gets onto more of a freaky jam mood as in the second half of "Let Me Love, Let Me Live."

Aphrodite's Child still maintains interest as a truly organ driven band on many of the tracks, but there are far more guitars present here. I guess you can't really do country rock like "Wake Up," "Take Your Time," "Marie Jolly," "Or Such A Funny Night" without some strummed acoustic guitars. For better or for worse, none of these tracks are embarrassing, but they do come off as uninspired. These are very much utilitarian compositions.

The band tries to reach out in a few different directions on "Funky Marie" and "Good Time So Fine." "Funky Marie" is certainly not funky in the traditional sense, but it is odd with its manic percussion including jazzy vibes and spastically hit bongos. Unfortunately, it's not very good either and is more of a overly stoned jam than anything else. The band fairs a little better trying to create a touch of dixieland on "Good Time So Fine" and mixing it with, uh, hoarse yelping. Still, I'd take, well anything from the first album over this.

The title track, which is also the opener, is sort of a rehash of "Rain And Tears" from the last album. It's not bad, but it does suffer from the law of diminishing returns. If I want to hear something like this I'd sooner put on "Rain And Tears."

The lyrics are far less noticable on It's Five O' Clock. I guess the singing is integrated in the mix a little more, but I didn't pick up on any of the demented psychedelic cliches which I enjoyed so much on the first album.

It's Five O' Clock is a pretty average album. There are a few successful country rock numbers which are worth a listen, but the experimentation often flies off the rails, and the album unfortunately pales in comparison with it's far more distinctive predecessor.

Apparently, Aphrodite's Child took a deep plunge into the weird on the next album, 666. I haven't been able to track that one down, but if someone out there can send some mp3s my way, I'd love to review it.

Buy Me:
Aphrodite's Child- It's Five O' Clock

Aphrodite's Child- End Of The World (1968)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Aphrodite's Child was a Greek band featuring several future musical luminaries. New age/electronica guru Vangelis (of "Blade Runner" fame) shows up here as a multi-instrumentalist and writes the bulk of the music. Demis Roussos, who apparently had a successful solo career in the 1970's is the lead vocalist. This album is their debut and feature some prime, if slightly-skewed, 1968 psychedelia.

You've perhaps heard "Rain And Tears," the closest thing to a hit on this album. It's a pleasant organ-led psych track in the "Whiter Shade Of Pale" mold. Fortunately, it's not the best song here as End Of The World turns out to be a very consistent album.

I've often heard the early "prog rock" tag thrown at this direction. Although there are a couple of slightly longer tracks (like six minutes) present, the modus operandi here is very much psychedelic pop. We're not looking at multi-part, constantly shifting songs here. I think the progressive elements apply more to the oddball elements of this band.

As Greek musicians (who also spent time in Paris), these guys were probably pretty disconnected from the British/American mainline of 60's pop. Demis Roussos seems like he's often horsely belting out the vocals without any restraint in a strange approximation of his counterparts. This often works to enjoyable effect as "Mister Thomas" comes of as much less twee as it would otherwise, and I always get an amusing image of Mr. Roussos blasting from the top of a windswept mountain on the sideways rocking "Don't Try To Catch A River."

This is also an early example of an almost guitar-less rock album, which would become a common progressive rock gimmick. Vangelis is quite a keyboard player, however, and I never found myself missing guitar tones. It fact, I really had to pay close attention to the album to notice the lack of guitars. As a warning to fans of Vangelis, the songs here little in common with his solo works, although you might be pleasantly surprised by his different, but great performance here.

Lyrically, this album gets a bit strange, perhaps due to the fact that English was not these guys first language. Things are pretty creepy on opening track "End Of The World" as Roussos suggests "You should come with me to the end of the world without telling your parents or your friends," and that he'll "give you anything that lives on earth." It's not an enticing offer from a hairy hippy. As the album continues, we hear plenty of other psychedelic cliches twisted into surreal shapes.

The longer tracks, "The Grass Is Not Green" and "Day Of The Fool," break from the basic psychedelic pop mold. Here Aphrodite's Child get a little more progressive, but it's much closer to Days Of Future Passed Moody Blues than "Karn Evil 9." They do manage to end the album on a very creepy, unsettling note filled with decaying organs and sputtering percussion with "Day Of The Fool." End of the World, indeed.

Buy Me:
Aphrodite's Child- End Of The World

Dungen- Ta Dent Lugnt (2004)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Dungen is a Swedish band which is more of less a monkier for multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes. Unlike many of the bands you read about on this site, Dungen is fully functioning in the present and in fact has a new album coming out in the next month. I don't think they quite fit the "obscure" tag, but I certainly wouldn't consider these folks mainstream either.

Ejstes whips up a heady acid rock groove on Ta Dent Lugnt, Dungen's third album. The band's sound is set pretty squarely in 1968, with the most obvious reference point being late-period Cream, albeit being sung in Swedish. There are lots of searing acid rock guitar leads, and the impressing drumming falls somewhere between Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell's brands of manic, swinging thumping. In fact, the only thing here that recalls the last 35 years of music is that Ejstes voice makes me think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kedis.

Yes, the lyrics here are entirely in Swedish, so this is not a good place to search for tripped out psyche poetry, unless you're fluent in Swedish. A band like Dungen is very much about it's sound, and Ejstes' voice, while not phenomenal, is certainly expressive enough that I get an idea of the meaning.

For better or for worse, Ta Dent Lugnt is frontloaded with its standout tracks. The album starts out in a poppier mode with the one-two-three punch of "Panda," "Gjort Bort Sig," and "Festival." "Panda's" drum intro is especially of note and "Gjort Bort Sig" has an awesome vocal echo effect adorning it's chorus. Apparently, Dungen live is more a balls-out jamming affair, and the next few songs, "Du E For Fin For Mig" and the title track, have more sprawling lengths. The former is textured with some string overdubs while the latter pounds it's central riff for several minutes until morphing into, uh, jazz.

The rest of the album doesn't have as obvious highlights (except for the closing, anthemic "Sluta Folja Efter") but the flow of the album follows this lead into jazz. There are a few song fragments and several jazzy instrumentals, the best of which is the Soft Machine-like "Om Du Vore En Vakthund." Breaking this up a bit is the very Beatlesque "Lipsill," and the sludgy loud "Bortglomd." This later part of the album recalls the flow of Olivia Tremor Control albums, although without all the tape splices.

Dungen's music basically amounts to a pristine recreation of psychedelia circa 1968 on Ta Dent Lugnt. They do a phenomenal job at this, however, and deserve a listen by any fans of acid rock.

Buy Me:
Dungen- Ta Dent Lugnt

Chrysalis- Definition (1967)

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

For those of us plunging through endless piles of esoterica, we often have to concentrate on the diamonds in the the rough found on otherwise unimpressive collections. With Chrysalis' Definition, however, we really do have a top-tier album of American psychedelia that has yet to recieve it's due.

Chrysalis was a university-incubated band hailing from Ithica, New York. They built up a local following, and armed with some praises from Frank Zappa's circle of cronies, set about making Definition in New York City. The making of the album was a rough road as the band went through several producers, including Zappa himself. Strangely enough the problem didn't reside with the typical "creative differences," but instead with the horribly abrasive attitude of the band's managers. Even with these issues, the finished album is a unified-sounding product.

The band's leader and almost exclusive songwriter was a strange fellow by the name of Spider Barbour. He is apparently best known as the subject of Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy, which is a shame as he was also an exceptional songwriter. The tracks on Definition create a very distinctive and detailed niche of psychedelic folk rock. Barbour references many different sounds, including San Francisco rock, British psych pop like Donovan and Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band and Zappa, while creating an extremely distinctive sound. I've heard this disc likened to Zappa a bit too much. There are a few dashes of Zappa's vocal approach and instrumental flourishes on the opening track "What Will Become Of The Morning," and the closing Dr. Root's Garden employs some Zappa-style humor, but 98% percent of the time the band is most certainly doing their own thing. The almost unbearable melencholy of "Cynthia Gerome" and complete insanity of the bouncing "Baby Let Me Show You Where I Live" are wholly original.

Barbour's work as a lyricist is also of note. Many of the songs are in the form of stories, but remain conscious of word placement and sound for maximum effect. The imagery is quite strong, but avoids pretty much every cliche of psychedelic rock in 1967. Plenty of snippets of lyrics will bounce in your head long after listening. Barbour's voice is also of note, often lilting like a troubadour, but intimating some kind of hidden madness. This isn't to say I think Barbour was some sort of acid casualty as he always sounds completely in control and has a strong vision for his band.

Part of that vision includes a intensely trippy undercurrent of insect references. In fact it seems that songs like the aforementioned "Baby Let Me Show You Where I Live" and "Dr. Root's Garden" are written from an insect's perspective. In fact Barbour apparently eventually entered a career as an entomologist. The words are often a little unsettling, but always fascinating.

Every great band needs a secret weapon, and Chrysalis has two. Vocal Nancy Nairn comes across like an institutionalized Grace Slick and really tears the roof off of tracks like "April Grove" and "30 Popular." It makes me think a little of the Fiery Furnaces work almost 40 years later.

Also taking Chrysalis' music to the next level is percussionist Dahaud Shaar. His beats bring a lot of color and variety to the songs present here. While nothing here classifies as world music, Shaar seems to understand plenty of world rhythms and brings a touch of that to highlight, but not overwhelm the tracks.

The CD reissue includes eight bonus tracks, including six that don't appear on the album proper. The sound quality is a step down from the album, but seeing as such a great band has no other releases to their name, these still great tracks are invaluable. The writing and playing maintains the same amazing level of quality, even if thing get a little more hissy. According to the liner notes, Rev-Ola has plans to secure and release demo recordings for an aborted second album. I hope that these soon see the light of day.

Definition is truly a psychedelic classic. I would easily rate this with a "pick-up-as-soon-as-possible" status. Chrysalis were a completely original band with new ideas that still sounds innovative today.

Buy Me:
Chrysalis- Definition

Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends (1968)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 1.5 out of 5

Sunshine pop does not necessarily equate to psychedelic as this 1968 release attests. It's an odd disc that often earns favorable comparisons to Pet Sounds but in the end remains pretty square. If Laurence Welk ever tried to bring out a rockin' group to show he was "hep and with it," these folks must have been on the top of his list. And if my grandmother could still hear, I'd have no problem playing this one for her. This is not the place to look for anything that would be considered experimentation, but the sound is as sundrenched as anything you'd expect from A&M Records and Herb Alpert's guidance in the 60's.

Even without any particularly new sounds, Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is a high quality product that takes more attitude from the Sinatra dominated era of pop than the rock age. The arrangements here use a little bit of electricity and occasionally louder drums, but once the tight harmonies are in full effect, the songs tend to resemble a really good toothpaste commercial. The production is top flight and often has a dreamy sheen (hence the 1.5 on the Trip-O-Meter).

Roger Nichols carved out most of his career as a songwriter, penning Carpenters' hits such as "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days And Sundays." For a few years in the 60's he teamed with siblings Murray and Melinda MacLeod for a vocal duo that must have been in it's element in a slightly more upscale Holiday Inn lounge.

Fortunately on this album he cowrote four songs with Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher and the songs have a little more depth than I usually associate with such breezy pop. Still, don't expect anything close to the emotional whallop of Pet Sounds. There are a few more original numbers present, along with a slew of covers, including two Lennon/McCartney songs, two Lovin' Spoonful tracks, and one composition each from Burt Bacharach and Goffin/King. They do a pretty good job fitting all these songs into their signature sound, and I don't come off wishing that they'd included more original material. The Beatles songs in particular include a fine version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" (I certainly enjoy it more than Joe Cocker's version) and a rendition of "I'll Be Back" which includes and original and unexpected tag at the tail end of the song. In fact, it's my favorite moment on the album.

The Rev-Ola reissue includes 8 bonus tracks and makes a pretty nice addition to the set. We get two mono single versions of songs on the proper album while the other tracks are proper outtakes and obscure tracks. They maintain the consistancy of the album with the exception of the completely stupid "St. Bernie The Sno-Dog." But can one really expect much from a song with that title?

This is properly acknowledged as a sunshine pop classic, but don't expect any psychedelia here. The 5th Dimension sound like Captain Beefheart compared to these folks. But Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is immaculately produced, almost sickeningly consistent, and is a good place to seek out the breezy A&M sound of the 60's.

Buy Me:
Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends

The Electric Prunes- Underground (1967)

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

The Electric Prunes second long player is a significant improvement over their first. It's lacking the instant punch of their first disc's amazing singles, but makes up for that with consistency. Here the band seems much more in control of their fate and firmly in the driver's seat. There are still some stylistic excursions, and they do not always work, but they don't jettison the Prunes' signature heavy reverb and tremelo sound as several tracks do on the first album. The band also takes on much more of a songwriting presence on Underground. Scribes Mantz and Tucker still contribute with three songs, but they don't have the massive presence that they did before.

Underground is bookended with it's best tracks. "The Great Banana Hoax," which was written by singer James Lowe and bassist Mark Tulin, starts the album off with a psychedelic tour-de-force. The band follows an awesome tom drum driven groove through several eerie and pleasingly disjointed sections of music. Although the strange structure wouldn't have earmarked this one as a single, for those willing to follow "The Great Banana Hoax" is just as rewarding as the first album's classic singles. More immediate is the closing track "A Long Day's Flight." This relatively simple garage rocker is performed with maximum impact and should have been the breakthrough single from the album (I don't believe it was ever released as a single).

In between these psychedelic masterpieces is a pretty good, if not great, album. The band seems to function best when they're riding a bubbling groove as on "The Great Banana Hoax." They manage to maintain a chill, almost San Francisco rock type of groove for five minutes on Tucker and Mantz's "I." "Children Of Rain" is a cool mid-tempo psych track and the band logs in another top flight rocker with the Lowe and Tulin written "Hideaway."

There are still a few questionable style changes on somewhat cheesy "Antique Doll" and the excursion into sunshine pop on the Goffin/King composition "I Happen To Love You." Fortunately this is not at the expense of the Prunes' trademarks, and thus are far more successful than certain tracks on the debut album.

Although lacking their best known songs, Underground is the most accurate representation of the Electric Prunes released in the 1960's, and more than deserves the ear of discerning psych rock fans.

The recent reissue includes a few non-album singles, plus a few mono mixes of the proper album tracks. Both the new remastering and the liner notes are superior and marginalize the previous CD releases of the album.

Buy Me:
Too Much To Dream: The Original Group Recordings

The Electric Prunes- I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (1967)

Quality: 3.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5 (5 for the singles)

The Electric Prunes debut album is a sometimes amazing, but all too often frustrating hodge podge of several different styles. While the band is rightfully revered as one of the best psychedelic garage bands to appear in the 60's, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) doesn't always play to the band's strengths. Along with some amazing psyche rockers, we get unfortunate attempts to include pop stylings and balladry that would at best be considered novelty numbers, and many could consider embarrassingly unlistenable.

But let's focus on the good news first. This LP is home to two of the best psychedelic singles ever released. The title track actually managed to make it to #11 on the charts and is a swirling buzz of garage perfection. Every instrument is utilized to amazing effect and the mood shifts between dreamy and a full-tilt fuzzy rocker effortlessly. If I had to explain psychedelic rock to an Neptunian, this would be one of my first plays. It's quintessential.

The follow-up single, "Get Me To The World On Time," is almost as good. While the track lacks the groovy mood shifts of the title tracks, it compensates with a gloriously twisted and distorted Bo Diddley beat. I have to admit that I think that this particular beat is generally overused, but here it works with the space-time ripping guitars and powerful vocals.

Actually the first side of the album holds up pretty well. There are a few lesser, but enjoyable rockers in "Bangles" and "Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)". "Onie" is a slight almost bubblegum ballad, but is far from an embarrassment. Only "Sold To The Highest Bidder," featuring some out of place world-folky string instruments, bogs this side down. Unfortunately it's a masterpiece compared with some of the horrors on the second side.

Of course things start well with "Get Me To The World On Time," but then the band tries on some ill-fitting psychedelic pop affectations on the pop standard, "About A Quarter To Nine," and "The King Is In The Counting House," which is most notable for some wretch-inducing lyrics. Things get a little better on "Try Me On For Size," which is a little more of a rocker, but then the bottom falls out completely on "The Toonerville Trolley." It's one of those ultra twee vaudeville things, and really strokes your gag reflex. It's the aural equivilent of a train wreck. Anyone scouting this album out might want to stop the disc a track early.

The band is not completely to blame. Producer Dave Hasslinger, while proving to be quite a boon on the singles, was not nearly as adept at guiding the boys into genre other than nut-busting psychedelic garage rock. A similar gift and curse are the songs of Annette Tucker and Nancie Muntz. With Tucker co-writing six songs with Muntz (including the title track), and another two with Jill Jones (including the second single), their presence here is more than notable. Unfortunately, this team is also responsible for "The Tunerville Trolley." The band only logs in with two songs of their own, so they didn't seem to have their hand completely on the tiller at this point. Although very talented, The Electric Prunes are a band much better left in their garage psyche niche. They weren't really equipped for genre hopping.

While very far from a perfect set, I Had To Much To Dream (Last Night) is still an essential purchase for the psych fan. Although you'll probably want to avoid some of the dangerous water present here, you will be rewarded with two top-notch singles and several solid album tracks.

The recent reissue includes a few non-album singles, plus a few mono mixes of the proper album tracks. Both the new remastering and the liner notes are superior and marginalize the previous CD releases of the album.

Buy Me:
Too Much To Dream: The Original Group Recordings

Rainbow Ffolly- Sallies Fforth (1968)

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

No, the double "f's" above are not a typo. This fleeting psych pop band from 1968 chose these strange looking words in honor of a British cartoonist named Wally Ffolks. Fortunately, and unlike many wacked out obscuro bands, these guys had the songwriting chops and atmospherics to shore up their nomenclature.

Sallies Fforth is the sole full length release from this band out of High Wycombe (can't say I know where that is, other than somewhere in England). The album is at heart a collection of demo recordings, and was put out as such by an impressed Parlophone. The only other existant track, included on the Rev-Ola CD, is a great non-LP single called "Go Girl."

The Rainbow Ffolly's musical style does stand out from the rest of the British psych-pop pack. Most bands of the era seemed to use Revolver-era Beatles, Syd Barrett, or the Yardbirds as their basic template to build a psychedelic sound. These guys seem to build their psychedelia more off of the folk-rock sound of Rubber Soul. The ballads in particular are in a distinctly McCartney-esque vein. In fact, there's a song present here called "Drive My Car," although strangely enough it's a completely different song than the Rubber Soul track of the same name.

On top of this template, the Ffolly throw on some well-done music hall touches and echo effects and then stitch the whole album together with some strange British humor and sound effect interludes. In fact the opening of the disc makes me think of the intro tracks often found on Hip-Hop albums, although markedly less funky and more British here.

Also pushing the Ffolly ahead is some great songwriting. There's not a bad song present on the album and most of it is first rate. "Drive My Car," "Hey You," "Sun Song," and "No" are phenomenal rockers. "No" benefits from a strange rubbery beat and fuzz bass, while "Drive My Car" is propulsed by a skiffle like rhythm. Even better are the ballads "Montgolfier" and "Goodbye." These have a bit of a Brazillian touch to my ear and feature perfect arrangements. The band manages some English music hall arrangements that don't come across as dorky-sounding on "I'm So Happy" and "They'm."

As mentioned earlier, Sallies Fforth is basically demo recordings. Parlophone rushed this album out much to the band's dismay. Although the recording is quite good, and much better than typical 60's demo quality, the folks in Rainbow Ffolly wanted to add some more overdubs to flesh the album out. I have to say that I'm glad Parlophone ran off with the unfinished album. I can see where the band might have added soome more stuff, but I think doing so would make Sallies Fforth far less distinctive. Many songs have a truly psychedelic, yet-sparse sound that I don't recall hearing many other places. At times it seems like a more together version of Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs.

Also of note is the tripped-out cover art. It was produced by the band and sort of makes me think of something a relatively talented high schooler would come up with. It's nicely representative of both the music insine and has a basic signifier of British psychedelia.

Those of us plunging through the depths of obscure psychedelia often have to sift through lots of dull or simply "ok" stuff to get to the real gems. Sallies Forth is the kind of disc that makes the searching worth it.

Buy Me:
Rainbow Ffolly- Sallies Fforth

The Mystery Trend- So Glad I Found You (1966-1967; compilation released 1999)

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

The Mystery Trend's place in music history exists in a strange twilight. I suppose that they're best known for having a place on the Nuggets box set (with their lone single "Johnny Was A Good Boy") and for naming their band off of misinterpreted lyrics out of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" (they should more accurately be The Mystery Tramps). Otherwise, they are now basically a footnote to the San Francisco scene, but still they were there at the start of the scene, playing along with the early Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead. The band unfortunately never really found an opportunity to put out any more than a Verve Records single, and this compilation consists of their entire recorded output, the vast majority of which was unreleased until the 1990's. As this is basically everything, it's a little spotty. But the high points are truly spectaular, however, and I feel like if The Mystery Trend had found the opportunity to put together a proper album, it may have been a true classic.

The Mystery Trend does share some similarities with their San Francisco bretheren. The vocal sound is extremely strong and layered, often resembling the Jefferson Airplane at their best. The winding guitar leads also recalls many of the bands from that era. There's a freak-folky sound right in line with the Dead and the Airplane's debut albums. If you're open to the San Francisco scene, there is definitely something here to grab your attention.

The true charm, however, rests in the little differences. The Mystery Trend was a bit older than the rest of the crowd and skipped over some West Coast psychedelic pitfalls. First off, jamming was completely ignored by The Mystery Trend. They were truly fascinated by the art of the pop song, and their strong writing (usually in the hands of keyboardist.vocalist Ron Nagle and guitarist/vocalist Bob Cuff) often recalls that of Burt Bacharach or the Brill Building. Only one track here passes the three minute mark, and that one only makes it to four.

Standing out even more is The Mystery Trend's atypical sound. Psychedelia in general relies on quite a bit of reverb and echo to create a strange vibe. The guitars here are very dry and brittle sounding. Still, they manage to cut right through the powerful rhythm section to make a strong impression. This sound is mixed with Ron Nagle's also bone-dry clavinet. The band may be playing the same notes as their more-poular peers, but the sound ends up being very different. If nothing else, this makes their recordings worth a listen or two. For a fun comparison pair their cover of the Who's "Substitute" along with the original.

The songs, while often strong, remain a mixed bag. This is understandable as this disc is the band's complete recordings and they were never trying to produce an entire album. Both sides of their only single, which included "Johnny Was A Good Boy" and "House On The Hill," are standouts. Even better still are the should-have-been single "Carl Street" (presented in two versions), the lyrically biting "Mercy Killing," and the Bacharach influenced "There It Happened Again." These high points make up for some of the lesser tracks like the dull instrumental "Mambo For Marion," and the annoying "Carrots On A String" (which also shows up twice for some reason). The otherwise average "Shame, Shame, Shame" is notable for including what must be one of the earliest uses of a wah pedal on guitar.

If you can track this one down, So Glad I Found You is a worthwhile and important release that clears up some of the smoke surrounding this formerly enigmatic band from the initial burst of San Francisco psychedelia.

Buy Me:
The Mystery Trend- So Glad I Found You

Sagittarius- The Blue Marble (1969)

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

Although Sagittarius' first album Present Tense has gained somewhat of a reputation over the years, The Blue Marble remains largely unknown. The album debuted on the fledgeling Together Records, which unfortunately folded shortly after the release of this record and forced the music into a nose dive into obscurity. This is quite a shame as The Blue Marble features some great sunshine pop and is a worthy follow up to Present Tense.

Present Tense is more of a peaks and valleys record. While some songs there make me cringe, the high points are among the best that 60's music has to offer. The Blue Marble is a lot more consistant. There's nothing here with the punch of "My World Fell Down," but we are spared another "Musty Dusty."

The Blue Marble seems to have Gary Usher firmly in the driver's seat. Whereas Present Tense ended up having Curt Boettcher working practically as a collaborator, he appears here with only one songwriting credit, three production credits, and a smattering of vocals. Usher wrote a good 80% percent of The Blue Marble, five of them alone.

Usher really was one of the best producers in the late 60's, and that is apparent here with awesome multi-track layering and some tasteful use of the Moog synthesizer. The pitfall on The Blue Marble is that the songwriting tends not to stand out very much. Still, nothing here is embarrassing, and the lyrics aren't too bad.

The lead off track here is a "cover" of the Beach Boys' "In My Room." Since Usher co-wrote the song with Brian Wilson, I'd say he has full rights to play with it, and does so here recasting it in an almost Smile-like baroque-pop arrangement. On "From You To Us," we hear a ripping Moog bass-line, and I'd say if The Blue Marble has one major improvement over Present Tense, it would be in Usher's use of this synth. In fact, I don't recall the Moog being used in a better manner on any other 60's pop album. On the title track the Moog provides an really cool atmospheric atmosphere, while it makes for a nice retro-futuristic lead on "Lend Me A Smile."

It's really hard to choose highlights here as there's an extremely consistant, although far from dull sound. The closing track, "Cloud Track," could speak for the entire album as it's a pretty dreamy affair. The bonus section on my disc provides a few singles and alternate versions, but it does serve up a should-have-been-standout track with "Navajo Girl." There's a nice wall of sound present and the track almost rocks (as much as sunshine pop is going to). It recalls something like the Beach Boys' "Darlin'." The lyrics do seem a touch un-PC in the modern world however.

My 2001 CD reissue mostly does justice to Usher's production and crystaline arrangements. The album does seem to have a touch of vinyl noise here and there, so I'm pretty sure the master tapes were not available for remastering. The bonus tracks are in a too-compressed mono, but they're still quite listenable. It is a shame this album remains unknown as it is a sparkling example of sunshine pop.

Buy Me:
The Blue Marble

Sagittarius- Present Tense (1967)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Sagittarius was the brainchild of producer Gary Usher. Although having worked with legends such as Brian Wilson and the Byrds, Usher felt that he wanted to record under his own steam. Pressures from the record company wouldn't allow him the time or money to persue this on his own, hence Usher created the faux-band Sagittarius.

The project in it's initial form resulted in the classic "My World Fell Down"/"Hotel Indiscreet" single. The A-side is a masterpiece and one of the absolute best psychedelic singles of the 60's. Featuring Glen Campbell and Bruce Johnston on vocals (both of whom had subbed for Brian Wilson in the touring version of the Beach Boys), plus various members of the LA session pros known as the Wrecking Crew, we basically get the best Beach Boys tracks that none of the band members actually had a hand in. It has a very SMiLe like cut-and-paste sound, with the added avant-garde bonus of a found sound midsection. The B-side of the single sounds like the theme song for some strange sex sitcom with a short interlude from a screaming hippie-fascist courtesy of the Firesign Theatre.

After the initial single, the history of Present Tense becomes a bit more convoluted. Faced with the prospect of creating an entire album, Usher brought in Curt Boettcher, who had worked with The Association, The Ballroom, Eternity's Children, and later, The Millennium. With Boettcher's presence, the final album has a very different feel from the single.

Present Tense is certaintly a sugary-sweet album, perhaps the sunniest of sunshine pop. While "My World Fell Down" has a strong tinge of melancholy, the later tracks don't. Boettcher's voice, prominent on the finished album, is also quite different.

As long as the listener doesn't expect more creations like "My World Fell Down" and can stand a little syrup, Present Tense is a very worthwhile album. "Another Time," "The Keeper Of The Games," "Would You Like To Go," and "The Truth Is Not Real" are all immaculately writted sunshine pop songs with spectacular vocal arrangement. Even questionably titled songs such as "Song To The Magic Frog" make for pleasant listening.

I imagine scheduling was a problem and a few tracks from Boettcher's previous project The Ballroom are ported over to Present Tense. Unfortunately, one of those tracks is "Musty Dusty," which was embarassing on the Ballroom's album and remains so here. Usher's presense is best felt on the awesome and etherial "The Truth Is Not Real." "My World Fell Down" and "Hotel Indiscreet" are present here in inferior versions with the avant garde sections excised. That said, the modified versions do fit the flow of the album better, and the original single is present in the bonus section.

The bonus tracks are quite strong many of them could have been a strong asset to the album proper- certaintly they coud have replaced "Musty Dusty." Usher has another opportunity to shine on the harmony laden "Mass #586" while "Get The Message" could have been a great single in 1967.

Present Tense is one of the stronger sunshine pop albums, with a production touch somewhere between SMiLe and The Notorious Byrd Brothers. It's a perfect wall to follow up The Millennium's Begin, although I would probably recommend that 1968 project first.

Buy Me:
Sagittarius- Present Tense

Gandalf- Gandalf (1969)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Gandalf is one of the more sought after pieces of late-60's vinyl. This album itself is prime 1967 psychedelia, but as you may note from the date above, a almost-two year delay (by which time the band had long since dissolved!) relagated Gandalf to obscurity. It probably didn't help that the band's name was somewhat of a misnomer anyway as the group spent 98 percent of their existence as the somewhat unfortunately named Rahgoos.

Still, the name Gandalf easily conjures up images of wizardry and songs about elves and gnomes. Strangely enough, we find none of that here. Instead, the band resembles an American version of the Zombies trapped in an acoustically superior well with a predilection towards showtunes about women's accessories ("Golden Earrings," "Scarlet Ribbons," "Tiffany Rings"). Much of the psychedelia on these cover songs involve an amazing amount of echoey reverb on the vocals. Another lynchpin of Gandalf's sound is some extensive use of the Hammond B3 organ. How much you like that particular instrument will likely influence your opinion of Gandalf.

The strange thing about Gandalf, especially for late-1967 (the recording date), is their lack of original tunes. The two present here, "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" and "I Watch The Moon," are by no means lacking in songwriting chops. In fact they are some of the best songs here, sporting a great west coast-style (even though they were from Jersey) psych-pop structure as opposed to relying on production tricks alone for an altered sound. Apparently, the band simply didn't have enough original material. It's too bad they couldn't have spent 1968 writing and recording more instead of just waiting for the existing album to be released.

Still, Gandalf's cover selections are outstanding, and even the choices that look questionable on paper end up sounding great. Peggy Lee's hit "Golden Earrings" and "Nature Boy" from the interminably strange Eden Ahbez are transformed from what could easily be novelty numbers into dreamy, floating meditations. "Golden Earrings" in particular ended up being Gandalf's single and is probably their signature number. The band also seems to have outsourced three songs from a fellow named Tim Hardin. In fact, the lurching rhythm of "Hang On To A Dream" is an early highlight of the album. "Tiffany Rings" is the only track her which really doesn't do it for me. On this one the group seems to cross the line from mysterious into twee, which for me disturbs the flow of the album.

The album ends with a pair of deeply psychedelic rock songs. Gandalf was not really a showcase for instrumental prowess, but they were able to lock into a great groove which they take time to draw out a little more on "Me About You," and "I Watch The Moon." "I Watch The Moon" in particular is a goldmine for lovers of the Hammond B3 organ, which on the track is matched with some blazing fuzz guitar.

Also of note is the flamboyantly insane cover art. It seems to depict some kind of tripped-out butterfly god or something. The cover alone catapulted Gandalf to the top of my shopping list. The emotionless expression and yellow eyes actually scare me a little bit. The music isn't really wacked out enough to match this prime display of pop art, but it certainly catches one's attention.

Gandalf is far from the top of the 60's rock pile, but it deserves to be heard. The band managed to carve out a sound similar to the Zombies, but with enough of their own touches to keep from sounding like a knockoff.

As a side note, Gandalf 2 saw release from Sundazed early this year. Apparently, it's a collection of demos, live tracks and such, but it interestingly contains far more original songs. I'd be curious to know how the sound quality holds up on the new disc.

Buy Me:
Gandalf- Gandalf (1968)