| QUOTE | Producer Andrew Sandoval has pulled together twenty-four superb psych-pop tracks from the WEA vaults, including sides culled from master tapes of Warner, Reprise, Loma, Atco, Valiant, and Cotillion. The focus is on singles, with a few album tracks mixed in, and primarily from artists who were either unknown, or were stepping outside their regular domain for an experimental run down the psychedelic highway. Some of the best known names here are those of the session producers, including Lenny Waronker, Jerry Yester, Don & Phil Everly, Don Adrissi, Jimmy Bowen, Joey Levine, Curt Boettcher, and Richard Perry.
Better known artists, like The Tokens, are represented by sides that step away from their familiar hits, and the one-off singles and rare album tracks explore lesser known sides of the commercial psych boom. Though recorded in proper studios for major labels, these tracks still temper their hit-seeking with a healthy dollop of experimental. The key years of 1966 through 1968 yield an entire program of psych-tinged folk and sunshine rock, heavy on the harmonies and studio craft.
Highlights include the trippy vocals, space sounds and discothèque beat of Baker Knight's "Hallucinations," the raga jangle of Adrian Pride's "Her Name is Melody," the funky "Straight Aero" by Jeff Thomas, the jugband-styled harmonies of MC^2's "My Mind Goes High," the Sgt. Pepper-esque "Lucifer" from future Ohio Express mastermind Joey Levine, and the droning "Hell Will Take Care of Her" from Brass Buttons. Fans of the mid-80s paisley underground, particularly The Rain Parade, early Bangles and Three O'Clock, will find this volume familiar and compelling.
'60s folk fans will want to check out the Curt Boettcher-produced cover of Bob Gibson and Phil Ochs' "That's the Way It's Gonna Be," complete with a variable-speed guitar and backward koto instrumental break. Songwriter Paul Williams' debuts as a performer on The Holy Mackerel's "Wildflowers," complete with Leslie-fied lead vocals, and the original mono single mix of The Monkees' "Porpoise Song" makes it's CD debut. Producer Sandoval lovingly documents each side with details on the band and the circumstances of the track's creation. The insert booklet also includes many photos and label reproductions, and the purpose-built tri-fold digipack features a neat pop-art color wheel. Originally issued by Rhino Handmade as "Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults," this has been reissued with a minor track change under the title, "My Mind Goes High." [©2005 hyperbolium dot com] |
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