Crowded House – The Collection

I had heard of Crowded House when their song and debut UK hit, ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ came out in 1986. This was in a period when I didn’t buy much music and so I must have heard it on the radio or one of the few TV Chart Shows we had in the UK at the time. I liked the song but not enough to buy it. Roll on five years to 1991 when I heard the song ‘Fall At Your Feet’. At the time, this sort of well crafted melodic pop song was not the sort of thing I was listening to. Guitar gods such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Peter Green were pretty much all that was being played around this period. I took a punt and popped along to Music Inn in Ashford (Middx), another of the great lost record shops of my youth and duly picked up a copy of the parent LP. 

Putting the vinyl on the deck, I was almost put off playing anymore by the albums opening song, Chocolate Cake. I really didn’t understand what this song was going on about, and how was Tammy Bakker they kept going on about? Turns out she was married to disgraced TV evangelist Jim Bakker but as this was before the days of widespread internet, I only found this out later. It was also the albums lead single which ended up pretty much losing the band its American fan base. Crowded House had been a lot more successful Stateside than the UK with their first two albums but ‘Woodface’ would change all of this. The rest of the alum was stunning, with a set of beautiful songs that lasted stayed in the memory. This album was also quite long for an LP clocking in at over 47 minutes. Not a minute wasted either (apart from Chocolate Cake, and in time Weather With You, a song I grew tired of quite quickly). 

What I didn’t realise at the time is that this album should not have sounded like this. Neil Finn, the band’s main songwriting had delivered an album that the record company had refused to release. Neil had been working on material with his brother Tim for an album that they would release under the moniker of the Finn Brothers. Neil asked Tim if he could use some of this material for the next  Crowded House album, with Tim saying yes as long as he could become a member of the band. The Finn brothers had already been in the band Split Enz. Tim later said he was joking, but Neil took him at his word and Tim became a member, if only for a short time. I actually had a go at recreating this lost LPs back in January of 2022 (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/crowded-house-tim-finn-1989-1991/).

In time, I would buy the two proceedings album, ‘Crowded House’ and ‘Temple of Low Men’. Neither of these would have the impact on me that ‘Woodface’ did and they did not get a lot of airtime. I missed out on the release of their forth album, ‘Together Alone’ as I feel it just passed me by. 1993 was the beginnings of the Britpop era and that was taking all of my attention. What swung me around to possibly my favourite album by them was the fact that during my University days, I ended up working in an Off License that had a CD player in it. One day a copy of ‘Together Alone’ appeared and from then on I was hooked. A bit different from the albums that preceded it but still full of beautiful songs with well crafted melodies and neat hooks. The band unfortunately split up in 1996 and even though they have reformed and released a number of albums since, none of these have graced my record collection. I’m not sure why. It must just be down to the fact that I am not a great fan of bands that reform and release new music. The Small Faces and Smashing Pumpkins being other examples. The spark they once had is no longer there.

My one regret is that I did not get to see the band live during their first incarnation, especially when Tim Finn was in the line up. Live music also passed me by at that point. I either spend the money on records or going to the gig. I pretty much exclusively spent my money on the records. 

Disc 1

  1. World Where You Live
  2. Love You ‘Till The Day I Die
  3. Something So Strong
  4. Hole In The River
  5. Now We’re Getting Somewhere
  6. Don’t Dream It’s Over
  7. Tombstone
  8. Can’t Carry On
  9. Sister Madly
  10. When You Come
  11. Fame Is
  12. There Goes God
  13. Four Seasons In One Day
  14. Tall Trees
  15. Its Only Natural
  16. Fall Out Your Feet
  17. Whispers & Moans
  18. As Sure As I Am
  19. She Goes On
  20. Into Temptation
  21. All I Ask
  22. How Will You Go
  23. Better Be Home Soon

On my mix of ‘How Will You Go’, the hidden song of ‘I’m Still Here’ was edited out. Unfortunately, Spotify does not give me the option to do this. It does make the end of this playlist a little disjointed.  

Disc 2

  1. Kare Kare
  2. In My Command
  3. Nails in My Feet
  4. Black & White Boy
  5. Scared Cow
  6. Instinct
  7. I Love You Dawn
  8. Fingers Of Love
  9. Pineapple Head
  10. Skin Feeling
  11. Locked Out
  12. Catherine Wheels
  13. Walking On The Spot
  14. Time Immortal
  15. Distant Sun
  16. Help Is Coming
  17. Not the Girl You Think You Are
  18. Private Universe
  19. Together Alone

As far as I can tell, nearly all of the bands LP artwork was produced by the bands bass player, Nick Seymour. Art, like music is subjective and I am not great fan of what he has produced down the years. So I took a shot of the band when Tim Finn was a member and tried to emulate the minimalist approach record companies took in the mid 90s when it came to sleeves as the artwork needed to fit into a CD and/pr cassette box and this is what I came up with.

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.7

To round out the month, here is Volume 7 of my Psych Years playlists. Unlike previous efforts, this one did not use any of the compilations I have purchased down the years as a base but it does focus on the latter years of the scene. The Rolling Stones, Arthur Brown, Family, Eric Burdon, Al Stewart and early Fairport Convention (where they were a Jefferson Airplane type band instead of the folk behemoth they became) could well be the most famous names here but there are a number of acts where members went on to be more famous elsewhere. These include The Idle Race (Jeff Lynne of ELO), Simon Dupree & The Big Sound (Gentle Giant), The Gods (Greg Lake of ELP & King Crimson) and One In A Million (Jimmy McCulloch (Wings and The Small Faces).  

Disc 1

  1. The River – Octopus
  2. Too Much On My Mind – The Gates Of Eden
  3. A Strange Light From the East – Tuesday’s Children
  4. Shades Of Orange – The End
  5. Double Sight – One In A Million
  6. Riding A Wave – Turnstyle
  7. Evil Woman – Guy Darrell
  8. I Can See The Sky – Fire
  9. Everyday Is Just The Same – The Moan
  10. I Read You Like An Open Book – The Tages
  11. Good Job With Prospects – Actress
  12. Follow Me – The Fruit Machine
  13. Daydream Girl (Album Version) – Billy Nicholls
  14. Two Little Ladies – The Crocheted Doughnut Ring
  15. Sage Of Wrinkled Man – Fortes Mentum
  16. Never Had Girl Like You Before – The Misunderstood
  17. In The Valley of The Shadow Of Lone – Tuesday’s Children
  18. Love – Virgin Sleep
  19. Dear Delilah – Grapefruit
  20. All The Love In The World – Consortium
  21. Where Dragons Guard The Doors – Mortimer
  22. Turn Into Earth – Al Stewart
  23. I Am Nearly There – Denis Couldry & The Next Collection
  24. The First Step On The Moon – The Cape Kennedy Construction Company
  25. Felix – Andwella’s Dream
  26. Daytime Girl (Coda) – Billy Nicholls

Disc 2

  1. Haunted – Peter Thorogood
  2. (Who Planted Thorns In) Miss Alice’s Garden – The Explosive
  3. Gratefully Dead – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  4. Hot Smoke & Sassafras – The Mooche
  5. On Love – Skip Bifferty
  6. Knocking Nails In My House – The Idle Race
  7. Crazy Dreams – The Searchers
  8. Ballad Of Harvey Kaye – East Of Eden
  9. The Way (Single Version) – July
  10. Mellowing Grey – Family
  11. Peter’s Birthday (Black & White Rainbows) – World Of Oz
  12. Devil’s Grip – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
  13. Sun Shade – Fairport Convention
  14. Linda Love Linda – The Floribunda
  15. Me – Aquarian Age
  16. Theodore – The Silver Eagle
  17. Life Is Just Beginning – The Creation
  18. A Fairy Tale (Alt. Mix) – Second Hand
  19. Too Much In Love – Churchills
  20. I Lied To Auntie May – The Neat Change
  21. Rainchild – Octopus
  22. 14 Hour Technicolour Dream – The Syn
  23. Castle In The Sky – Simon Dupree & The Big Sound
  24. Orignal Sin – Blinker
  25. Plastic Horizon – The Gods
  26. On With The Show – The Rolling Stones

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.6

One interesting factor regarding archive releases has been the amount of demos and acetate recordings that have surface. For those who have not heard of an acetate, they are discs that look like vinyl records but they are not and they are not accurately named because an acetate disc does not contain any acetate. They are an aluminium disc covered in a nitrocellulose lacquer. An engraving machine is used to transfer the recording on to the disc. This process was more common before the widespread use of magnetic tape but it was also used by musicians to take a copy of what they had produced in the studio home with them, either to hear what the song sounded like on their turntables or as a way of shopping that song around to labels and/or music publishers.

The most famous acetate recording is arguably ‘It Might As Well Rain Until September’ by Carol King. King had written the song with her then husband, Gerry Goffin for Bobby Vee. However, Vee’s management did not want to release the song as a single but Don Kirshner, music publisher and the man behind The Monkeys heard Kings’ version and released it on his Dimension record label. The record was a reasonable hit in the USA and quite a big one in the UK, but the song was not recorded to tape. It was a demo recorded to acetate which is why it does not sound as good compared to other recordings of the era, especially in the digital age. 

For some artists, the only evidence that they recorded anything could well be an acetate because even though they have made the original recording to tape, that might have been wiped or lost in the years since. Even for well known artists, acetates can be the source of an interesting recording, be it and alternative mix or otherwise lost recording. However, acetates are not designed for heavy use and the lacquer starts to wear out after about ten plays. Modern technology can only do so much to improve the sound but it has been great to at least have the opportunity to hear recordings that would otherwise have been lost. 

This, Volume 6 in my look at the Psychedelic Years, includes many recordings that were taken from demos and acetates. One of the rare exceptions that isn’t is ‘Love Make Sweet Music’ by Soft Machine. The reason for that is down to the sound of the recording fitting better here than my usual compilations. Many of these tracks come from the ‘Psychedelic Schlemiels’ series which sought out recordings from bands who were all but unknown to anyone who did not have extensive knowledge of obscure names on gig posters for venue listings from the music papers from the era. Another source for tracks was the compilations released by RPM that looked at artists signed to Apple Music. The rest are made up of bonus tracks from band specific archive releases and the awesome Jesse Harper album (real name Doug Jerebine) ‘Guitar Absolution In The Shade Of A Midnight Sun’, arguably one of the great lost albums of any era. 

Out of the all of the bands represented on this compilation, most disappeared in obscurity but not all. Soft Machine, one of the pioneers of prog rock as well as jazz fusion and The Iveys, who changed their name to Badfinger had some success during their lifetimes. There are some rough diamonds to be found in these recordings but it is important to remember that the source of the majority of these recordings come from sources with plenty of surface noise. 

Side A

  1. Jug-A Jug Song – Jesse Harper
  2. Come On Up – Carley Hill Blues Band
  3. Broken Man – Peanut Rubble
  4. Helen Doesn’t Care – Penny Peeps
  5. Do What You Must – Tintern Abbey
  6. Great Shadowy Orange – Jade Hexagram
  7. Try Me On For Size – Those Fadin’ Colours
  8. Love Makes Sweet Music – Soft Machine
  9. Mirror – Coconut Mushroom
  10. Second Generation Woman – The Factory
  11. Brace New Lights – Phoenix
  12. You Can Run – The Majority
  13. Great Ideas – Jigsaw
  14. Our Love Will Be Strong – The Majority
  15. Magic Time – The Flies
  16. Will I Find Love – Fire
  17. Sunshine Help Me – Carley Hill Blues Band
  18. Sad Sad Sad – Sheridan’s Bitter Sweet
  19. I Think I’ll Say – Airbus
  20. Thinking Pictures – Rawlings & Huckstep
  21. In The Sunset – Barnaby Rudge
  22. Dark Star – Pussyfoot
  23. Maybe Tomorrow – The Iveys
  24. As He Sees Them – The Intruders
  25. Sitting In The Sun – Cellophane Cloud

Side B

  1. An Apple A Day – The U (Don’t) No Who
  2. Blow Up – Those Fadin’ Colours
  3. Just A Dream – Peanut Rubble
  4. Blues News – Jesse Harper
  5. Sailing – Joker
  6. Wax Candle – Haverson Apricot
  7. Uncle Henry’s Magic Garden – David Matthews
  8. How It Is – John Pantry
  9. How Does It Feel – The Perishers
  10. You & Me Baby – The Obscured Rays
  11. Sunshine Train – The Mirror
  12. Something New Everyday – Timon
  13. Sister Saxophone – Turquoise
  14. In The Park – The Cortina’s
  15. Live For The Sun – Phoenix
  16. I’ve Been There Once Before – The Iveys
  17. Childplay – Sweet Marriage
  18. Somebody Save Me – Paradox
  19. Ginny Stop – West Coast Consortium
  20. This Little Man – Grapefruit
  21. Crushed Purple – Jade Hexagram
  22. I (Who Had Nothing) – Herbal Remedy
  23. Together – The Montanas
  24. Shadow Man – Schadel
  25. Who Is The Man (Death) – Cellophane Cloud

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.5

It is the fifth month so it must be time for Volume 5 in my series of collections looking back at the Psychedelic Years. Like previous efforts, this one is a collection of well known bands mixed with a lot of obscure (some would say very) artists. The better known include The Rolling Stones with a song from their underrated psychedelic effort, ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’. Fairport Convention were not always the folk rock band and their first record was closer to the Jefferson Airplane than the songs they found at Cecil Sharp House. Genesis also make an appearance in their pre-prog days with a song from their much maligned debut album. Personally, I really like this record.

On the other side, we Bobak, Jons, Malone which included cult producer Will Malone in their ranks. Jessie Taper makes an appearance with ‘Fall Down’ taken from the ‘Guitar Absolution In The Shade of The Midnight Sun’ album. Lifted from the only known acetate of this record, this is possibly the greatest unreleased album of all time. Andy Ellison was a member of the infamous John’s Children before going soloing Kippington Lodge featured a pre-fame Nick Lowe.

More of the same next month.

Disc 1

  1. S. F. Sorrow Is Born – The Pretty Things
  2. Care Of Cell 44 – The Zombies
  3. Tarot (Ace Of Wand Theme) – Andrew Bown
  4. Jenny Artichoke – Kaleidoscope
  5. The Castle Has Fallen – The Ghost
  6. Sueno – The Truth
  7. It’s Alright Ma, It’s Only Witchcraft – Fairport Convention
  8. The Eagle Flies On Friday – The Exception (UK)
  9. Silver Tree Top School for Boys – The Beatstalkers
  10. Good Times – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  11. 2000 Light Years From Home – The Rolling Stones
  12. Boy Meats Girl – Paper Blitz Tissue
  13. I Wonder Where My Sister’s Gone – Anán
  14. Trip On An Orange Bicycle – Orange Bicycle
  15. Let’s Live For Today – The Living Daylights
  16. Nodnol – The Spectrum
  17. Hey! Mr. Carpenter – The Fox
  18. Shout It – Kate
  19. And Life Goes On – The Mirage
  20. Fairylights – Bent Frame
  21. Love & Best Wishes – The Uglys
  22. With A Little Help – World Of Oz
  23. Sylvie – The Hills
  24. Lord John – The Bobcats
  25. On A Meadow Lane – Bobak, Jons, Malone
  26. Sunshine – Gun

Disc 2

  1. Rainbow Chaser – Nirvana (UK)
  2. Hey Conductor – The League
  3. I’m Flying – Serendipity
  4. Colour Of My Mind – The Attack
  5. Flight From Ashiya – Kaleidoscope
  6. Wildflowers – The Holy Mackerel
  7. Lydia Purple – Dunn & McCashen
  8. In The Beginning- Genesis
  9. Fall Down – Jesse Harper
  10. House Of Many Windows – Motherlight (Bobak, Jons, Malone)
  11. My New Day & Age – The Mindbenders
  12. Supernatural Fairytales – Art
  13. Good Evening – Tickle
  14. Drizzle – 14
  15. A Night To Remember – Alan Avon & The Toy Shop
  16. I Can See Her Face – Kippington Lodge
  17. Yellow Balloon – Icarus
  18. The Golden Lion – The Lomax Alliance
  19. Yellow Rainbow – The Rocking’ Berries
  20. Fool From Upper Eden – Andy Ellison
  21. 53 Summer Street – Turquoise
  22. World Spinning Sadly – The Parking Lot
  23. Castles In The Sky – Blonde On Blonde
  24. World Of You – The Aerovons
  25. It Brings Me Down – Billy Nicholls
  26. Look At Me I’ve Fallen Into A Teapot – Cliff Wade

Various Artists – Come To The Sunshine

The summer months are almost upon us so what better time is there to present a compilation looking at the period in the mid 60s where music makers from the USA* were producing tunes that reflected the then more innocent age. There are songs about cars, mopeds, having fun, girls (and boys) and there are hints at the more reflective music that would become more prevalent later int he decade. ‘Guess I’m Dumb’ by Glen Campbell being a good example of that. Brian Wilson’s finger prints are all over this compilation as well. He was churning out so much music in the mid 60s that he recorded with more than just The Beach Boys. These included The Honeys which featured his future wife, Marilyn, within their ranks. The songs by The Survivors, the aforementioned Glen Campbell as well as Jan & Dean have Wilson’s fingerprints all over them. 

Future Beach Boys collaborators, Bruce Johnson and Terry Melcher are also represented here, not only under their own names (Bruce & Terry) but as The Rip Chords. Harry Nilsson and Phil Spector are both represented by their writing credits on the song ‘This Could Be The Night’ by The Modern Folk Quartet. Phil Spector also produced the original version of ‘Chapel of Love’ by Darlene Love. This was not released until 30 years after it was recorded. There are numerous other artists, some more well known than others but whenever I play this, it always makes me think of summer. 

Disc 1

  1. Let’s Dance – Chris Montez
  2. Johnny Angel – Shelley Fabares
  3. Walk Don’t Run ’64 – The Ventures
  4. Surf City – Jan & Dean
  5. Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann – Road Robin
  6. I Get Around – The Beach Boys
  7. Not The Lovin’ Kind  – Dino, Desi & Billy
  8. Three Window Coupe – The Rip Chords
  9. Little Honda – The Hondells
  10. I Live For The Sun – The Sunrays
  11. That’s The Way The World Has Got To Be (Part 1) – Chris Lucey
  12. For You – Rick Nelson
  13. Anywhere The Girl Are – The Fantastic Baggys
  14. Another Saturday Night – Sam Cooke
  15. Strange Love – Darlene Love
  16. Rising Sun – The Deep Six
  17. Everybody Loves A Clown – Gary Lewis & The Playboys
  18. The Big Beat – Bob & Sheri
  19. I’m A Drifter – Joe & Eddie
  20. Meet Me Tonight Little Girl – Philip & Stephan
  21. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes – Bobby Lee
  22. Man With Money – The Everly Brothers
  23. Summer Means Fun – Bruce & Terry
  24. Smokey Joe’s – Donna Loren
  25. Let Me Be – The Turtles
  26. You Say Pretty Words – Ramona King
  27. So Hard To Find – The Critters
  28. Guess I’m Dumb – Glen Campbell
  29. I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound – Dion & The Wanderers
  30. Baby What You Want Me Top Do? – Bob & Bobby
  31. This Could Be The Night – The Modern Folk Quartet
  32. Keep On Dancing – The Ronettes
  33. Land Of The Free – Bonnie & The Treasures

Disc 2

  1. Pamela Jean – The Survivors
  2. Ride Away – Bob & Sheri
  3. Walk Right In – The Moments
  4. Twistin’ The Night Away – Sam Cooke
  5. Hey Little Cobra – The Rip Chords
  6. Tell ‘em I’m Surfin’ – The Fantastic Baggys
  7. Dream For Sale – Joey Paige
  8. The Rebel Kind – Dino, Desi & Billy
  9. Roses & Rainbows – Danny Hutton
  10. That’s How It Goes – Joey Heatherton
  11. Somebody Groovy – The Mamas & The Papas
  12. Haloween Mary – P. F. Sloan
  13. They’re Jealous Of Me – Doona Loren
  14. The Birds & The Bees – Jewel Akens
  15. Many Are The Times – Lee Mallory
  16. Over You – Paul Revere & The Raiders
  17. I’m Sweet On You – Tina & The Mustangs
  18. June Bride Baby – The Goldbriars
  19. The Sh-down Down Song (You Better Leave Him Alone) – The Ginger-Snaps Dandee Dawson
  20. Deep Purple – Nino Tempo & April Stevens
  21. I’m Through With You – Mark V
  22. He’s A Doll – The Honeys
  23. The End – Ian Whitcomb
  24. This Diamond Ring – Gary Lewis & The Playboys
  25. Baby I See You – Deana Martin
  26. Eve Of Destruction – Barry McGuire
  27. Bye, Bye, Bye – The Tikis
  28. What Am I Going To Do – The Dovers
  29. Call Me – Chris Montez
  30. Baby Dear – Wildflowers
  31. Chapel Of Love – Darlene Love
  32. All Summer Long – The Beach Boys

The cover art is adapted from one used by Andrew Sandoval for his podcast of the same name. If you have not heard any of the episodes, I would highly recommend it. 

This compilation could not be reproduced on Spotify due to one or more songs not being listed don that platform.

*I think that is where all of the artists on this compilation were from anyway

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.4

It is the fourth month so it must be time for Volume 4 in my series of collections looking back at the Psychedelic Years. This one includes songs that could be said not to be psychedelic at all. For instance, ‘Baby, Come On’ is a bit of prog mixed with hard rock. ‘Over Under Sideways Down’ by The Yardbirds, freakbeat and ‘Except From A Teenage Opera’ by Keith West, a straight pop record. It all depends on what your definition of psych is and does it really matter as I think this compilation holds together quite nicely.

The first few songs on Disc 1 come from the ‘Circus Days’ compilation and there is the usual mix of well known artists (The Rolling Stones, Traffic, The Kinks), bands who were just starting out but would end being hugely successful (Genesis, The Bee Gees) and people in bands other than the one that made them famous (Jeff Lynne of The Idle but more famous for being in ELO). There is also quite a few artists on here who needed up not doing very much at all but let us with at least one memorable song.

Disc 1

  1. Baby, Come On – Opus
  2. Finding It Rough – Hat & Tie
  3. Nobody Wants You Now – Los Brincos
  4. Don’t Make A Sound – Kate
  5. Mr. Jones – Apple
  6. He’s A Dear Old Weatherman – Mark Wirtz
  7. Girl From New York – Billy Nicholls
  8. Phoebe’s Flower Shop – The Cortinas
  9. Colour Sergeant Lillywhite – West Coast Consortium
  10. Within’ The Night – Velvett Fogg
  11. Love Me ‘Till The Sun Shines (BBC Session) – The Kinks
  12. Five White Horses – Sun Dragon
  13. The Bitter Thoughts Of Little Jane – Timon
  14. Seeing Things Green – Yellow Bellow Room Boom
  15. Paper Man – Noah’s Ark
  16. Golden Apples – The Californians
  17. Crazy One – Ramases & Selket
  18. Grey Skies – The Pretty Thins
  19. Real Life Permanent Dream – Orange Machine
  20. The Clown – Eire Apparent
  21. LIfe’s Sweet Music – Mortimer
  22. When The Wind Arises – The Rokes
  23. Cryin’ To Be Heard – Traffic
  24. Tide – Octopus
  25. A Place To Call My Own – Genesis

Disc 2

  1. Time Will Show The Wiser – Fairport Convention
  2. Over Under Sideways Down – The Yardbirds
  3. Send Me A Postcard -Shocking Blue
  4. That’s The Way It’s Got To Be – The Poets
  5. All Day All Night  – Blonde On Blonde 
  6. Water Woman – The Amazing Friendly Apple
  7. Pink Dawn – Human Instinct
  8. Baby Get Your Head Screwed On – Double Feature
  9. Lady on A Bicycle – Kippington Lodge
  10. Looking For The Sun – The Plague
  11. Frederick Jordan – The Glass Menagerie 
  12. Trick Or Two – Shy Limbs
  13. Hurry Up John – The Idle Race
  14. Man In Black – Skip Bifferty
  15. Henry Long – The Epics
  16. Holiday – The Bee Gees
  17. 2000 Man – The Rolling Stones
  18. Except From A Teenage Opera – Keith West
  19. Lady Caroline – Velvet Fogg
  20. Oh! What A Performance – Nirvana (UK)
  21. Circus With A Female Clown – The Fingers
  22. Dream Machine – Svensk
  23. Last Cloud Home – Orange Bicycle
  24. The Light Of Love – Humble Pie
  25. Memories – Red Dirt
  26. This Will Be Our Year – The Zombies
  27. Back To The City – Sandy Coast
  28. Nite Is A-Comin’ – Warm Sounds

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.3

To end of this month, I present Volume 3 of my ‘Psychedelic Years’ compilations. This is the first one that did not take the majority of its tracks from one, or two compilations. The songs were from whatever was left over from the already used compilations, mixed in with tracks from more famous artists such as The Beatles. I have also used artists on more than one occasion which is something I normally try and avoid, but those tracks fit into the overall sound of the playlist.

Some musicians that appeared in bands here before going on to be more famous elsewhere include King Crimsons’ Robert Fripp (Giles, Giles & Fripp), Andy Summers from The Police (Dantallion’s Chariot), Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan & Roger Glover (Episode Six) and Dave Edmunds (Love Sculpture). Jimmy Winston was going the other way, having originally been in The Small Faces but here fronting his own band, Winston’s Fumbs.

Disc 1

  1. My White Bicycle – Tomorrow
  2. I Can Hear The Grass Grow – The Move
  3. Father’s Name Was Dad – Fire
  4. My Friend Jack – The Smoke
  5. Fire – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
  6. Magic Potion – The Open Mind
  7. I See The Rain – Marmalade
  8. Celeste – Donovan
  9. Love Hate Revenge – Episode Six
  10. It’s A Sin To Go Away – We All Together
  11. Walking Through My Dreams – The Pretty Things
  12. Listen To The Sky – Sands
  13. Days Of Broken Arrows – The Idle Race
  14. I Wish I Was Five – Scrugg
  15. I Talk To The Wind (Version 2) – Giles, Giles & Fripp
  16. Come On – The Atlantics
  17. Madman Running Through the Fields – Dantallion’s Chariot
  18. Real Crazy Apartment – Winston’s Fumbs
  19. Word’s Enough To Tell You – The Mascots
  20. Garden Of My Mind – The Mickey Finn
  21. You Stole My Love – The Mockingbirds
  22. Dance ‘Round The Maypole – The Acid Gallery
  23. War Of Hands Of Time – The Masters Apprentices
  24. In The Land Of The Few – Love Sculpture

Disc 2

  1. Paper Sun – Traffic
  2. Ginza Strip – The Executives
  3. I Can See Through You – Episode Six
  4. Venus – Shocking Blue
  5. Candy – Cinnamon Quill
  6. Time Seller – The Spence Davis Group
  7. Vacuum Cleaner – Tintern Abbey
  8. Tamaris Khan – The Onyx
  9. Locked In A Room – The Poets
  10. Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914) – The Zombies 
  11. Citadel – The Rolling Stones
  12. Fire Bridge – The Move
  13. Royston Rose – The Koobas
  14. Season Of The Witch – Donovan
  15. Come Back June – Pussy
  16. A Girl Named Sandoz – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  17. I Won’t Hurt You – Neo Maya
  18. Loving Sacred Sacred – The End
  19. Country Life – Blonde On Blonde
  20. Feeling Easy – Billy Nicholls
  21. This Wheel’s On Fire – Julie Driscoll With Brian Auger & The Trinity
  22. Ice In The Sun – Status Quo
  23. Red Chalk Hill – The Factory
  24. Thursday Morning – Giles, Giles & Fripp
  25. Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles

Various Artists – The Tarantino Connection

By 1995, Quentin Tarantino was riding on the crest of a wave. He had received an OSCAR for writing the film Pulp Fiction, his film Reservoir Dogs was critical as well as financial success and his screenplays for True Romance as well as Natural Born Killers had only increased profile. Four Rooms was the only blip in this upward momentum. Posters for both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs as well as their soundtracks graced the rooms of many of my fellow students when I was at University. It is the soundtrack albums that I am going to focus on here. 

Film soundtracks at that time could be classed into two categories. The first was the one which had a soundtrack specifically written for it. These tended to be, but not exclusively, classical in nature. John Williams seemed to do quite a number of these but he did not have exclusive on this. Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman and James Horner are but a few of the composers who produced film scores before the rise of Tarantino. Even Queen got in on the act when the scored Flash Gordon. The other was to take a few star names with a below par song they were looking to offload, some relative unknowns and some up and coming acts who were desperate for the exposure. These songs would be shoehorned into the film and then a soundtrack album would be released with the hope that they might shift a few units or that one song would become a massive hit. Top Gun, Mallrats and Cocktail are but a few I could have mentioned that fit into this category.  Then there were the films of Tarantino. 

These films had soundtracks of already released music, some of which had been used in other films that seemed to have been carefully considered beforehand. The choice of music was instrumental in some of the scenes. Look at the use of ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ by Steelers Wheel in Reservoir Dogs. Would another piece of music have worked as well as that in that scene?  There were also snippets of dialogue from the films that would sometimes, but not always, introduce the song that was about to be played. This was a man, it would seem, that took the music as seriously as he did the film he was going to make. 

What I was looking to produce here was a compilation of songs from Tarantino films. These would also include some the dialogue as having played some of these soundtracks to death back when they were released, I find it difficult to listen to them without the actors in there as well. This compilations includes films from Reservoir Dogs up to Grindhouse. 

Disc 1

  1. Shaw Brothers Theme
  2. ‘Pumpkin & Honey Bunny’/Misirlou Amanda Plummer & Tim Roth/Dick Dale & his Del-Tones
  3. Jungle Boogie – Kool & The Gang
  4. Who Is He (& What Is He To You?) – Bill Withers
  5. Son Of A Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
  6. Baby, It’s You – Smith
  7. Natural High – Bloodstone
  8. Strawberry Lette 23 – Brothers Johnson
  9. ‘And Now Little Green Bag’ – Steven Wright
  10. Little Green Bag – George Baker Selection
  11. Staggolee – Pacific Gas & Electric
  12. Everybody Be Cool’ – George Clooney
  13. Truck Turner – Isaac Hayes
  14. Super Sounds’ – Steven Wright
  15. Stuck In The Middle With You – Steelers Wheel
  16. Jeepster – T.Rex
  17. Foolish Heart – The Mavericks
  18. Bustin’ Surfboards – The Tornadoes
  19. Graceland – Charlie Sextion
  20. Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Swede
  21. You’re So Cool – Hans Zimmer
  22. Sentimental Journey – Esquivel
  23. Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) – Delfonics
  24. The Grand Duel (Parte Prima) – Luis Enrique Bacalov
  25. Since I First Met You – The Robins
  26. You Belong To Me – Bob Dylan
  27. My Grudge Blues (Urami Bushi) – Meiko Kaji
  28. ‘Let’s Get A Taco’ – Harvey Keitel & Tim Roth

Disc 2

  1. ‘Kill The Band’ – Tom Savini
  2. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) – Nancy Sinatra
  3. That Certain Female – Charlie Feathers
  4. Surf Rider – The Lovely Ones
  5. Rumble – Link Wray & His Ray Men
  6. ‘Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest’/You Never Can Tell Jerome Patrick Hoban & Uma Thurman/Chuck Berry
  7. Coconut – Nilsson
  8. Lonesome Town – Ricky Nelson
  9. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon – Urge Overkill
  10. If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags) – Maria McKee
  11. Street Life – Randy Crawford
  12. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
  13. Run Fay Fun – Isaac Hayes
  14. The Green Hornet Theme – Al Hirt
  15. Battle Without Honour & Humanity – Tomoyasu Hotei
  16. The Lions & the Cucumber Vampire’s – Sound Incorporated
  17. Flowers One The Wall – The Statler Brothers
  18. Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack
  19. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda
  20. Summertime KIller – Luis Bacalov
  21. The Flower Of Carnage – Meiko Kaji
  22. The Lonely – Shepherd Zamfir
  23. ‘Ezekiel 25:17’ – Samuel L. Jackson

Both the title and the cover of this compilation were taken from an actual release from 1996 which was the inspiration for completing this in the first place. 

This playlist could not be reproduced on Spotify because the it would seem that that platform has not secured the rights to the dialogue.

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.2

The second volume of my trawl through the Psych years and both of these discs have songs taken from ‘The Rubble Collection’ compilations. This was originally a series of 20 LPs released by the Bam-Curoso label, intent on digging up rare gems from the psychedelic period. The series started in 1984 and continued until 2002 before being collected in two rather fine box sets in 2003 (which is where I first heard them). As a side note, the band Argosy could be argued to be something of a supergroup in the making as both songs were written and sung by Roger Hodgson, who would later go on to form Supertramp. Also included on the disc was Elton John, Caleb Quaye (who was responsible for the rather good song ‘Woman of Distinction on Disc 1) and Nigel Olsson.  Quaye and Olsson would later become members of the Elton John band.   

Disc 1

  1. Faster Than Light – The Mirror
  2. Woman Of Distinction – Caleb
  3. Hold On – Ipsissimus
  4. Cast A Spell – The Open Mind
  5. Tracy Took A Trip – The Executives
  6. Here We Go ‘Round The Lemon Tree – Jason Crest
  7. Lollipop Minds – Wimple Witch
  8. William Chalker’s Time Machine – The Lemon Tree
  9. Barricades – The Koobas
  10. Celestial Empire – Dragonfly
  11. On The Beach – Finders Keepers
  12. Daughter Of The Moon – Sharon Tandy & Fleur De Lys
  13. Matrimonial Fears – The Cymbaline
  14. Anymore Than I Do – The Attack
  15. Anniversary Of Love – Ice
  16. Love & Beauty – The Moody Blues
  17. My World Fell Down – The Ivy League
  18. Tales Of Flossie Fillet – Turquoise
  19. Why May I Now Know? – Waterloo
  20. You Know That I’ll Be There – Peter & The Blizzards
  21. Wedding Of 100 Brides – The Motions
  22. A Place In The Sun – Jason Crest
  23. That Day – The Golden Ear-Rings
  24. Twenty Ten – Tinkerbells Fairydust
  25. 3:30 A.M. – Unit 4 + 2
  26. After Tea – The Spencer Davis Group

Disc 2

  1. Guess I Was Dreaming – The Fairytale
  2. Woodstock – Turquoise
  3. Fade Away Maureen – The Cherry Smash
  4. Gong With A Luminous Nose – Les Fleur De Lys
  5. Baby I Need You – Curiosity Shoppe
  6. Magic Rocking Horse – Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours
  7. Grounded – The Syn
  8. Eagle’s Son – The Pretty Things
  9. Romantic Attitude – John Fitch & Associates
  10. Turquoise Tandem Cycle – Jason Crest
  11. With Love For 1-5 – The State Of Mickey & Tommy
  12. Jack In The Box – The Jackppots
  13. Brother Can You Spare A Dime – St Valentine’s Day Massacre
  14. QIII – Eyes Of Blue
  15. The Real Thing Parts 1&2 – Russell Morris
  16. Come Again – Billy Nicholls
  17. Imagine – Argosy
  18. Buffalo Bully Can – Apple
  19. Love-Maker – Callum Bryce
  20. The Wall – The Fruit Machine
  21. Dream With Me – Andy Forray
  22. Spot The Lights – The Barrier
  23. Pain Of My Misfortune – The Moving Finger
  24. Mr Boyd – Argosy
  25. Dear Mr. Fantasy – Traffic 

Otis Redding – The Collection

For many year, I didn’t have a lot of Otis Redding records in my collection. A couple of singles and a best of, but this changed in 2015 when Rhino decided to put out the great man’s albums in a box set called Soul Manifesto 1964-1970. This contained all of the albums he released during his life time, and the most of the posthumous albums with the exception of 1992’s Remember Me. What was most surprising about this posthumous releases was the high quality fo the music that was on them. When an artists has died, these releases can be seen as a cash grab for the record label and full of substandard material that the artist had felt was not worth releasing at the time. Not so in Redding’s case. He seemed to have a knack of writing a good tune, but also picking out awesome ones to cover. Hence this three disc set. I set out to make a single or double disc compilation at most, but there was so much good material, it was hard to keep it to three. The story of Redding’s life and untimely death have been told many times so I came going to let his music do the talking, especially as I am still putting the finishing touches to my next post and that one is taking a lot longer to research and put together than all of the other posts I have put together before this put together. Well, that is the way it seems anyway. Enjoy.

Disc 1

  1. Shake
  2. Love Man
  3. Any Ole Way
  4. Pain In My Heart
  5. Tramp*
  6. Chained & Bound (Single Version)
  7. Direct Me (Mono)
  8. Hard To Handle (Mono)
  9. Security
  10. That’s What My Heart Needs
  11. These Arms Of Mine (Single Version)
  12. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
  13. Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
  14. Come To Me
  15. Down In The Valley
  16. You’ve Made A Man Out Of Me
  17. Tell The Truth
  18. 634-5789
  19. That’s A Good Idea
  20. Your One & Only Man
  21. Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down & Out)
  22. Bring It On Home To Me*
  23. It’s Growing
  24. I’m A Changed Man (Mono)
  25. Don’t Mess With Cupid
  26. Tennessee Waltz
  27. When Something is Wrong With My Baby*
  28. For Your Precious Love
  29. Change Gonna Come

Disc 2

  1. Stay In School
  2. The Boston Monkey
  3. Trick Or Treat
  4. Look At The Girl
  5. Home in Your Heart
  6. A Woman, A Lover, A Friend
  7. I Love You More Than Words Can Say
  8. I’m Coming Home To See About You
  9. The Hucklebuck
  10. Got To Get Myself Together
  11. I Got The Will
  12. Lovely Dovey*
  13. Johnny’s Heartbreak
  14. Remember Me
  15. I’m Coming Home
  16. Open The Door
  17. Groovin’ Time
  18. I Can’t Turn You Loose
  19. Let Me Come On Home
  20. You’re Still My Baby
  21. Free Me
  22. Are You Lonely For Me Baby?*
  23. Give Away None Of My Love
  24. The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)
  25. Champagne & Wine
  26. Everybody Makes Mistakes
  27. You Don’t Miss Your Water
  28. Amen

Disc 3

  1. Demonstration
  2. She Put The Hurt On Me
  3. Tell It Like It Is*
  4. Rock me Baby
  5. Don’t Leave Me This Way
  6. I Need Your Lovin’
  7. It Takes Two*Living By The Pund (Take 1)
  8. The Dog
  9. I’m Sick Y’All
  10. Something Is Worrying Me
  11. I Want To Thank You
  12. Keep Your Arms Around Me
  13. You Got Good Lovin’
  14. Mary’s Little Lamb
  15. The Match Game 
  16. You Left The Water Running
  17. Sweet Lorene
  18. A Lover’s Question
  19. Nobody’s Fault by Mine
  20. A Little Time
  21. Love Have Mercy
  22. Think About It
  23. The Glory of Love 
  24. That’s How Strong My Love Is
  25. My Lover’s Prayer
  26. I’ve Been Loving Too Long
  27. Try A Little Tenderness

* Otis Redding & Carla Thomas

Only Disc 1 could be reproduced on Spotify to some of the songs not being available on that platform.