Various: Garage Beat '66 Volume 1: Like What, Me Worry? (2004) + Garage Beat '66 Volume 2: Chicks Are For Kids! (2004)

GARAGE BEAT '66 VOLUME 1: LIKE WHAT, ME WORRY?

Garage Beat '66 Volume 1: Like What, Me Worry?! is the first installment in the Garage Beat '66 series of garage rock compilations issued by Sundazed Records, which is available exclusively on compact disc. It features well-researched liner notes, written by recognized garage rock authorities, which supply background information about each song and act, often including photographs of the bands. Like all of the entries in the series it is noted for good sound quality, as all of the tracks are mastered from the original studio master sources.

The set opens with "Like What, Me Worry," by 006. Also featured are two cuts by the Sparkles from Levelland, Texas: "No Friend of Mine" and "Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help)." Fellow Lone Star

State residents, Neal Ford and the Fanatics, of Houston perform "Shame on You," replete with its highly idiosyncratic guitar solo. The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 provide the bad acid trip-saga, "I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)." Matthew Moore Plus Four cover Buffy Sainte-Marie's oft-covered garage folk anthem "Codyne (She's Real)" and the Words of Luv do a rendition P.F. Sloans "I'd Have to Be Outta My Mind." The set also includes the unlikely presence of John Hammond Jr. covering Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would," with Bill Wyman on bass and Robbie Robertson on guitar, doing a different take of the number than the one which appears on his So Many Roads album.

[Sundazed's Garage Beat '66 series of mid-'60s garage rock takes much the same approach as hundreds, if not thousands, of such compilations that have been issued since the late '70s.

Each volume has an assortment of tracks from all over North America, many of them rare, none of them national hits, and most of the acts known only within their region, if at all. The emphasis is on raw, fuzzy outrage, often inspired by (but not as polished as) the more R&B-aligned end of the British Invasion. It's better than the average '60s garage rock anthology, though, in part because unlike virtually all other such animals, the tracks are mastered from the original sources, and the liner notes include copious commentary on each selection by garage rock authorities.

So if you're the kind of fan likely to collect such stuff, although you may well already have items like 006's "Like What, Me Worry," the Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2's "I Wanna Come Back (From the World of

LSD)," and the Sparkles' "Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help)" elsewhere, you may well not have them in as good fidelity as they boast here. While the songs do tend toward basic bluesy teen rants, there's room for some eclecticism, particularly in the inclusion of John Hammond's cover of Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" from a 1966 single (with Bill Wyman on bass and Robbie Robertson on guitar,

and a different version than the one that appears on his album So Many Roads); Matthew Moore Plus Four's garage-folk-rock cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Codyne (She's Real)"; and Words of Luv's version of an obscure P.F. Sloan folk-rocker, "I'd Have to Be Outta My Mind." The no-holds-barred absurdity of the aforementioned "I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)" and the crunching soul-rock-pop of the Sparkles' "No Friend of Mine" stick out as the highlights, however.
By Richie Unterberger]

Various: Garage Beat '66 Volume 1: Like What, Me Worry?
Label: Sundazed Music ‎– SC 11139
Series: Garage Beat '66 – 1
Format: CD, Compilation, Mono
Country: US
Released: April 27, 2004
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRACKS

01. 006: Like What, Me Worry 2:34

02. The Country Gentlemen: Saturday Night 1:55

03. Fever Tree: I Can Beat Your Drum 2:03

04. The Sparkles: Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help) 2:11

05. The Centuries: Hard Times (Billy Beard) 2:26

06. The Kreeg: Impressin' (Bob Sturtcman) 2:38

07. The "In": Just Give Me Time 2:20

08. The Ban: Bye Bye (Tony McGuire) 2:44

09. Executioners: I Want the Rain 2:43

10. The Odyssey: Little Girl, Little Boy (Jerry Berke) 2:22

11. Matthew Moore Plus Four: Codyne (She's Real) (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:51

12. Livet Nord: I'd Have to Be Outta My Mind (P.F. Sloan) 2:49

13. Five Of Us: Hey You 2:14

14. John Hammond, Jr.: I Wish You Would (Billy Boy Arnold) 2:40

15. Just Two Guys: Eyes 2:47

16. Olivers: Beeker Street 2:04

17. Neal Ford and the Fanatics: Shame on You (Bobbye Johnson) 2:13

18. Smokestack Lightnin': Look What You've Done (Ronnie Darling/Ric Eiserling) 2:54

19. The Sparkles: No Friend of Mine (Jay Turnbow) 2:24

20. The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2: I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD) (Danny Houlihan) 2:17

All tracks recorded 1965-1968.

MP3 @ 320 Size: 114 MB 
FLAC  Size: 185 MB

GARAGE BEAT '66 VOLUME 2: CHICKS ARE FOR KIDS!

Various: Garage Beat '66 Volume 2: Chicks Are For Kids!
Label: Sundazed Music ‎– SC 11140
Series: Garage Beat '66 – 2
Format: CD, Compilation, Mono
Country: US
Released: 2004
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock 

Garage Beat '66 Volume 2: Chicks are for Kids! is the second installment in the Garage Beat 66 series of garage rock compilations issued by Sundazed Records, which was released on April 27, 2004 and is available exclusively on compact disc. It features well-researched liner notes, written by Ugly Things publisher Mike Stax, which supply background information about each song and act, usually including photographs of the bands.

Like all of the entries in the series it is noted for good sound quality, as all of the tracks are mastered from the original studio master sources.

The set opens with "Sweetgina," by the Things to Come. Also featured is The Guess Who's 1966 The Remains perform a rough alternate take of "Why Do I Cry." The Barbarians deliver their The Litter, do aversion of the Small Faces' Whacha Gonna do About It? Also on the set is The Five Americans 1964 single, "I'm Feeling O.K." The Spiders (featuring Vincent Furnier, later known as Alice Cooper) play a fuzz-drenched outtake of "Don't Blow Your Mind."

Mersey Beat influenced debut 45, "Hey Little Bird."

single, "Believe Me."

Seattle's the Sonics perform "You've Got Your Head on Backwards." Some of the lesser-known songs

are the Bold's lewd "Gotta Get Some" and the Go-Betweens' "Have You for My Own." The Jynx, whose roster included future Big Star member Chris Bell on lead guitar, do a rendition of Them's "Little Girl." The Ugly Ducklings close out the set with their unreleased version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man."

[By Richie Unterberger

The second volume in Sundazed's Garage Beat '66 series follows much the same format as its predecessor: 20 garage rockers from all over America, though generally from the rawer end of the spectrum rather than the poppier side.

There's a slightly higher concentration of names that'll be at least somewhat known to some of the less specialized listeners, though, including the Guess Who (their 1966 single "Believe Me"), the

Remains, the Barbarians (with their crude Merseybeat-influenced debut 45, "Hey Little Bird," which was their best recording), the Litter, the Five Americans (with their 1964 single "I'm Feeling O.K."), We the People, the Spiders (who evolved into Alice Cooper), the Ugly Ducklings (with a previously unreleased version of "I'm a Man"), and the Sonics.
That alone is enough to make it a better than average '60s garage compilation, and the sound quality (mastered, unusually for a garage anthology, from original sources) and detailed track-by-track annotation by Ugly Things publisher Mike Stax are other bonuses.

As for the rarer, less-anthologized items here, some of these tend toward the more run-of-the-mill garage rock of the era, though the Bold's lewd "Gotta Get Some" (which recalls Paul Revere & the

Raiders' toughest moments) and the weird ringing guitar of the Go-Betweens' "Have You for My Own" are ear-catching. The Jynx's 1965 cover of Them's "Little Girl" isn't nearly as exciting as the original, but does possess historical interest for featuring future Big Star member Chris Bell on lead guitar.]

TRAXS

01. Things to Come: Sweetgina (Steve Runolfsson) 3:00

02. The Bold: Gotta Get Some (Dick Lapalm) 2:30

03. The Guess Who: Believe Me (Randy Bachman) 2:54

04. The Jynx: Little Girl (Van Morrison) 1:55

05. The Gestures: I'm Not Mad 2:37

06. Menn: Things to Come 2:07

07. The Sonics: You Got Your Head on Backwards (Gerald Roslie) 2:22

08. Best Things: Chicks Are for Kids 3:08

09. The Remains: Why Do I Cry (Barry Tashian) 3:07

10. The Barbarians: Hey Little Bird (Tommy Kaye) 2:21

11. The More-Tishans: (I've Got) Nowhere to Run 2:09

12. The Concepts: Faces Come, Feelings Go (Rob Zolner) 2:50

13. The Go-Betweens: Have You for My Own (Bob Brancati) 2:29

14. The Litter: Whatcha Gonna Do About It? 2:27

15. The Electras: (Just a Little) Soul Searchin' (Warren Kendrick) 2:46

16. The Five Americans: I'm Feeling O.K. (Johnny Durrill/Michael Rabon) 2:19

17. The Spiders: Don't Blow Your Mind 2:53

18. The Third Bardo: Lose Your Mind (R. Evans) 2:14

19. We the People: When I Arrive (Tommy Talton) 3:05

20. The Ugly Ducklings: I'm a Man (Ellas McDaniel) 5:02

All tracks recorded 1965-1968.

MP3 @ 320 Size: 127 MB
FLAC  Size: 188 MB

Amon Düül II: Tanz Der Lemminge 1971

Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2, Pronunciation = Amon Düül) is a German rock band. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album Yeti was described by British magazine The Wire as "one of the cornerstones of [...] the entire Krautrock movement."

The band emerged from the radical West German commune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including some of the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner (b. 14 September 1943), John Weinzierl (b. 4 April 1949), and Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz (b. Renate Aschauer-Knaup, 1 July 1948).

The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül 'art commune' in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability.

Their first album Phallus Dei ('God's Phallus'), released in 1969, consisted of pieces drawn from the group's live set at the time. By this time the line-up was built around a core of Karrer (mainly violin and guitar), Weinzierl (guitar, bass, piano), Rogner on keyboards, bass player Dave Anderson, and two drummers (Peter Leopold (b. 15 August 1945) who had joined the group from Berlin, and Dieter Serfas).

Their second album Yeti (1970) saw them introducing arranged compositions along with the bluesy violin and guitar jams such as the long improvised title track. The next album Tanz der Lemminge

(1971) was based on four extended progressive rock suites. By this time bassist Anderson had returned to England and joined Hawkwind, to be replaced by Lothar Meid (born 28 August 1942), and the group was augmented by synthman Karl-Heinz Hausmann (Karrer had formed a short-lived group in 1966 - supposedly named 'Amon Düül O' - with future Embryo founders Lothar Meid and drummer Christian Burchard).

Amon Düül II's drummer, Peter Leopold, died on 8 November 2006. A memorial service was held for Leopold in Munich, where the remaining members of Amon Düül II sang a song for him. Leopold was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fichelscher, for many years guitarist and drummer of Krautrock group Popol Vuh. Fichelscher is not new to the group, and in fact has had a long affiliation with Amon Düül II, having played with them as early as 1972 on Carnival in Babylon.
Bass player Lothar Meid died on 3 November 2015.

Tanz der Lemminge (English: Dance of the Lemmings) is a double LP released in 1971.
The first side of disc 1 is a 4-movement sidelong epic (lasting some16 minutes) called March Of The

Roaring 70's where the group appears in top form, ready to exploit the ground broken with pallus and Yeti, and indeed the wild psych they dealt us in Yeti is at least matched on this first side. Wriiten by Chris Karrer, the track is an excellent progressive space folk track. The flipside is occupied by Weinzerl's 7-movement Restless Skylight/Transistor Child suite, which is extremely wide in its scope ranging from Indian (guesting is futurePopol Vuh sitarman al Grommer) to a devillish and ever-changing soundscape, including a mellotron.

The album's second disc is opened by Rogner's Chamsin Soundtrack (for a seldom seen film), filled with completely spaced out ambiances created by a sliding growling organ lines and echoed guitars answers. While this track might be faaaaar out, it stands out also as a bit too spaced out for repeated

listenings and since it takes on a full side of the album's seciond disc.....
Its flipside is a confused affair, filled with a succession of short tracks that seem somewhat linked together. With these three "shorter " tracks, we return to the screaming full psych that had been lacking us since the start (there was a bit of it during Weinzerl's suite), but Chewingum Telegram is a bit short, but sounding like some Quicksilver Messenger Service on strong dope... More crunchy guitars on Melted Moonlight, but here the recording sound shoddy and the whole thing lacking tightness. Closing the album is the medium-sized (for this album anyway with its almost 8 minutes) Toxological Whispering, an excellent Agitation Floyd track

[There aren't many double art-rock albums from the early '70s that have stood the test of time, but then again, there aren't many albums like Tanz, and there certainly aren't many groups like Amon Düül II. While exact agreement over which of their classic albums is the absolute standout may never be reached, in terms of ambition combined with good musicianship and good humor, the group's third album, is probably the best candidate still. The musical emphasis is more on expansive arrangements and a generally gentler, acoustic or soft electric vibe; the brain-melting guitar from Yeti isn't as prominent on Tanz, for example, aside from the odd freakout here and there. You will find lengthy songs divided up into various movements, but with titles like "Dehypnotized Toothpaste" and "Overheated Tiara," po-faced seriousness is left at the door.

The music isn't always wacky per se, but knowing that the group can laugh at itself is a great benefit. The first three tracks each take up a side of vinyl on the original release, and all are quite marvelous. "Syntelman's March of the Roaring Seventies" works through a variety of acoustic parts, steering

away from folksiness for a more abstract, almost playfully classical sense of space and arrangement, before concluding with a brief jam. "Restless Skylight-Transistor Child" is more fragmented, switching between aggressive (and aggressively weird) and subtle passages. One part features Meid and Knaup singing over an arrangement of guitars, synths and mock choirs that's particularly fine, and quite trippy to boot. "Chamsin Soundtrack" exchanges variety for a slow sense of mystery and menace, with instruments weaving in and out of the mix while never losing the central feel of the song. Three briefer songs close out the record, a nice way to get in some quick grooves at the end.
By Ned Raggett ]

Amon Düül II ‎– Tanz Der Lemminge

Year: 1971

Label: Repertoire Records ‎– REP 4915, Repertoire Records ‎– REP 4915A

Format: CD, Album, Remastered

Country: Germany

Released: 2001

Genre: Rock

Style: Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock

TRACKS

    Syntelman's March Of The Roaring Seventies  15:51

01. In The Glassgarden     1:39

02. Pull Down Your Mask  4:39

03. Prayer To The Silence     1:04 (Vocals- Chris Karrer)

04. Telephonecomplex     8:26

    Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child

05. Landing In A Ditch     1:12

06. Dehypnotized Toothpaste     0:52

07. A Short Stop At The Transylvanian Brain-Surgery (Vocals – Lothar Meid)  5:00

    Race From Here To Your Ears

08. Little Tornadoes (Vocals – Chris Karrer)  2:08

09. Overheated Tiara     1:46

10. The Flyweighted Five     1:26

11. Riding On A Cloud (Vocals – Henriette Kroetenschwanz, Lothar Meid)  2:33

12. Paralized Paradise  (Vocals – John Weinzierl)  3:07

13. H.G. Well's Take Off  (Vocals – Rolf Zacher)  1:26

    Chamsin Soundtrack

14. The Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church (Impr.)     18:05

15. Chewinggum Telegram     2:44

16. Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight     4:39

17. Toxicological Whispering     7:50

CREDITS

Chris Karrer (1969-1981): Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Saxophone, Electric Guitar (tracks: 1 to 17)

Lothar Meid: Bass, Double Bass (tracks: 1 to 13), Vocals (1971-1973, 1974, died 2015) 

Peter Leopold: Drums 

Electronics, Engineer [Sound] – K.-H. Hausmann

John Weinzierl(1969-1977): Guitar, Piano (tracks: 14 to 17)

Mixed By, Remix – Kalle Hausmann

Falk Rogner: Organ, Electronics (tracks: 14 to 17)(1969-1971, 1972-1975, 1981)

Jimy Jackson: Organ, Organ [Choir-organ], Piano (tracks: 1 to 13)

Peter Leopold: Percussion (tracks: 1 to 13) (1969-1972, 1973-1979, died 2006)

Peter Leopold: Piano (tracks: 14 to 17)

Producer – Amon Düül II, Olaf Kuebler

Al Gromer: Sitar  (tracks: 1 to 13)

Written-By – Karrer (tracks: 1 to 4, 14 to 17), Rogner (tracks: 2, 8, 14 to 17), Weinzierl (tracks: 5 to 17), Meid (tracks: 14 to 17)

 MP3 @ 320 Size: 160 MB
FLAC  Size: 404 MB

Hoodoo Gurus: 2 Albums: Mars Needs Guitars 1985 + Blow Your Cool ! 1987

MARS NEEDS GUITARS  1985

The Hoodoo Gurus followed the excellent Stoneage Romeos with the equally swell Mars Needs Guitars!, a second helping of Dave Faulkner's wonderfully skewed kitsch-pop confections.

While the band's basic m.o. hasn't changed all that much in the interim '60s-era pop, garage rock, and cowpunk remain their key musical reference points Faulkner's skills as a songwriter have grown perceptibly: the opening "Bittersweet" is an absolute gem, with other highlights like "Death Defying" and "Show Some Emotion" trailing not far behind.

Also commendable is the Gurus' sharp wit from the hillbilly freakout of "Hayride to Hell" to the primitive B-movie stomp of the title track, their affection for the guilty pleasures of trash culture is infectious. Irresistible fun.
(By Jason Ankeny)

Hoodoo Gurus: Mars Needs Guitars

Label: Chrysalis 82675-1 S A

Manufactured By: Big Time Records

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album

Made In: Greece

Released: 29 Jul 1985

Country: Australia

Genre: Rock

Style: Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative

TRAXS (From The LP)

SIDE ONE

A1. Bittersweet     3:44

A2. Poison Pen             4:09

A3. In The Wild     3:07

A4. Death Defying     3:21

A5. Like Wow-Wipeout     3:09

SIDE TWO

B1. Hayride To Hell     3:15

B2. Show Some Emotion     2:56

B3. The Other Side Of Paradise     3:31

B4. Mars Needs Guitars!

    (Lead Vocals – Brad ShepherdWritten-By – B. Shepherd, C. Bramley, D.              Faulkner, J. Baker, M. Kingsmill)  2:52

B5. She     3:28

BONUS TRAXS (From The CD)

1. Bring The Hoodoo Down 2:54

2. Turkey Dinner     4:14

3. Death Ship (Live)     2:42

4. In The Wild (Live)     3:29

5. Teenage Head (Live)     3:00

MUSICIANS

Clyde Bramley: Bass, Vocals

Mark Kingsmill: Drums, Cymbal 

Brad Shepherd: Guitar, Vocals, Harp [Mouth Harp] 

David Faulkner: Lead Vocals, Guitar 

Management – Michael McMartin

Mastered By – Don Bartley

Photography By – Rhonda Thwaite

Producer – Charles Fisher

Written-By – D. Faulkner* (tracks: A1 to B3, B5)

BLOW YOUR COOL ! 1987

For the Hoodoo Gurus' third album, the group's American record label was hoping the band could come up with something a bit easier to market than the witty, '60s-obsessed pop/rock of Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars, so they paired the group up with producer Mark Opitz, who had previously twisted the knobs for AC/DC, INXS, and the Divinyls.

Opitz gave the band a smoother, slicker surface and a cracking, radio-friendly drum sound, he also weeded out the band's wackier material (nothing like "Dig It Up" or "Hayride to Hell" this time out) in favor of mega-hooky pop ("Out That Door" and "Good Times," the latter featuring the Bangles on backing vocals) and straight-ahead rock & roll ("Where Nowhere Is" and "Party Machine"). As a result, Blow Your Cool! is the least idiosyncratic album in the Hoodoo Gurus' catalog and doesn't reflect the sneaky wit or goofy charm that won them many of their early fans.

But it also makes them sound like the great rock & roll band they always were and leaves little doubt that these guys didn't need to be funny to get over; Dave Faulkner even seems to enjoy having the opportunity to play it straight on the politically slanted "In the Middle of the Land," and the band rarely rocked as hard as they did on the tunes here where they throw the engine into fifth gear. Blow Your Cool! is in some respects a compromised Hoodoo Gurus album, but it's strong enough to prove that these guys could make a worthwhile album even while playing by someone else's rules.
(By Mark Deming)

1987's Blow Your Cool! found the Hoodoo Gurus adding a considerable amount of polish to their production and toning down their trademark humor in a bid for a wider audience. But in the United States, it didn't pay off. Blow Your Cool! opened few new doors for the Gurus, and they were dropped by Elektra Records.

Label: Elektra ‎– 9 60728-2, Elektra ‎– 60728-2

Format: CD, Album

Made In: US

Released: 1987

Country: Australia

Genre: Rock

Style: Garage, Indie Rock, Alternative

TRAXS

1.  Out That Door (Guitar [Guest] – Mal Eastick)   4:14

2.  What's My Scene     3:49

3.  Good Times (Vocals [Guest] – Debbi Peterson, Michael Steele, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson)   3:03

4.  I Was The One  (Saxophone [Guest] – James Valentine)   4:11

5.  Hell For Leather     3:28

6.  Where Nowhere Is  (Vocals [Guest] – Geoff Rhoe)   4:02

7.  In The Middle Of The Land  (Vocals [Guest] – Mark Walton (2), Paul Thirkell, Steve Wynn)   4:34

8.  Come On     2:43

9.  Heart Of Darkness     3:04

10. My Caravan  (Saxophone [Guest] – James Valentine)   4:19

11. On My Street     3:16

12. Party Machine  (Vocals [Guest] – Alan Wright, Debbi Peterson, Geoff Rhoe, Mark Opitz, Michael Steele, Mike Kloster, Stevo Glendinning, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson)  5:09

Recorded At: Rhinoceros Studios

Recorded At: Albert Studios

Recorded At: The Sound Factory

Mixed At: Rhinoceros Studios

 

MUSICIANS

Clyde Bramley: Bass 

Mark Kingsmill: Drums [Batterie] 

Brad Shepherd: Guitar, Harmonica

Dave Faulkner: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards

Backing Vocals: Hoodoo Gurus

Design [Cover], Art Direction: Richard Allan

Engineer: Alan Wright

Engineer [Assistant]: Heidi Cannavo, Kathy Nauton, Paula Jones, Chad Blake 

Mars Needs Guitars      MP3 @ 320 Size: 106 MB        FLAC  Size: 314 MB 

Blow Your Cool !         MP3 @ 320 Size: 115 MB        FLAC Size: 360 MB