Thursday, January 23, 2020

Various Artists - Pebbles, Vol. 11 Subtitled: Northern California, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics 2007


Various Artists - Pebbles, Vol. 11
Subtitled: Northern California, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics
2007 Archive International Productions (AIP)
CD cat. #: AIP CD 5028


 The long-running Pebbles series has done a great job of digging up regional garage rock singles from the '60s, and while most of these sides are probably more interesting for their historical value than for their musical virtues, there is something undeniably fascinating about this time period when seemingly every basement and garage in America had its own band crashing away. The eleventh volume in the series, this installment covers garage bands from Northern California, and one can hear the usual Beatles, Kinks, Animals, Rolling Stones and Byrds influences at work here.


Among the highlights are Peter Wheat and the Breadmen's hook-filled "All the Time," the Soultons' "Rain Down Soul" (which sounds an awful lot like the Animals' hit take on "House of the Rising Sun") and Sound 70's interesting folk-rock version of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings."

None of these 20 sides was anything more than a regional hit, and none of them are exactly essential, but the anything goes sensibility that drew a premium on passion and energy over exacting musical arrangements shows why the garage bands of the era constitute a genuine folk movement.
(Steve Leggett, AllMusic) 

TRACK LISTING:


01. Peter Wheat and the Breadmen: All The Time - 02:48
02. The Trolls: Walking Shoes - 02:07
03. Barry Carlos and the Night Caps: Don't You Know - 02:56
04. Boy Blues: Living Child - 02:39
05. Rock Shop: Is That Your Halo - 03:25
06. Sound 70: One Too Many Mornings - 02:24
07. Bethlehem Exit: Blues Concerning My Girl - 02:07
08. Druids: Sorry's Not Enough - 02:22
09. Crystal Garden: Peach Fuzz Forest - 03:57
10. Soultons: Rain Down Soul - 03:53
11. Family Tree: Prince Of Dreams - 02:22
12. Fourth Street Exit: Strange One - 02:16
13. Big Timers: Hangin' High - 02:20
14. Cave Dwellers: Meditation - 04:06
15. Bedpost Oracle: Love Isn't Dead - 02:48
16. Just Six: You - 02:05
17. Other Side: Streetcar - 02:20
18. Uncle Ben and Wild Rice: Sinner - 02:09
19. Gerry and Leslie: Me Love Am Gone - 01:54
20. Stepping Stones: Pills - 02:33

Playing time...53:29


Notes:

Grinning Tombstones from the Garage Graveyard.
"Do not expect the liner notes to correspond to the music on this CD!"
The sleeve indicates a 1996 release, but this was in fact released in 2007, over 8 years after Volume 12. This will apparently be the last volume in the Pebbles series.
Due to legal issues this CD was withdrawn soon after release.


An excellent addition to the Pebbles series.

Although this disc is billed as the eleventh disc in the Pebbles lineup, this is actually came out after Volume 12, making it the most recent addition to AIP Records' long-running series of garage rock
compilations. It also appears to be out of print (I was lucky enough to find a used copy in a local music shop), which, considering the generally high quality of the music found herin, is a real shame.
See, those Northern Californians really knew how to bring out the good stuff. The songs here aren't as hard-rockin' as those on some of the other Pebbles volumes- the music tends to be (relatively) poppier, with tinges of Byrdsian folk, Beatle-manic melodicism, and Jefferson Airplaney psychedlia (not surprising, considering the strength of the Hippie movement in places like San Francisco). In this case, that's a pretty good thing: the songs are catchy, fun, exciting, and with enough teenage energy and youthful gusto to justify their inclusion on a Pebbles disc.


Highlights include the Boys Blues' ultra-groovy folk-rocker "Living Child," which boasts some juicy harmonies and a squirming fuzz-guitar, as well as Peter Wheat & the Breadmen's "All the Time," which is a soaring slice of power pop, and the Druids' shimmering, Brit-influenced "Sorry's Not Enough." There's also the Crystal Garden's "Peach Fuzz Forest," an absolutely awesome slab of acid-psych that boasts a freaky guitar attack, a propulsive rhythm, and a bizarro main melody. On top of that, we have the Soultons "Rain Down Soul," which, as the group name/song title implies, is a soul-tinged ballad.


What the title and group name don't readily reveal is the fact that the song is an ethereal, dreamy bit of atmosphere, with some pining vocals and a drizzling organ. The Trolls' "Walkin' Shoes" is an unspeakably cool nightclub strutter, and "Is That Your Halo" (by Rock Shop) is quintessential garage punk, complete with a snarling vocal and some primal rhythms. The Sound 70 provide a neatcover of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings," throwing in a cool organ line and making the chorus sound totally anthemic. Barry Carlos & The Night Caps' "Don't You Know" is a superb R&B inflected frat-rock sing along, and the Big Tymers' "Hangin' High" is a wonderfully shambling surf-rockin' instrumental. "Meditation" by the Cave Dwellers is a neat little psychedelic trip, with a raving double-time instrumental midsection, and the Bethlahem Exit's "Blues Concerning My Girl" is a rambling rocker with some neat harmonicas and a drummer who is obviously having quite a bit of fun.


"Love Isn't Dead" by the Bedpost Oracle is a really cool "give-peace-a-chance" amthem with some great instrumental breaks. And I wouldn't want to leave out "Prince of Dreams," a lovely folk-rocker by the Family Tree. All in all, the most recent addition to the Pebbles family is a welcome one, wth enough gems to consider it among the series' very finest volumes. If you're a fan of the series (or of sixties garage rock in general), you'd do well to seek out a moderatly-priced copy of this little bugger.

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