Various: In Fuzz We Trust (60s Psych - And Garage Legends Salute The Fuzztones) 2013

 

The album you now hold in your hands is nothing short of the greatest tribute album ever recorded. Nowhere in history have as many legendary performers appeared on one record for the purpose of saluting another artist.
                               

In this case, the artist is the band that instigated the '80s garage revival that continues today -- The

Fuzztones. Preaching the garage (and psych) gospel since their inception in 1980, The Fuzztones influenced countless bands worldwide with their enigmatic image, high velocity performance and personalized interpretations.

The greatest tribute album ever recorded - has just been released (or will be any minute, depending on

the country you live in)." - Stag-O-Lee “When the Fuzztones appeared in the early 80s their mission was to continue the garage revival started the previous decade with Lenny Kays's Nuggets compilation., taking their cover versions to deeper levels of subterranean obscurity.

By 1993 and Songs We Taught The Fuzztones, presenting original versions of songs they'd covered, the

group had long been writing their own material, drawing from wider influences including The Stooges and Bo Diddley. … Now here's the full-circle collection, where the original-inspiration artists cover the Fuzztones: the ultimate seal of approval.

Fact is, even if The Fuzztones had never written a song in their long and illustrious career, they

succeeded in accomplishing something much more important, even profound... they resurrected a music style that had only existed from (roughly) 1966 to 1967, and through relentless touring and recording, kept it alive for over 33 years.

Initially, the band's mission was to introduce this long-lost music to the world, and did so by covering

VANILLA  FUDGE

obscure classics, many by artists who appear on this album.

"When The Beatles and Stones started out, they covered a lot of Motown and blues stuff, in an attempt

to turn people on to it," points out head Fuzztone Rudi Potrudi, "and that's what we wanted to do as well."

The music they chose to cover was so obscure that most of their audience assumed they were originals,

and the band could easily have kept it that way. Instead, Rudi joined forces with Germany's Music Maniac label and released the album, Songs We Taught the Fuzztones, a collection of original versions of songs made famous by The Fuzztones.

This record, released in 1993, turned Fuzztones fans on to the original artists, hence beginning the

DAVIE  ALLAN

"purist" movement that eventually spawned the emergence of reunited '60s garage and psych legends, as well as events such as Cavestomp, which brought them and their newfound fan base together. But The Fuzztones are much more than a cover band.

Their original material bears their own distinctive sound -- which owes as much to Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, The Stooges, and The Doors, as to the '60s garage and psych they obviously adore. When you hear The Fuzztones, there's no mistaking them for someone else.

SKY  SAXON

This album is the last of a three-part trilogy of Fuzztones tribute albums that began with Fuzztones
Illegitimate Spawn 1 and its successor 2. Both double CD collections featured bands from all around the world, paying homage to the band that inspired them.

STRAWBERRY  ALARM  CLOCK

Now we come full circle with a collection of Fuzztones classics, covered by the legendary bands that
inspired The Fuzztones in the first place. Ladies and gents, the Holy Grail: In Fuzz We Trust.

Artists include: Davie Allan & The Arrows, Shadows Of Knight, Sky Saxon, The Pretty Things
(w/Plasticland), The Shy Guys, Gonn, The Monks, The Electric Prunes, Charlie Souza & The Tropics, Shadows Of Knight, The Vagrants, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Wallflowers, ? & The Mysterians, Davie Allan & Craig Moore, and Vanilla Fudge.

GONN

While the late Sky Saxon and Electric Prunes singer James Lowe’s performances come from 2003’s
Salt For Zombies collection, Arthur Lee somehow joins the Prunes and Pretties on All The King’s Horses, but would have loved his lysergic new bed.

The double LP collections featured bands from all around the world, paying homage to the band that

inspired them. Now we come full circle with a collection of Fuzztones classics, covered by the legendary bands that inspired The Fuzztones in the first place. Ladies and Gents, The Holy Grail: IN FUZZ WE TRUST!

Various  In Fuzz We Trust - (60s Psych - And Garage Legends Salute The Fuzztones)
Label: Stag-O-Lee – Stag-o-o40
Format:    CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 2013
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRAXS

                                   

01. Davie Allan & The Arrows – Avalanche    2:14
02. The Shadows Of Knight With Elan Portnoy – I Never Knew     3:23
03. Sky Saxon With The Fuzztones – Get Naked     3:33
04. The Pretty Things With Zacherley And Plasticland – Ward 81     4:43
05. The Shy Guys – Highway 69     2:53
06. Gonn – Shame On You     3:58
07. The Monks – Hurt On Hold     2:54
08. The Electric Prunes With Sean Bonniwell, Arthur Lee & The Pretty Things – All The King's Horses     3:28
09. Charlie Souza & The Tropics – Rise     4:05
10. The Shadows Of Knight With Dick Taylor – Me Tarzan You Jane     2:41
11. The Vagrants – Nine Months Later     5:44
12. Gonn – Hallucination Generation     3:24
13. The Shy Guys – Romilar D     4:00
14. Strawberry Alarm Clock – Charlotte's Remains     3:12
15. ? & The Mysterians – Action Speaks Louder Than Words     4:42
16. Wallflowers (Wally Waller & The Strange Flowers) – Look For The Question Mark     5:10
17. Davie Allan & Craig Moore – She's Wicked     3:13
18. Vanilla Fudge – Black Box     6:43

MP3 @ 320 Size: 162 MB
Flac  Size: 462 MB

The Fuzztones in Urban Aspirines HERE

Rain Parade: Beyond The Sunset 1985 + Crashing Dream 1985 + Demolition 1991 + Perfume River 2002

 

In the early '80s it wasn't fashionable to look back to the psychedelic sounds of the '60s for inspiration,

but a small group of fellow travelers on the West Coast did just that. Dubbed the Paisley Underground, the groups took different elements of the era and updated them for the times. The Rain Parade were part of this small movement and they were the most indebted to the mystical psych and hazy pop of the bygone era.
                                     

It’s a mid-April 2022 morning, and Matt is somewhere in Oakland, California, on the way to get his

booster shot. Besides vaccination, the man has another reason to celebrate: an imminent vinyl re-release of the Rain Parade’s classic 1984 EP Explosions in a Glass Palace, part deux of the band’s famed Paisley Underground ‘Shots Heard Round the World’ (after 1983’s Emergency Third Rail Power Trip). Retro 1960s psychedelia never sounded so good. But from whence the inspiration to follow an archaic, trippy muse that none of their punk or new-wave contemporaries cared about?
                              

                      
Their 1983 debut album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip combined languid tempos, streamlined melodies, modal counterpoints and impressionistic lyrics with a skill that few of the original groups of

the '60s could manage. After that impressive start, the band faced a major setback when founding member David Roback left to form Opal.  Piucci met the other early members of Rain Parade. “David Roback and I, as well as John Thoman, all went to Carleton south of Minneapolis in 1975,” he says. “David and I were assigned as roommates – the school threw us together. We bonded over surrealistic art and ’60s psychedelia.”
                           

They bounced back to release a country rock-tinged EP (1984's Explosions in the Glass Palace) and

record that cut back on psych in favor of more modern rock sounds (1986's Crashing Dream) before splitting up. They did re-form in the 2000s to play a series of shows, and in 2019 appeared with other Paisley Underground bands to create 3x4, an album where the bands paid tribute to each other by covering each others songs. The Rain Parade was formed by guitarists David Roback and Matt Piucci, who met when they were roommates at a small college in Minnesota.
                       

Both had a keen interest in music, and while their heads had been turned by the explosion of punk rock,

both were fascinated by bands like Love and the Byrds, and as Roback told a reporter, "the Rain Parade was very much a recasting of our punk interests in more musical terms, inspired by our fascination with music history." Piucci decided to leave school in April 1981 in order to move to California and make music, and Roback followed suit.

 

 

RAIN PARADE - BEYOND THE SUNSET 1985

 
             

Rain Parade – Beyond The Sunset
Label:Lemon Recordings – CDLEM150
Format:CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country:UK
Released:2010
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                 

01.  Night Shade   2:50
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
02.  Prisoners   3:26
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback, W.Glenn
03.  This Can't Be Today   4:14
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
04.  Blue   2:37
Written-By – M. Piucci
05.  Eyes Closed   2:38
Written-By – M. Piucci
06.  Ain't That Nothing   4:12
Written-By – T. Verlaine
07.  Don't Feel Bad   3:21
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
08.  1 1/2 Hours Ago   4:17
Written-By – D. Roback, S. Roback
09.  No Easy Way Down   6:36
Written-By – D. Roback, M. Piucci, S. Roback, W. Glenn
10.  Cheap Wine   5:09  
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Steve Wynn/Tambourine – Dennis Duck/Written-By – D. Stewart
 

NOTES

Drums – Mark Marcum
Keyboards, Violin – Will Glenn
Liner Notes – Jud Cost
Producer – Jim Hill, Rain Parade
Remastered By – Andy Pearce
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – John Thoman, Matt Piucci
Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar – Steven Roback

Recorded live at Shibuya Public Hall, Tokyo, Japan, December 16, 1984
Remixed at Mad Dog Studios, Venice, California, USA

MP3 @ 320 Size: 93 MB
Flac  Size: 242 MB

RAIN PARADE - CRASHING DREAM 1985

 
                              

Rain Parade – Crashing Dream
Label: Lemon Recordings – CDLEM149
Format:    CD, Album, Remastered, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Acoustic, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                            

01. Depending On You    3:32
02. My Secret Country    3:15
03. Dont Feel Bad    3:19
04. Mystic Green    2:49
05. Sad Eyes Kill    3:16
06. Shoot Down The Railroad Man    3:23
07. Fertile Crescent    3:38
08. Invisible People    3:06
09. Gone West    3:44
10. Only Business    1:45

NOTES

Artwork By [Art Direction, Design], Photography – Brian D. Mclaughlin
Backing Vocals, Guitar – John Thoman
Drums, Percussion – Mark Marcum
Engineer – Scott Church
Keyboards – Will Glenn
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Producer, Engineer – Steve Gronback
Remastered By – Andy Pearce
Vocals, Bass, Piano – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Piucci

MP3 @ 320 Size: 79 MB
Flac  Size: 219 MB

RAIN PARADE - DEMOLITION 1991

 
                

Rain Parade – Demolition
Label:090 Records – 090-010
Format:    CD, Album
Country:US
Released:1991
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Indie Rock

TRACKS

                           

01. Sad Eyes Kill    3:07
02. Mystic Green    3:15
03. Shoot Down The Railroad Man    3:00
04. My Secret Country    3:00
05. Invisible People    2:15
06. Only Business    1:55
07. Crashing Dream    6:44
08. Depending On You    3:19
09. Gone West    3:45
10. My Dog's Last Dream    3:24
11. Tranquility Base    3:01
12. The Sniper    4:10
13. Murder Boy    3:18
14. Got The Fear    4:40
15. TV Stone    2:09
16. Undermine    2:30
17. Novocaine    2:43
18. Power    2:47
19. Every Morning Does    3:30

NOTES

Drums – Carlo Nuccio (tracks: 9), Ivan Knight (tracks: 12, 14, 17), Mark Marcum (tracks: 1 to 4, 7, 8, 19)
Guitar – Rob Stennet (tracks: 18)
Guitar, Vocals – John Thoman (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 9, 12, 14, 17, 19)
Keyboards – Raymond E. Berg (tracks: 9)
Keyboards, Violin – Will Glenn (tracks: 1 to 5, 7, 8, 19)
Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Matt Piucci

Demos, radio sessions, and live tracks recorded between 1984 and 1988.

MP3 @ 320 Size: 147 MB
Flac  Size: 360 MB

RAIN PARADE - PERFUME RIVER 

 
           

Rain Parade – Perfume River
Label:Rainfall Records – CLOUD006
Format:    CD, Album
Country:UK
Released:2002
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                       

01. Kaleidoscope    5:23
02. This Can't Be Today    4:17
03. Prisoners    3:44
04. Crashing Dream    5:45
05. Blue    2:40
06. You Are My Friend    3:01
07. Sad Eyes Kill    3:09
08. No Easy Way Down    6:37
09. Broken Horse    3:40
10. Ain't That Nothin' (Written-By – T. Verlaine)   4:24
11. What She's Done To Your Mind    3:22
12. Saturday's Asylum    3:39
13. Like A Hurricane (Written-By – N. Young)   4:45
14. What Goes On (Written-By – L. Reed)   4:42

NOTES

Drums – Mark Marcum
Guitar, Vocals – John Thoman
Keyboards – Will Glenn
Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Piucci
Written-By – D. Roback (tracks: 8, 11), M. Piucci (tracks: 2 to 8, 11, 12), S. Roback (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 12), W. Glenn (tracks: 3, 8)

Limited edition of 1000

On back cover:
The songs 13 and 14 included various members of Rain Parade,
The Long Ryders and The Chesterfield Kings making loud noises and generally misbehaving.
They were sent to their rooms without their supper and promise they will never do it again.

Recorded live at Scorgie's, Rochester NY on 11/14/84.

MP3 @ 320 Size: 136 MB
Flac  Size: 400 MB

Rain Parade: Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (1983) + Explosions In The Glass Palace EP (1984) on Urban Aspirines HERE.

The Vagrants: The Great Lost Vangrants Album... Plus 1987 + I Can't Make A Friend (1965 - 1968) 2011

 

The Vagrants were an American, Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The Vagrants started when Peter Sabatino and his buddy Larry Weinstein saw The Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in August 1964 — literally next door to Sabatino's apartment building — and he and

Weinstein decided that this was what they wanted to do. Weinstein's older brother Leslie was a good guitarist, so he joined up. Jerry Storch, whom they knew as a champion bowler at the local lanes, revealed one day that he played piano and had some songs, so they invited him to join. The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West (Lesie's brother) on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums.
                                      

A girl at the bowling alley got them a gig playing a Sweet 16 party, and they got paid $100 for it. More

gigs followed, and by early 1965 they were playing one of New York City's coolest clubs, Steve Paul's Scene. Sabatino, Weinstein and Mansour enrolled at Quintano's School for Young Professionals, a high school for performers, and by the summer of 1965 they were approached by two guys with a label, Southern Sound, who asked them if they wanted to make a single. Naturally, they did.
                               

Formed in 1964, by the following year, the group had developed a professional press kit, had gained the interest of the semi-professional Southern Sound record label and soon released a single: "Oh Those Eyes" b/w "You're Too Young". The single gained the attention of directors Vince Scarza and Douglas

Hickox, who were directing a Beach Party film called Disk-O-Tek Holiday, which featured various music artists performing songs throughout the film. The clip that featured The Vagrants performing "Oh Those Eyes" is now considered a classic piece of mid-1960s history. The Vagrants were best known for their regular appearances at The Action House in Island Park; one of the late 1960s premier rock clubs on Long Island.
                                    

The Vagrants often appeared on stage with such other iconic bands of the period as The Door's, The

Who, Vanilla Fudge, The Rascals, The Illusion and The Hassles (with Billy Joel on keyboards). The band's rock/cover of the theme from Exodus was often the highlight of each performance. Best known for their powerful covers of "Gimme Some Lovin'" (The Spencer Davis Group), "Hold On I'm Comin'" (Sam and Dave), and other Motown hits; there are no known recordings of these songs in the limited Vagrants' catalogue.
                                    

The Vagrants then signed to the Vanguard label, something of a departure for them as their roster consisted mainly of folk and jazz artists. Vanguard released their first minor hit "I Can't Make a

Friend", which is frequently found on garage band compilations and is one of their most recognizable early efforts. Record producer Felix Pappalardi, who would later work with Cream, The Youngbloods, and Jack Bruce, worked to sign the group to Atco Records, then a subsidiary label of the Atlantic Recording Corporation, and their cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" became a hit on the East Coast in 1967. In 1969, guitarist Leslie West left to form the post-Cream power-band Mountain, that became famous with Felix Pappalardi, on bass and vocals.
                              

The single, "Oh Those Eyes," is a bratty, paranoid garage rocker, with snappy guitar work by Leslie Weinstein, but it went nowhere. They got a summer-long gig in Hamptons Bay, on Long Island, and

became friendly with a band working one of the other clubs, The Young Rascals. One thing The Rascals had that The Vagrants didn't was a Hammond B-3 organ, an expensive instrument Storch coveted. Returning to Manhattan at the end of the summer, the band wound up at another hot spot, The Rolling Stone — a club run by popular disc jockey Scott Muni — where they played for 18 weeks. A wealthy fan learned that Storch wanted the B-3 and took him to a music store, whipped out $2,500 cash and asked that it be delivered to The Rolling Stone.
                            

The Vagrants' members were hot. They got residencies in all of Manhattan's best clubs and visiting rock

stars sat in with them. One of their gimmicks was to take a hit, like The Beatles' "No Reply," and slow it way, way down and turn it into a white soul showcase — a trick Vanilla Fudge later built a career on. A tall, skinny, troubled songwriter, Bert Sommer, began writing material for them, and they made some singles for Vanguard Records, but again, nothing.
                         

They became the house band at The Action House in Long Beach, a place with mob connections,

getting $1,500 a show and working 28 days a month. They added pyrotechnics to the show: Bombs would go off at the climax of one of their songs. One night, one of the bomb-boxes under Storch's organ wasn't completely out at the end of the night, and the entire stage — with the B3 — burned, taking The Vagrants' equipment with it. Their booking agency didn't flinch: They re-outfitted the band the next day, so The Vagrants could keep making them money.
                              

A compilation of all of the group's singles (excepting both sides of the "Oh Those Eyes" 45) was issued

on an Arista Records release titled The Great Lost Album in 1987, on which both Leslie and Larry West are credited by their birth names, Leslie and Larry Weinstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEMBERS

 
            

Leslie West - Guitar, Vocals
Larry West - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Peter Sabatino - Vocals, Percussion
Roger Mansour - Drums
Jerry Storch - Hammond Organ, Vocals

THE VAGRANTS - THE GREAT LOST VAGRANTS ALBUM... PLUS
All their Vanguard & Atco singles and outtakes plus their ultra-rare indie 45

 
                    

The Vagrants – The Great Lost Album
Label: Arista
Year: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Classic Rock
    
TRAXS

                          

01. Oh Those Eyes
02. You're Too Young
03. Respect    2:13
04. I Can't Make A Friend    2:31
05. Beside The Sea    2:16
06. I Don't Need Your Loving    2:52
07. Young Blues    2:13
08. And When It's Over    2:14
09. A Sunny, Summer Rain    2:49
10. The Final Hour    2:23
11. My Babe    2:56
12. I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)    2:38

MP3 @ 320 Size; 73 MB
Flac  Size: 186 MB

THE VAGRANTS - I CAN'T MAKE A FRIEND (1965 - 1968)

 
                       

The Vagrants – I Can't Make A Friend 1965-1968
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 059CD
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: Jan 25, 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock

TRAXS

                          

01. Oh Those Eyes    2:36
02. You're Too Young    2:06
03. I Can't Make A Friend    2:36
04. Young Blues    2:16
05. The Final Hour    2:27
06. Your Hasty Heart    3:00
07. Respect    2:15
08. I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)    2:39
09. Beside The Sea    2:18
10. A Sunny Summer Rain    2:51
11. And When It's Over    2:20
12. I Don't Need Your Loving    2:54

MP3 @ 320 Size; 72 MB
Flac  Size: 169 MB