Various – Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults 2004

 

BAKER KNIGHT & THE KNIGHTMARES

Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults is a 2004 compilation album released by Rhino Handmade, one of two new compilations using the Nuggets name. As with all Rhino Handmade releases, it was only available online, and a limited number of copies were pressed. All 7500 copies are currently sold out.

THE  ELECTRIC  PRUNES

The title comes from the first track, performed by Baker Knight & the Knightmares. As the title suggests, all 24 tracks were taken from the library of the Warner Music Group. The labels represented in this release are Atco, Colgems, Cotillion, Jubilee, Loma, Reprise, Valiant, and Warner Bros. Records. Since the first Nuggets in 1972, the entire series has been grounded in the gritty, dirty sound of garage rock, so much so that Rhino's 2001 box set of British and foreign psychedelic nuggets favored harder rock over the fruity, precious side of British psych.

THE  MISTY  WIZARDS

Collectors treasured rare singles before Nuggets, but the series created an aesthetic that emphasized the raw, trippy, wild, and woolly over the soft, lush, harmony-laden psychedelicized sounds of AM pop radio. The Rubble Collection, Mindrockers, The Trash Box -- all of them were dedicated to freaky guitar rock, and that mindset ruled until the latter half of the '90s, when the well had started to run dry, as labels like Sundazed issued the complete recorded works of obscure garage rockers who had released only one single during their lifetimes.

THE  NEXT  EXIT

Around this time, collectors -- including many third-generation music fanatics raised in the era of CD reissues rather than record fairs -- began to favor the soft sunshine pop of the late '60s, when square vocal groups started to get hip and record trippy music. Bands like the Millennium, the Association, and Yellow Balloon became hip currency, as did producers like Curt Boettcher and songwriters like Paul Williams.

TOM  NORTHCOTT

This was close to anathema for the hardcore garage rock fiends because this was not rock & roll, it was pop music whose commercial aspirations failed. Nevertheless, most hardcore record geeks have a fondness for this stuff, since it's not only melodic and well produced, but it's terribly interesting to hear how underground ideas were borrowed and assimilated into mainstream music; often, it's as strange as it was in the underground, if not stranger. Fans of this breed of psychedelic pop were insatiable, and there was a certain thrill to the fact that it was hard to track down, since it was either issued in Japan, buried as album tracks on reissues, or never made it to CD at all.

THE  ASSOCIATION

That's why Rhino Handmade's foray into the sound with Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults and its companion release, Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults, is so welcome -- while they're only available as limited editions (primarily sold via www.rhinohandmade.com), they're also the first widely available American samplers of this style. That alone would make them noteworthy, but what makes them essential (at least for hardcore record collectors), is that they're expertly done.

THE  BRASS  BUTTONS

Where previous installments of Nuggets concentrated on singles, Hallucinations is a true excavation of the vaults, picking overlooked album tracks and neglected singles from a cornucopia of WEA-owned labels, including Warner Bros., Cotillion, Jubilee, Valiant, Reprise, and Atco. While the focus is on acts that released a single or forgotten album, there are a handful of recognizable names -- the Association, Kim Fowley, the Electric Prunes, the Bonniwell Music Machine, the Tokens, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band -- and in the Monkees' "Porpoise Song," there's even a genuine hit.

THE  WORLD  COLUMN

But that song is the exception to the rule: most of these are quite obscure, and it's even arguable that because they were released on major labels (or at the very least, high-profile labels), the songs haven't been given the attention or respect as psychedelia released on smaller, regional labels. That argument is laid out in the introduction of the excellent liner notes, and the music on Hallucinations supports it strongly. Often, collections of rare heavy psychedelia and garage rock can grow a little samey even when the musical quality is high, since bands tended to emulate the same sounds and ideas, using the same production techniques as their peers.

THE  BONNIWELLL  MUSIC  MACHINE

Hallucinations is a much more interesting listen than the average psychedelic rarities collection since these underground ideas are applied in bizarre, unpredictable ways to professionally written, melodic songs that were designed for mainstream radio. Where its companion collection, Come to the Sunshine, is heavy on lush surfaces and harmonies, Hallucinations is overtly trippy and psychedelic, filled with fuzz guitars, echoes, phased vocals, organs, studio effects, and minor-key drones. This brings it closer to familiar Nuggets territory, but there's a much heavier emphasis on studiocraft and production here than there is on anything on the original double-vinyl Nuggets or Rhino's original box set; again, the focus is on the record, not the song, even though there are some excellent songs here.

THE  MONKEES

Nevertheless, the sound and effects of the productions are the most memorable aspects, such as the way the vocals and guitars swirl through the Next Exit's Tokens-produced "Break Away" or how Jeff Thomas' "Straight Aero," quite likely the trippiest square anthem ever recorded, has a weird undercurrent of menace in its hiccupping bass and clanging piano. Hallucinations is filled with moments as strong as this, and it makes a convincing argument that psychedelic pop is at its best when it's pure, undiluted ear candy like this. It's not just a good introduction to the charms of psychedelic pop; it holds its own next to any collection of freaky, guitar-fueled garage-psychedelic rarities.

THE WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND

The compilation was produced by Andrew Sandoval. The compilation was sold in the UK under the title, My Mind Goes High: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults. The track listing is the same. The compilation was reissued on vinyl and limited to 7000 copies for Record Store Day 2016.
                

Various – Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults
Label: Rhino Handmade – RHM2 7821, Warner Bros. Records – RHM2 7821
Series: Nuggets
Format: CD, Compilation, Limited Edition, Numbered
Country: US
Released: 2004
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Pop Rock

TRACKS

                 

01. Baker Knight & The Knightmares – Hallucinations   2:54
Guitar – Jimmy Bowen
Lead Guitar – Gerry McGee
Producer – Jimmy Bowen
Written-By – Thomas Baker Knight
02. The Misty Wizards – It's Love   2:10
Performer – Dick Keelan, Ted Lucas
Producer – Harvey Brooks
Written-By – Ted Lucas
03. The Next Exit – Break Away   2:47
Producer – The Tokens
Written-By – Brute Force, Paul Kahan
04. The Collectors – Looking At A Baby   2:18
Producer – Barry DeVorzon, Don Addrisi
Written-By – Bill Henderson, Howard Vickberg
05. Adrian Pride – Her Name Is Melody   3:02
Producer – Don Everly, Phil Everly
Written-By – Bernie Schwartz, Terry Slater
06. The Association – Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies   2:53
Leader [Frontman] – Jim Yester
Performer – Gary Alexander, Jerry Yester
Written-By – Gary Alexander
07. The World Column – Lantern Gospel   3:30
Producer – Bryce/Roberson
Written-By – Dave Meyer, Joel Kaplan
08. Tom Northcott – Who Planted Thorns In Miss Alice's Garden   2:50
Written-By – Tom Northcott
09. John Wonderling – Man Of Straw   2:50
Bass – Chuck Rainey
Drums – Bernard Purdy
Engineer – Bill Szymczyk
Guitar – Hugh McCracken
Keyboards – Paul Harris
Producer, Arranged By, Recorded By – John Wonderling
Written-By – Carey Budnick, Edward Goldfluss, John Wonderling
10. Ellen Margulies – The White Pony   2:24
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Roger Joyce
Written-By – Danny Secunda, Roger Joyce, Steve Steinberg
11. Jeff Thomas – Straight Aero   3:14
Producer – Dan Dalton
Written-By – Jeff Thomas
12. M.C.² – My Mind Goes High   2:39
Arranged By – The M.C.2
Drums – Jim Keltner
Performer – Linda Carey, Michael Clough, Michael Crowley, Randy Sterling
Producer – Lenny Waronker
Written-By – Michael Clough, Michael Crumm
13. Brass Buttons – Hell Will Take Care Of Her   2:59
Producer – Gene Cornish
Written-By – Jay Capozzi
14. The Salt – Lucifer   3:04
Arranged By, Conductor – David Lucas
Producer – David Lucas, Joey Levine
Written-By – Joey Levine, Marc Bellack
15. Kim Fowley – Strangers From The Sky   2:58
Arranged By, Conductor – Michael Lloyd
Written-By – Kim Fowley, Michael Lloyd
16. The Electric Prunes – Antique Doll   3:13
Producer – Dave Hassinger
Written-By – Annette Tucker, Nancie Mantz
17. The Bonniwell Music Machine – Astrologically Incompatible   2:23
Producer – Brian Ross
Written-By – Sean Bonniwell
18. The Tokens – How Nice?   2:58
Arranged By – Jimmy Wisner
Producer – The Tokens
Written-By – Hank Medress, Jay Siegel, Mitch Margo, Phil Margo
19. The Coronados – Your Love Belongs To Everyone   2:33
Performer – Ginger Ortiz, Reuben Ortiz, Steve Ortiz
Producer – Columbus Record Productions
Written-By – Reuben Ortiz, S. Ortiz
20. Lee Mallory – That's The Way It's Gonna Be   2:57
Producer – Curt Boettcher
Written-By – Samuel Robert Gibson, Phil Ochs
21. The Glass Family – House Of Glass   3:13
Bass, Keyboards – David Capilouto
Drums – Gary Green
Producer – Richard Podolor
Songwriter, Guitar – Ralph Parrett
Written-By – Ralph Parrett
22. The Holy Mackerel – Wildflowers   3:59
Bass – Jerry Scheff
Drums – Mike Cannon
Flute, Vocals – Cindy Fitzpatrick
Lead Guitar – George Hiller
Producer – Richard Perry
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Mentor Williams
Songwriter, Vocals – Paul Williams
Written-By – Robert Harvey
23. The Monkees - Porpoise Song   4:04
Arranged By [Strings] – Jack Nitzsche
Conductor [Conducted By] – Russ Titelman
Producer – Gerry Goffin
Written-By – Gerry Goffin/Carole King
24. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Smell Of Incense   5:48
Guitar – Ron Morgan
Performer – Bob Markley, Dan Harris, Michael Lloyd, Shaun Harris
Producer – Bob Markley, Jimmy Bowen
Written-By – Bob Markley, Ronald Bruce Morgan

NOTES

Limited to 7500 numbered copies.

MP3 @ 320 Size: 175 MB
FLAC  SIZE: 282 MB