Various: Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds - The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967 (3 CD Box) 2016

 

Cherry Red has become the archival label, in my humble opinion. In conjunction with Grapefruit

THE PRETTY THINGS

Records, this fantastic compendium spanning four hours and eighty tracks has arrived. All manner of sounds inhabit the three disks, anticipating the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love and chronicling a tumultuous 12 month period of music in the British Isles.

Psychedelic pop emerged from the underground clubs and infiltrated the home-grown music scene

THOSE FADIN' COLOURS

mainstream, with the vast majority following The Beatles in surrendering to the new genre. This set encompasses everything from artists such as The Move and Procol Harum to the likes of mondo obscuro West Country quintet T. J. Assembly, who pressed a mere 25 copies of their self-penned November 1967 album as a strictly personal memento of their time together.

So here we have it, a dizzying array of sonic riches, and where to begin? The opening song “Toyland”

THE SORROWS

gives the box set its name, and is offered up by The Alan Bown. It is a fair representation of the genre, with woodwinds and sweetly rendered melodies. The backing vocals are whimsical and echo earlier 60s styles. I dare you to get this song out of your head once it’s stuck there, and as repeated listens have proven, it is nigh on impossible. This group was previously a soul revue and they quickly jumped on the psych bandwagon, buying up caftans and re-emerging as a flower power group.

Follow-on tune “Magic In the Air” from The Attack could have been penned by The Who, due to

TONY RIVER & THE CASTAWAYS

similar sounding guitars and a mod outlook. Episode 6 offer up the sunny “I Can See Through You” and feature two future members of Deep Purple. It is laced with all the flowery stereotypes one can imagine, but strong musicianship and a sharp melody make it a cool cut. Dantalion’s Chariot has the honor of sounding like a tripped out Spirit on “The Madman Running Through the Fields”, with all the studio trickery tacked on for good measure. Totally fun! The wonderful “Dear Delilah” from George Alexander (elder brother of Easybeats guitarist George Young and AC/DC stalwart Angus Young) hits all its marks and is a marvelous collision of The Hollies and Bee Gees.

“Lazy Man” from The Mirage is an obvious homage to the Fab Four and veers very close to “Rain”, but

THE PICADILY LINE

in such a nice way that nobody minds that it’s a blatant ripoff. “Give Him a Flower” from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is a fun time and will have you singing along and swinging your hips in no time. The funny “My House is Burning” from The Good Thing Brigade has clever lyrics, a somewhat cheesy organ, and is a fun distraction. I really dig “Sanity Inspector” from The Spencer Davis Group, an unlikely outing sans Stevie Winwood and featuring merry go round organ and accordion.

On to Disk Two, starting off with the fast moving “Flames” from R&B group “Elmer Gantry’s Velvet

THE PURPLE GANG

Opera”. The tune has hints of mod and psych and some bluesy riffs charging it up, and it became an oft covered tune by such bands as Led Zeppelin. “Defecting Grey” from The Pretty Things is a psych-infused gem, and the extended version rocks out past the five minute park. You can hear glimmers of the glam movement that would follow in the 70s, and the roots of S.F. Sorrow are clearly in evidence. “Desdemona” from John’s Children features naughty lyrics from none other than Marc Bolan, who departed the band for T. Rex a short time later. The Doves offer up a song The Monkees would have killed for, the marvelously sung “Smokeytime Springtime”.

“Something to Write About” from Circus gives a nod to The Small Faces and has strong lyrics and

THE OUTER LIMITS

interesting melodic twists. “Village Green” from The Brood is a companion piece to anything on The Kinks classic album of the same name. It has the same small town characters and jaunty, nostalgic feel. Another winner is “Mr. Sun” from Tony Rivers and The Castaways, treating the listener to a memorable melody and some nice vocals. Given the current hostile political climate, The Move’s sarcastic “Vote For Me” seems especially prescient. Murray Head’s gorgeous “She Was Perfection” is a perfect reflection of the times, reining in the bombast and offering up a lovely baroque pop tune. “Crazy Dreams” from *The Searchers” is a cool, boppin’ piece with fun lyrics that will have you tapping your feet.

And finally (whew!), what a long, strange trip it’s been to get to Disk 3. Hearing all manner of craziness

THE MARMALADE

and over the top songs, we have the superb “Someone Turned the Light Out” from The Plastic Dream, who channel bands like The Electric Prunes on this buzzing psych fest. I also like “Finding it Rough” from Hat and Tie, a song that is probably known because it was recorded by The Everly Brothers. It has the requisite fuzzy guitars and a mod sounding vocal. Cool! “Fashion Conscious” from The Fresh Windows has guitars that sure remind me of The Who, while the leering vocals could be anyone from that period. “The Addicted Man” from teenage band The Game is crammed with mod guitars and faintly scandalous lyrics, and the title alone is enough to make me listen repeatedly. Great fun. “Delighted to See You” from The Honeybus is another fun track, with great harmonies and what sounds like a kazoo but might be a type of flute. “A Walk In the Sky” from The Flower Pot Men is a wonderful pop tune, with vocals reminiscent of The Beach Boys the requisite dayglo imagery.

“Schizoid Revolution” from Skip Bifferty is a swingin’ tune that is a hoot, with the piano driving things

THE MOVE

at times. “Granny Takes a Trip” from The Purple Gang is a novelty tune with kazoo, music hall piano, and a scratchy beat. You can imagine the lyrics, and the almost out of tune harmonica that wafts through at times. Probably a staple on the Dr. Demento Show! “Busker Bill” from The Truth is gorgeous baroque pop not unlike The Zombies or The Left Banke, and has wonderful vocals and really pretty backing instrumentation. “Again” from The Symbols has fabulous vocal harmonies, but the song failed to chart. “Laughing Man” from The Marmalade is a blatant Beatles ripoff, but damn, what a good ripoff it is. These guys can sing, and I even hear hints of Dylan in the mix.

As the year progressed, it seemed that more or less every element of the British pop world had been

THE ATTACK

swept up in the blissed-out UFOria. Beat boom survivors, R&B stalwarts, sharp-suited mods, Swinging London soul revues, earnest acoustic folkies, Denmark Street hustlers, traditional pop acts… all abandoned or refined their previous identities to make music that reflected the ubiquitous influence of psychedelia in its myriad paisley-patterned guises.

Along the way, we encounter all aspects of the scene, from the first generation psychedelic bands that

THE MIRAGE

took part in subterranean London ‘happenings’ to the shameless bandwagon-jumpers who were nevertheless an integral part of psychedelic pop’s rich and varied tapestry. We also feature a clutch of previously unreleased nuggets, alternative versions, pseudonymous releases, first-ever CD appearances, a couple of inspired novelty discs and even a football supporters freak-out.

Housed in a clambox that includes a lavishly annotated and illustrated 44-page booklet, Let’s Go Down

THE HUMAN INSTINCT

And Blow Our Minds is nothing less than the story of the British rock and pop scene of 1967: music made half-a-century ago that, as can be seen from the number of hitherto unknown recordings featured, is still slowly revealing its secrets. As some righteously obscure band confidently promised during that epochal year, a splendid time is guaranteed for all...

Is always odd to think of a set like this without anything from Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Cream and,

ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA

thanks to his relocation, Jimi Hendrix, to name just four. In many ways this is a box set of chancers, most of which would happily own up to the description — bands and performers who had already been around one way or another, trying to figure out just exactly where to go next as sounds and styles shifted around them.

So this makes the moments that do break the mold all the more enticing, and gives a sense of what

THE ALAN BROWN!

exactly could be done in those moments of inspiration. Hearing the Pretty Things’ initial moment of late sixties transformation with the full-length ‘Deflecting Grey’ in all its crazed tempo-shifting glory is always a treat, while Don Craine’s New Downliners Sect kept up his garagey ways with a cover of the Remains’ ‘I Can’t Get Away From You’. Dantalian’s Chariot, the work of Zoot Money reinventing himself following his earlier r’n’b days, combined his rougher voiced grit with some sharp musical and production moves on ‘The Madman Running Through the Fields’, which is almost too perfect a title.

The Mickey Finn’s rampaging ‘Time To Start Loving You’ is an even more swaggering stomp in

GERANIUM POND

comparison — the bridge from verse to chorus each time couldn’t sound better — while One In a Million’s ‘Double Sight’ and Jade Hexagram’s ‘Great Shadowy Strange’ also kick up the energy levels just right. One of the more engaging surprises is the snarling guitar kick of Hat & Tie’s ‘Finding It Rough’, which sounds like it could have been from a later era, and not only features a compelling vocal from Patrick Campbell-Lyons, later of Nirvana (not that one, the late 1960s one) but engaging bass work from Chris Thomas, a year out from helping George Martin on The White Album and looking ahead to his own high profile production career. Meantime, hearing Big Jim Sullivan test out his newly learned sitar skills on a song called ‘Flower Power’ — well, what else to add?

Meanwhile, the moments of goofy sunshine pop and/or ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’-inspired freakouts

EPISODE SIX

and novelty songs and odd bits and the like that became a part and parcel of what psychedelia was seen to be, at least at the time, play out throughout the set. (Favorite song title, about a breakup: the Secrets’ ‘I Think I Need the Cash’.) Songs like Sweet Feeling’s ‘All So Long Ago’ and the Honeybus’s ‘Delighted to See You’ seem to exist to soundtrack film clips of people swinging along in the streets without a care in the world, presumably dressed to the 1967 nines.

(Then there’s the Marmalade’s jangle-on-top-of-jangle ‘Laughing Man’ — which goes a bit laughing

FLEUR - DE - LYS

gnome towards the end — and the massed harmonies of the Flower Pot Men, whose ‘A Walk In the Sky’ has a line about how the trees have chocolate bars, why because of course.) One early entry, ‘Lazy Man’ by the Mirage, doesn’t even bother to hide how obviously it wants to be ‘Rain’ — the type of work that makes you wonder why they just didn’t bother with a straight-up cover. Perhaps the most out-there moment comes with a bit of minimal murkiness that could almost be something from 1981 on Rough Trade, called ‘Nice’. That the band was called Crocheted Doughnut Ring just makes a certain sort of sense.

As that noted hipster Plato once observed, when the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city

DON CRAINE'S NEW DOWNLINERS SET

shake. And there was certainly a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in 1967. A distended Summer of Love saw psychedelic pop emerging from the underground clubs to infiltrate the home-grown music scene mainstream, with the vast majority following in the footsteps of perennial market leaders The Beatles in surrendering to the new genre.

Various – Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds - The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967
Label: Grapefruit Records – CRSEGBOX033
Series: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of – 1967
Format: Box Set, 3 x CD, Compilation, Remastered, Stereo, Mono
Country: UK
Released: Oct 21, 2016
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Rhythm & Blues, Beat, Mod, Pop Rock, Garage Rock

         

CD1.

 

01. The Alan Bown! – Toyland (Single Version)
Arranged By – Mike Hurst
Written-By – Roden, Catchpole
02. The Attack – Magic In The Air
Written-By – Du Cann
03. The Tickle – Subway (Smokey Pokey World)
Producer – Tony Visconti
Written-By – Stuart, Wayne
04. Episode Six – I Can See Through You
Written-By – Glover
05. Dantalian's Chariot – The Madman Running Through The Fields
Written-By – Summers, Money
06. Geranium Pond – Dogs In Baskets
Producer – John Edward
07. The Scots Of St. James – Eiderdown Clown
Written-By – Gorrie, Maitland
08. George Alexander – Dear Delilah
Written-By – Alexander
09. The Sorrows – Pink Purple Yellow And Red
Lyrics By [English Lyrics By] – The Sorrows
Written-By – Despota, Reverberi
10. The Mirage – Lazy Man (Alternative Version)
Written-By – Hynes
11. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown – Give Him A Flower
Written-By – Brown, Crane
12. Tintern Abbey – Tanya
Written-By – MacTavish
13. Fleur-De-Lys – Prodigal Son
Bass Guitar – Gordon Haskell
Drums – Keith Guster
Guitar – Bryn Haworth
Written By – Gordon Hionides
Written-By – Haworth
14. The Lomax Alliance – See The People
Written-By – Cannon, Peters
15. The Mickey Finn – Time To Start Loving You
Written-By – Mark, Jory, Waller
16. The Fingers – I Hear The Sun
Written-By – Bobin, Eden, Mills
17. Crocheted Doughnut Ring – Nice
Written-By – Ring, Chevin, Leopold
18. The Good Thing Brigade – My House Is Burning
Written-By – Clark, Dobson
19. The Motives – Ice Woman
Written-By – Winter
20. Louise – Look At The Sun
Written-By – Chudley
21. Neo Maya – I Won't Hurt You
Backing Vocals – Sheila Carter
Written-By – Markley, Lloyd, Harris
22. Cliff Ward – Path Through The Forest
Written-By – Ward
23. The Spencer Davis Group – Sanity Inspector (Single Version)
Written-By – Hardin, Davis
24. The Summer Set – 'Cos It's Over
Written-By – Brien, Humphries
25. Those Fadin' Colours – Try Me On For Size
Written-By – Tucker, Jones
26. The Slender Plenty – Silver Tree Top School For Boys
Written-By – Bowie
27. Guy Darrell – Evil Woman
Written-By – Weiss

Flac Size: 338 MB

CD2.

           

01. Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera – Flames
Written-By – Terry
02. One In A Million – Double Sight
Guitar – Jimmy McCulloch
Lead Vocals – Alan Young
Written-By – Young, Scenters
03. Paul & Barry Ryan – Keep It Out Of Sight
Arranged By – Alan Tew
Producer – Mike Hurst
Written-By – Stevens
04. The Pretty Things – Defecting Grey (Extended Version)
Written-By – Taylor, May, Waller
05. John's Children – Desdemona
Written-By – Bolan
06. The Doves – Smokeytime Springtime
Recorded By – John Edward
Written-By – Turtle
07. John Williams – Flowers In Your Hair
Written-By – Williams
08. Sweet Feeling – All So Long Ago
Written-By – Brosse
09. Rupert's People – Reflections Of Charles Brown
Bass Guitar – Gordon Haskell
Drums – Keith Guster
Guitar – Bryn Haworth
Vocals, Guitar – Chris Andrews
Written By – Jordan
Written-By – Conder, Lynton
10. The Riot Squad Featuring David Bowie – Toy Soldier
Written-By – Bowie
11. The Rats – The Rise And Fall Of Bernie Gripplestone
Written-By – Cambridge, Ronson
12. Circus – Something To Write About
Written-By – Goodhand-Tait
13. Dave Davies – Funny Face
Written-By – Davies
14. The Brood – Village Green
Written-By – Stephens, Peters
15. Tony Rivers & The Castaways – Mr. Sun
Written-By – Rivers
16. The Peep Show – Your Servant, Stephen
Written-By – Morris
17. The Uglys – And The Squire Blew His Horn
Written-By – O'Neill, Gibbons
18. The Move – Vote For Me
Written-By – Wood
19. The Human Instinct – A Day In My Mind's Mind
Producer – Mike Hurst
Written-By – Hartstone
20. Murray Head – She Was Perfection
Written-By – Head
21. Peter & The Wolves – Little Girl Lost And Found
Drums – Garry Nicholls
Guitar – John Richmond
Producer – Eddie Tre-Vett
Vocals – Ken Todd
Vocals, Keyboards – John Pantry
Written-By – Walsh, Almer
22. The Bunch – Spare A Shilling
Baritone Saxophone [Uncredited] – Mike Berry
Bass [Uncredited] – John King
Drums [Uncredited] – John Sherry
Guitar [Uncredited] – Christopher Redwood
Organ [Uncredited] – Dave Cooper
Producer [Uncredited] – Eddie Tre-Vett
Tenor Saxophone [Uncredited] – Dave Potter
Vocals [Uncredited] – Pete Beckett
Written-By – Pantry
23. Big Jim Sullivan – Flower Power
Written-By – Sullivan
24. Procol Harum – Kaleidoscope (Extended Stereo Mix)
Producer – Denny Cordell
Written-By – Brooker, Reid
25. The Searchers – Crazy Dreams
Written-By – McNally, Pender
26. The Artwoods – In The Deep End
Written-By – Gump

Flac Size: 419 MB

CD3.

              

01. Our Plastic Dream – Someone Turned The Light Out
Written-By – Tubbs
02. Hat & Tie – Finding It Rough
Written-By – Thomas, Campbell-Lyons
03. The Fresh Windows – Fashion Conscious
Written-By – Barrett
04. The Game – The Addicted Man
Written-By – Gowing, Blake, Brown
05. Felius Andromeda – Meditations
Written-By – Morgan, Barry
06. The Honeybus – Delighted To See You (Demo Version)
Written-By – Potter, Dello
07. Ice – So Many Times
Written By – McCree
Written-By – Simpson, Turner
08. The Flower Pot Men – A Walk In The Sky
Written-By – Carter / Lewis, Alquist
09. Five's Company – Friends And Mirrors
Written-By – Russell
10. The Late – Family Tree
Written-By – Martin
11. The Secrets – I Think I Need The Cash
Written-By – Ward
12. Skip Bifferty – Schizoid Revolution
Written-By – Hull
13. The Purple Gang – Granny Takes A Trip
Written-By – Beard, Bowyer
14. The Picadilly Line – Emily Small (The Huge World Thereof)
Written-By – Edwards, Hand
15. The Outer Limits – Help Me Please
Written-By – Christie
16. Focal Point – 'Cept Me
Written-By – Rhodes, Tennant
17. Jade Hexagram – Great Shadowy Strange
Written-By – Callow, Halliday, Morris, Leman
18. The Truth – Busker Bill
Written-By – Jameson
19. The Moody Blues – Life's Not Life
Written-By – Laine, Pinder
20. Don Craine's New Downliners Sect – I Can't Get Away From You
Written-By – Miller
21. The Symbols – Again
Written-By – Milton, Clark
22. The Hi-Fi's – Odd Man Out
Written-By – Unwin
23. The Marmalade – Laughing Man
Written-By – Campbell
24. T. J. Assembly – Ginger
Written-By – Smith, Robinson, Bourne, Marsden, Parker
25. The 23rd Turn Off – Michelangelo (Demo Version)
Written-By – Campbell
26. The Q.P.R. Supporters–Supporters - Support Us
Written By – Kerr / Taylor
27. Sands – Listen To The Sky
Written-By – Freeman, McLintock, Stewart, Hammerton

Flac Size: 368 MB