Following the 3 CD box "Let's Go Down and Blow Our Minds", this latest box collects British 
THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN
(and Irish) singles, alternates, album tracks, unreleased tracks, and little known but classics tracks from '68. There's about four hours of music here with (except for a track from an acetate) decent to very good sound. The 41 page booklet has track-by-track information which is valuable for fans of this music, along with ephemera from that period.
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| THE PICADILLY LINE |
2017 three CD collection re-issued with new artwork and revised tracklisting. It goes without saying that 1968 doesn't have the same kind of cachet as 1967 - a year that, in musical terms, will always be indelibly associated with the Summer of Love, Sgt. Pepper and the emergence of psychedelia. But although the major players turned away from the excesses of the previous year in favor of a back-to-basics musical approach, there were arguably a greater number of psychedelic records made in 1968 than during the preceding twelve months.
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| JASON CREST |
Vital, lysergically-inclined 45s emerged from a whole host of younger groups, with The Factory, Mike Stuart Span, Fleur de Lys, The Fire, The Barrier, Boeing Duveen, Rupert's People and numerous others all releasing singles that have long been widely regarded by psychedelic collectors as genre classics.
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| TURQUOISE |
All these and more are gathered on Looking At The Pictures In The Sky, which provide a fascinating overview of the group scene in Britain (and Ireland!) in 1968, shining a light on unreleased gems, cult classics, choice album cuts, neglected B-sides and alternative versions. As with it's 1967 equivalent Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds, the four-hour, 78-track anthology Looking At The Pictures In The Sky is housed in a striking clambox that contains a 44 page booklet crammed with biographical information and rare photographs of the featured acts.
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| THE SPECTRUM |
As the sequel to Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967, Looking at the Pictures in the Sky picks up right where its predecessor left off, with a spectacular collection of British (and Irish) psych-pop from 1968. The previous year may have been the Summer of Love, but this three-disc, 78-song set proves that there was no shortage of inspired, musical experimentation one year later.
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| THE WRITING ON THE WALL |
Like Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds, this set proves that the best is not always the most recognized. The vast majority of tracks here will likely be unknown, at least to the American listener. Known commodities include The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, a pre-SF Sorrow The Pretty Things, The Move, The Status Quo, and a post-“A Whiter Shade of Pale” Procol Harum. But the rest is arguably more interesting.
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| THE SMOKE |
Decca Records’ The Fire features future Strawb Dave Lambert, who’s single “Father’s Name Is Dad” was recalled after Paul McCartney heard it on the radio and didn’t think it good enough. Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup was led by an artist who vacationed with Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, and one of his two songs included here adapts its words from Lewis Carroll. The Attack’s “Mr. Pinnodmy’s Dilemma” features a deaf and dumb boy, preceding The Who’s Tommy by over a year.
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| THE ORANGE BICYCLE |
There is a song called “Music Soothes the Savage Breast” (and no, that’s not a typo) by The Spectrum, a band that was marketed as Britain’s answer to The Monkees. There’s the debut from a 17-year-old Timon, who was later known as Tymon Dogg and played with The Clash and The Mescaleros. Jethro Tull’s debut single, “Aeroplane,” is present, on which the band was miscredited as Jethro Toe on the record’s label. And, perhaps the most bizarre of the bizarre, Ramases & Selket consisted of a heating salesman and former Army PT instructor and his wife, presenting themselves as a reincarnated Egyptian pharaoh and goddess making psychedelic rock. One could go on and on.
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| THE FIRE |
A 3 cd set of great tracks from the uk that where all released in 1968 almost 50 years ago!!!! we have some well known bands here like alexander youngs grapefruit, as well as the mike stuart span, jason crest, katch 22, the deviants, the alan bown, the move the fluer delys and a hell of a lot of others, the three cds that come in this box set are remastered to sound the best you will hear some of these songs ever and this comes with a nice booklet like last years volume did.
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| THE GASS COMPANY |
What you get is a mix of 45s that where released in the uk on various labels in 1968 by some psychedilic bands, freakbeat, beat and mod outfits that where really blowing the tower of london off some 50 years back!!! This is a fantastic follow up to last years lets go blow our minds box set wich featured a bunch of great 45s from 1967, of all the artists on this three cd box set you really get the cream of the crop from 50 years ago on the london scene and it is always a pleasure to spin these songs.
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| THE FACTORY |
The tracks herein may not be as groundbreaking as those on Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds, but it’s clear that new bands were still springing up a year later and taking forays into the psychedelic future with melody and exuberance to spare. One of the chief selling points of this set is the liner notes. Each single is given a brief history, set in context of its musical surroundings, and the stories are fascinating.
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| THE ATTACK |
1968 jumps off the page with as much excitement as it blares from the speakers. And, as if the slew of bands whose singles were relegated to the forgotten LSD heap of history wasn’t enough, many of the tracks here never even saw formal release, for one reason or another being grounded before they even took off. Some of these musicians went on to greater things (Richie Blackmore soloing on Sun Dragon’s cover of “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star” being one of only a handful), but most did not.
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| RUPERTs PEOPLE |
In sum, Looking at Pictures in the Sky is another thrilling and wonderfully engrossing exploration of Britain (and Ireland)‘s psychedelic underground of 1968. Let’s hope Grapefruit Records keeps this series going and digs up another batch of rarities from 1969
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| PETER & THE WOLVES |
Obscure and exciting sounds from the best decade in music.
Excellent mix of obscure sounds from the sixties - odd tracks are instantly forgettable but overall a great listening experience which recaptures the exciting music of that era.
Various – Looking At The Pictures In The Sky (The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1968)
Label: Grapefruit Records – CRSEGBOX040
Series: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of – 1968
Format: 3 x CD, Compilation Box Set
Country: UK
Released: Nov 10, 2017
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Psychedelic Rock
CD1.
01. The Factory – Path Through The Forest
02. The Fire – Father's Name Is Dad
03. Fleur De Lys – Gong With The Luminous Nose
04. Ramases & Selket – Mind's Eye
05. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown – Spontaneous Apple Creation
06. Grapefruit – Lullaby (Alternative Version)
07. Circle Plantagenet – I Will Not Be Moved
08. Turquoise – Sunday Best
09. The Onyx – My Son John
10. Legay – The Fantastic Story Of The Steam-Driven Banana
11. Fortes Mentum – Mr. Partridge Passed Away Today
12. Boeing Duveen And The Beautiful Soup – Jabberwock
13. Anan – Haze Woman
14. The Pretty Things - Talkin' About The Good Times
15. Guy And David - The Five Day Week Straw People–Sunday Morning
16. The Graded Grains – Animal Magic
17. Tuesday's Children – She
18. The Marmalade – Mr Lion
19. Graham Gouldman – Upstairs Downstairs
20. Joker – Festival Of The Harvest Moon
21. Sun Dragon – So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
22. Eyes Of Blue – Never Care
23. The Gass Company – Nightmare
24. Procol Harum – In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence
25. The Web – Did You Die Four Years Ago Tonight?
26. The Glass Menagerie – Frederick Jordan
01. Mike Stuart Span – Children Of Tomorrow
02. The Barrier – Dawn Breaks Through
03. The Attack – Mr. Pinnodmy's Dilemma
04. The Freedom – Trying To Get A Glimpse Of You
05. Rupert's People – I Can Show You (Written-By – Lynton)
06. The Poets – Locked In A Room
07. Wimple Winch – Bluebell Wood
08. The Status Quo – Technicolor Dreams
09. The Spectrum – Music Soothes The Savage Breast
10. The Movement – Head For The Sun
11. The Klubs – Midnight Love Cycle
12. Contact – Lovers From The Sky
13. The Deviants – Jamie's Song
14. The Smoke – Sydney Gill
15. Peter & The Wolves – Birthday (Written-By – Pantry)
16. Jon Ledingham – Love Is A Toy
17. Sadie's Expression – Yesterday Was Such A Lovely Day (Elsie)
18. The Move – Omnibus (Extended Stereo Version)
19. Real McCoy – I Get So Excited
20. Junior's Eyes – Mr. Golden Trumpet Player
21. The Picadilly Line – Yellow Rainbow
22. The Spencer Davis Group – Time Seller (LP Version)
23. Tony Rivers & The Castaways – Pantomime
24. Katch 22 – Go And Say Goodbye
25. Andy Ellison – Cornflake Zoo
26. The Alan Bown! – Penny For Your Thoughts
01. Jason Crest – Hold On
02. Honeybus – Girl Of Independent Means
03. Rhubarb Rhubarb – Rainmaker
04. The Mirage – Hello Enid
05. Episode Six – Lucky Sunday
06. Paradox – What's The Rush, Dillbury?
07. The Bystanders – Cave Of Clear Light
08. Skip Bifferty – Round And Round
09. Motivation – Come On Down
10. Blonde On Blonde – Country Life
11. Cats Pyjamas – Virginia Water
12. Jethro Toe (Tull) – Aeroplane
13. Timon – Rambling Boy
14. Ice – Ice Man
15. The U (Don't) No Who – Now And Again Rebecca
16. The Writing On The Wall – Felicity Jane
17. Focal Point – Sycamore Sid
18. Circus – Do You Dream
19. Brass Tacks – Maxwell Ferguson
20. Barbara Ruskin – Pawnbroker (Demo)
21. The Orange Bicycle – Soft Winds
22. Coconut Mushroom – Without You
23. Peter Thorogood – Haunted
24. Boeing Duveen And The Beautiful Soup – Which Dreamed It
25. Turnstyle – Trot
26. The Orange Seaweed – Pictures In The Sky
NOTES
This compilation © 2017 Grapefruit Records, a division of Cherry Red Records.
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