Another release from Acme/Lion by Peter Dunton's Please, this one is a collection of demos taken from original master tapes and restored acetates from 1968 - 1969. Comes with a 8-page booklet featuring the lyrics.
Tracks
1. We Aim To Please - 2:51
2. No More White Horses - 3:21
3. Paper Anne - 3:15
4. Seaweed - 5:10
5. Break The Spell - 3:17
6. Strange Ways - 3:21
7. Man With No Name - 3:27
8. Watching - 2:11
9. You're Still Waiting - 2:05
10.Breakthrough - 3:23
11.The Story - 2:24
12.Folder Man - 2:24
Music and lyrics by Peter Dunton
Please were formed by Peter Dunton and Bernie Jinks in late 1967. They had just returned to Britain from Germany where they had played with Neon Pearl, which also included their third member Jurgen Ermisch. The fourth original member Adrian Gurvitz later co-founded Gun. Unfortunately this line-up left no vinyl legacy or unreleased recordings that have been located behind it.
They disbanded in May 1968 when Peter Dunton joined The Flies for whom he wrote both sides of their Magic Train 45. When The Flies split up at the end of 1968, Dunton reformed the band (line-up 'B'). Rob Hunt had also been in The Flies. They recorded all the cuts compiled on this album. Please split again in April 1969 when Peter Dunton joined Gun.
The remaining members recruited a new drummer and renamed themselves Bulldog Breed. They later cut the Made In England album. In the Autumn of 1969, Peter Dunton quit Gun to reform Please with Bernie Jinks and Nick Spenser (ex-Neon Pearl). This incarnation was relatively short-lived as they had difficulty recruiting a suitable keyboard player.
In early 1970 Dunton, Jinks and a later Bulldog Breed member Keith Cross joined forces to form T2, who were responsible for the excellent It'll All Work Out In Boomland album. One of T2's tracks, No More White Horses also crops up in a radically different form on Please's 1968/69 retrospective.
Great rock'n'roll rarely translates properly to disc. The history of the genre is littered with literally thousands of acts that were blinding and transcendent on the bandstand, yet limp, ineffectual or misguided in the studio. And the opposite is just as true, though the art of the recording medium allows for a control and an innovation that usually isn't possible in a live context. When the two disciplines are matched, there is the potential for true greatness; yet for those involved, the realization of such may come only after years of frustrated disillusion with the initial outcome. Such is the case with the Chocolate Watchband.
The recorded legacy of this supreme psychedelic punk combo paints a picture quite removed from the truth, yet as our definitive new anthology MELTS IN YOUR BRAIN . . . NOT ON YOUR WRIST demonstrates, it nevertheless holds up as one of the finest catalogues of the 1960s, balanced between the Watchband's own Anglophile blueswailing, and a preternatural aura, the result of studio trickery imposed without the bands knowledge or consent. The juxtaposition acts as a paradigm of how the British Invasion-inspired punk fury acquired an experimental veneer, and led to something unique. By unwittingly having their record career mapped out for them by producer Ed Cobb, the Watchband paradoxically wrote themselves into the annals of cultdom; yet it is the rock'n'roll heartbeat of this once-in-a-lifetime band that is their true heirloom.
As well as handily collecting their complete recorded works 1965-69 in one nicely remastered package, Melts In Your Brain . . . Not On Your Wrist" seeks to finally clarify the peculiar and fascinating history of this consummate group. The tracklisting on this definitive 2 CD set clearly delineates between the tracks that truly feature the definitive Watchband ie the grinding 1966 model led by frontman par excellence David Aguilar - and everything else attributed to the Chocolate Watchband name, whether it be recordings by the earlier and later incarnations of the combo, or those trippy cuts on their three long-players either adulterated or recorded by someone else entirely.
The many aficionados that have come to love the Watchband's albums over the years are no doubt blissfully unaware of the machinations behind the substitutions and studio fakery on their records, and no doubt cherish the non-Watchband sides on those records just as much. To which end, their studio adventures, as well as the illustrious life and times of the Watchband are examined in great detail in the copiously illustrated booklet, with commentary from all the bands members, and a rare interview with the late Ed Cobb.
by Alec Palao
Tracks Disc 1
1.Let's Talk About The Girls (New Aguilar Vocal) - 3:34
2.Sweet Young Thing - 2:57
3.Baby Blue - 3:54
4.Blue's Theme by The Hogs - 2:48
5.Loose Lip Sync Ship by The Hogs - 3:19
6.Don't Need Your Lovin' - 2:38
7.Sitting There Standing - 2:21
8.Misty Lane - 3:22
9.She Weaves A Tender Trap - 2:39
10.Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love In) - 2:25
11.No Way Out - 2:22
12.In The Midnight Hour (Original Aguilar Vocal) - 3:30
13.Come On - 1:49
14.Gone And Passes By - 3:14
15.I'm Not Like Everybody Else - 3:43
16.I Ain't No Miracle Worker - 2:50
17.Milk Cow Blues - 2:57
18.Medication (New Aguilar Vocal) - 3:06
19.'Til The End Of The Day (New Aguilar Vocal) - 2:39
20.Psychedelic Trip (Backing Track) - 1:58
Disc 2
1.Let's Talk About Girls (Don Bennett Vocal) - 2:46
2.In The Midnight Hour (Don Bennett Vocal) - 4:27
3.Hot Dusty Roads (Don Bennett Vocal) - 2:26
4.Gossamer Wings - 3:26
5.Baby Blue (LP Mix) - 3:13
6.Medication (Don Bennett Vocal) - 2:07
7.Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying - 2:51
8.Since You Broke My Heart - 2:22
9.Uncle Morris - 3:11
10.How Ya Been - 3:12
11.Devil's Motorcycle - 3:02
12.I Don't Need A Doctor - 4:03
13.Flowers - 2:47
14.Fireface - 2:51
15.And She's Lonely - 4:18
16.Dark Side Of The Mushroom - 2:36
17.Expo 2000 - 2:41
18.Voyage Of The Trieste by The Yo-Yoz - 3:39
19.In The Past by The Yo-Yoz - 3:08
20.The Inner Mystique by The Yo-Yoz - 5:36
21.The Uncharted Sea (Aka Voyage Of The Trieste) by The Yo-Yoz - 3:25
22.Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (Backing Track)by Inmates - 2:38
23.Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (Don Bennett Vocal)by Inmates - 2:17
The Standells made number 11 in 1966 with "Dirty Water," an archetypal garage rock hit with its Stones-ish riff, lecherous vocal, and combination of raunchy guitar and organ. While they never again reached the Top 40, they cut a number of strong, similar tunes in the 1966-1967 era that have belatedly been recognized as '60s punk classics. "Garage rock" may not have been a really accurate term for them in the first place, as the production on their best material was full and polished, with some imaginative touches of period psychedelia and pop.
The Los Angeles band was actually hardly typical of the young suburban outfits across America who took their raw garage sound onto obscure singles recorded in small studios. They'd been playing L.A. clubs since the early '60s, with a repertoire that mostly consisted of covers of pre-Beatles rock hits. Drummer (and eventual lead singer) Dick Dodd had been a Mouseketeer on television, organist Larry Tamblyn was the brother of noted film actor Russ Tamblyn, and Tony Valentino was a recent immigrant from Italy. Gary Leeds (later to join the Walker Brothers) was an early member (though he was replaced by Dodd).
The Standells' pre-"Dirty Water" history is a little vague and confusing; they recorded some ordinary albums and singles for Liberty, MGM, and Vee Jay, appeared in the movie Get Yourself a College Girl, and did a lot of television work (most notably a well-remembered guest appearance on The Munsters, where they did a woeful version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"). There were flashes of gritty inspiration on early cuts like "Big Boss Man" and "Someday You'll Cry," but the group didn't really hit their stride until teaming up with producer Ed Cobb, formerly of the clean-cut vocal group the Four Preps. It was Cobb who wrote "Dirty Water," which marked quite a change of direction from their previous clean-cut image. In fact, the group didn't even like the song, which took about six months to break into a hit.
Considerably toughening their image, the group churned out four albums in 1966 and 1967, as well as appearing in (and contributing the theme song to) the psychedelic exploitation movie Riot on Sunset Strip. Cobb, in addition to writing "Dirty Water," also penned their other most enduring singles, including "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White," "Why Pick on Me," and "Try It" (the last of which was widely banned for its suggestive delivery).
The group did write some decent material of their own, such as the tense "Riot on Sunset Strip" and the psychedelic "All Fall Down," which bears an interesting similarity to some of Pink Floyd's early work. Their albums were quite inconsistent -- in fact, one of them, consisting of covers of big, mid-'60s hits, was altogether dispensable -- which makes it advisable for all but the truly committed to look for greatest-hits compilations that selectively weed out the best stuff.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Medication (Ben DiTosti, M.Allton) - 2:42
2. Little Sally Tease (Jim Valley) - 2:57
3. There's a Storm Coming (Ed Cobb) - 3:18
4. 19th Nervous Breakdown (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 3:54
5. Dirty Water (Ed Cobb) - 2:46
6. Pride and Devotion (Larry Tamblyn) - 2:13
7. Hey Joe (Billy Roberts) - 2:12
8. Why Did You Hurt Me? (Dick Dodd, Tony Valentino) - 2:28
9. Rari (Ed Cobb) - 5:32
10.Batman (Neal Hefti) - 3:04
11.It's All in Your Mind (J.Cobb) - 2:38
12.Love Me (Dick Dodd, Tony Valentino) - 2:45
13.Medication (Ben DiTosti) - 2:43
14.Poor Man's Prison (Keith Colley, Joe Henderson) - 2:23
15.Take a Ride (Ed Cobb) - 2:08
The text on the back cover of the LP Pop-Lore According To The Academy preached among others, that we are not dealing with pop, folk and blues, but with something completely new! Such notes were typical on plates of the 60's and as far as they are sometimes true, it is not necessarily in this case ...
The album was the first title in the history of the tiny label Morgan Blue Town (known connoisseurs with a collectable plates Pussy groups and Motherlight) -founded by wziętego, session drummer Barry Morgan.
Polly Perkins is as happily ensconced as any EastEnders cast member could feasibly be in such an unremittingly grim environment, holding down the role of Dot Cotton’s sister, Rose. In 1969, however, she was one of the two lead vocalists in a studiously unconventional jazz-folk quartet called The Academy.
One album the quartet Academy released in March 1969,contained just twelve neatly arranged, but rather sparingly made songs that combine elements of folk, jazz, and (to a very limited extent) psychedelia. Of course, in a way it was a novelty, but back then, incredibly rich in music exciting times you had to try harder to deserve to be called a precursor.
The band occurred two vocalists (including gifted with clear voice Polly Perkins), and the instrumentation consisted of electric and acoustic guitar, flute and saxophone. As you can see, there was composed of drummer and it was a major flaw in all this lovely music, as some fragments sounded almost like a demo, including opening a whole, underdeveloped enroll With The Academy; jazzy Polly Perkins Georgie Brown Loves You, and a little Jethro Tull The Girl In His Mirror. The absence of drums and bass engenders an oddly austere, parsimonious, claustrophobic atmosphere.
However, special mention deserves the typical folk, including captivating vocals and very melodic Munching The Candy, delicate, played only on guitar and flute Poor Jean, quite catchy, referring to Russian folklore, recorded minn. oboe with Rachel's Dream and She returned home-based resonance saxophone, flute and graceful vocal harmonies. Interesting.
by Adamus67
Tracks
1. Enrol With the Academy - 2:47
2. Munching the Candy (P. Perkins, L. Davis) - 2:56
3. Anya Anya - 3:13
4. Quiet and Gentle - 2:58
5. Poor Jean - 3:49
6. Polly Perkins Loves You Georgia Brown (D. Walter, L. Davis) - 1:47
7. Rachel's Dream - 4:03
8. Thank You Mary Hayley Bell (P. Perkins, L. Davis) - 2:39
9. The Girl in the Mirror - 3:47
10.She Returned Home - 3:54
11.Deadline (D. Walter, L. Davis) - 2:53
12.Yellow Star - 3:55
Music by Richard Cobby, lyrics by Lena Davis unless otherwise stated.
The Academy
*Dick Walter - Flute
*Richard Cobby - Guitar
*Polly Perkins - Vocals
*Damon J. Hardy - Vocals
*Lena Davis - Lyrics
Although this album was pressed in Canada and lists no home base for the group on the cover, it is known that they were based in Marin County (San Francisco Bay Area).
This private pressing is this band's only foray into the market place with only about 150 copies pressed.
Released in 1973 and only in Canada this album sounds like the West Coast scene mixed with Allmans country styled guitars,and CSN harmony song structures and a female joint lead vocalist with a pitch to die for. Which is defined as "psychedelic" by some record dealers in Europe.
The group was previously known as RJ Fox, who saw a double CD issue of their early seventies material issued in Summer 1994: RJ Fox: Retrospective Dreams (Black Bamboo).
Shelly Fox was previously in Cookin Mama and Stephen Barncard also worked with Chet Nichols and David Crosby.
Kelly Bryan had earlier been in the short-lived Grootna, and later played on a couple of albums by Jesse Colin Young.
by Clark Faville and Stephane Rebeschini
Tracks
1. Wake - 3:40
2. Caught Away (Sherry Fox) - 3:00
3. Runaway Life - 4:31
4. To Be Born Again (Sherry Fox) - 3:13
5. Indeed Candide - 2:24
6. I Didn’T Like To Tell Her (John Yager) - 5:10
7. We Are People (John Yager) - 5:54
8. Every Way Of A Man (Sherry Fox) - 3:02
9. High Revs - 5:23
10.Other Side (Carl Tassi) - 3:48
11.Queen Of My Life - 4:58
All songs by Joel Siegel except where noted
Oasis
*Joel Siegel - Vocal, Guitar
*Sherry Fox - Vocal
*John Yager - Lead Guitar
*Ted Teipel - Organ
*Carl Tassi - Drums
*Kelly Bryan - Bass
This was a great assembly of Fleetwood Mac alumni Bob Brunning on bass, Danny Kirwan on guitar and Mick Fleetwood on drums and they are rounded out nicely by Brunning's long time partner in crime Bob Hall on piano and Dave & Jo Ann Kelly on vocals (though under fake names due to legal reasons). Inspired playing and material set this platter alight.
The rocking galloper "Own up" gets us started on perfect footing with Dave and Jo Ann dueling it out on lead vocals while Kirwan's rough guitar keeps the energy going along with great drum fills by Fleetwood and Bruns holds up his end well, a real highlight. Other rocking moments are Danny's guitar instrumental spotlight called "Hard work" which is a fierce shuffle and Bob Hall has some of his most meaningful ivory licks added to this one. This is probably the longest Kirwan has soloed on his own on record to date though the slow "Street walking blues" often gets overlooked in this regard as Kirwan solos for well over a full minute towards the end of the track here and it's a gut wrencher that keeps you begging for more.
If I have any complaint about this record, it's just that the late great Jo Ann Kelly is perhaps under used here as though she does a great job as mentioned on the opening cut, it sounds like she's really only on two other tracks here which are the great mopey classic blueser "Baby what you want me to do" handled perfectly here by all concerned and the catchy slight chunky funk of "On the scene" though again, accompanied by "little brother Dave". This turns out to be a minor quibble though as Dave lays down some great vocals on the rest of the tracks.
The light plinky shuffle of "Same old thing", the effective stroll of "What you gonna do when the road comes through", the piano led boogie of "Somebody watching me", a piano and vocal only moaner called "Too late now", another piano led ballad called "Month of Sundays" (though it also includes a finger snapping jazz feel with Danny's delicate guitar strums keeping it successfully in this vein) and the well put together closing sing a long "Another day".
These explanations I have attempted to give here hardly do justice to the great sound this group have put out for us here as I find it a mix of blues and rock that is not bettered in many other albums if any. Also impressive is that Brunning is credited with co writing all tracks here except the Kirwan guitar work out discussed above and the great straight ahead blues highlight here "Baby what you want me to do" and I would say this album would rank as a highlight in the respective discography of all 3 Mac members here to date.
by John Fitzgerald
Tracks
1. Own Up - 2:50
2. Same Old Thing - 2:05
3. What You Gonna Do When The Road Comes Through - 2:50
4. Somebody Watching Me - 2:56
5. Too Late Now - 2:39
6. Baby, What You Want Me To Do - 3:59
7. Street Walking Blues - 3:16
8. On The Scene - 2:44
9. Month Of Sundays - 3:39
10.Hard Work (Instrumental) - 4:20
11.Another Day - 2:08
Tramp
*Bob Hall - Keyboards, Piano
*Dave Kelly - Vocals
*Jo Ann Kelly - Vocals
*Danny Kirwan - Guitar
*Mick Fleetwood - Drums
*Bob Brunning - Bass
No Way Out, the thrilling debut album by the Chocolate Watch Band, immediately finds that cosmic sweet-spot of perfect garage-rock traction: where the rubber meets the road and the train keeps a-rollin.' Nobody ever did Mick Jagger any better (even Mick, himself) than the Watch Band's frighteningly superb frontman Dave Aguilar. "Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love-In)" and "Let's Talk About Girls" are on everyone's list of Top 20 garage rock anthems of all time. And that's just the tip of the vermillion iceberg for this essential longplayer. "Come On," an early Stones single, gets the perfect Watch Band overhaul, "Hot Dusty Roads" ventures down back alleys that Buffalo Springfield never dreamed about and "No Way Out" dances rings around the outskirts of your nearest Human Be-In.
A San Jose, Calif. band whose reputation has grown exponentially over the decades, the Chocolate Watch Band are now revered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World of garage rock. Spotlighting the classic lineup—the inflammatory vocals of Dave Aguilar and the roof-rattling guitars of Mark Loomis and Sean Tolby, fronting the rock-solid bass of Bill Flores and the letter-perfect drums of Gary Andrijasevich—the Watch Band's first two albums have it all. Stones swagger snake-hips its way through cosmic significance with just a dusting of eye-opening psychedelic legerdemain to make your neck snap backwards in pure joy.
Sundazed-recs
Tracks
1. Let's Talk About Girls (M. Freiser) - 2:43
2. In The Midnight Hour (S. Cropper, W. Pickett) - 4:26
3. Come On (C. Berry) - 1:48
4. Dark Side Of The Mushroom (B. Cooper, R. Podolor) - 2:37
5. Hot Dusty Road (S. Stills) - 2:23
6. Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love In) (D. Bennett, E. McElroy) - 2:23
7. Gone And Passed By (Dave Aguilar) - 3:12
8. No Way Out (E. Cobb) - 2:21
9. Expo 2000 (R. Podolor) - 2:39
10.Gossamer Wings (D. Bennett, E. McElroy) - 3:29
11.In The Midnight Hour (S. Cropper, W. Pickett) - 4:29
12.Milk Cow Blues (K. Arnold) - 2:56
13.Psychedelic Trip (Flores, Aguilar, Andrijasevich, Loomis, Tolby) - 1:57
Bonus tracks from 11-13.
The second and final May Blitz album basically picked up where its predecessor left off, with the thunderous and foreboding "For Mad Men Only," and then bludgeoned on from there. Except, where May Blitz concentrated on weight, 2nd of May is more interested in mood and even mirth -- "25th of December 1969" would be almost jovial, if the lyrics weren't so harsh, while the balladic "Just Thinking" closes the album with the sweetest of whispers.
It's a tighter disc than its predecessor. Just two of the eight songs really top five minutes, as the band learned how to cram maximum impact into minimal space, and layered the virtuosity on from there. The helter-skelter blur of "Eight Mad Grim Nits" is as electrifying a guitar workout as you're likely to hear, with the axe panning wildly while the rhythm section soars like a steeplechase behind it; while "High Beech" takes the opposite tack entirely, a psychedelic dream that builds so gently that the effect is almost boleric. "Honey Coloured Time," too, has a gentle mood that puts one in mind of labelmates Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan," as performed by the Full House era Fairport Convention.
And, while a lengthy Tony Newman drum solo doesn't really repay repeat listens (well, not unless you like drum solos), still 2nd of May remains one of those albums that you will find yourself returning to again and again, while wishing May Blitz had held on long enough to cut a follow-up.
by Dave Thompson
Tracks
1. For Mad Men Only - 4:16
2. Snakes And Ladders - 4:42
3. The 25Th Of December 1969 - 3:12
4. In Part - 6:10
5. 8 Mad Grim Nits - 4:33
6. High Beech - 5:02
7. Honey Coloured Time - 4:13
8. Just Thinking - 5:12
All songs written by Reid Hudson.
May Blitz
*James Black - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*Reid Hudson - Bass
*Tony Newman - Drums
May Blitz was a short lived British-based trio that consisted of two Canadians and an Englishman. The two Canadians were guitarist and vocalist James Black and bassist Reid Hudson, with the Englishman being drummer Tony Newman, formerly of the Jeff Beck Group. This band basically combined psychedelia with blues and hard rock that's not unlike the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Cream.
May Blitz only released two albums, this one, which is their debut, and The 2nd of May in 1971 before breaking up. The opening song, "Smoking The Day Away" sounds a lot like Hendrix, in fact, my brother was convinced it was Hendrix when he first heard it. The song has tends to be drug-oriented, and you can practically smell the marijuana smoke hearing this. The song is also loaded with some killer guitar jams. "I Don't Know" is much in the same vein, with rather strong hippie overtones (the lyrics deal with the back to the land movement of the hippies of that time).
"Dreaming" starts off acoustic and mellow, but before you know it, you get blasted with some truly insane drumming and more killer solos. "Squeet" is one of my favorites, I can't really explain it, but the lyrics are pretty silly, it keeps "Squeet all over the walls" over and over, then the band goes off soloing again.
"Tomorrow May Come" is another favorite of mine, it's a really cool and mellow psychedelic piece. "Fire Queen" is a totally wild song that sounds a whole lot like The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (James Black sounds a whole lot like Brown on this song), the only difference is this song is dominated by guitar rather than Hammond organ.
The album closes with "Virgin Waters", it's the closest thing to prog rock on this album, but still sticks to their bluesy hard rock roots. I really love that spoken dialog. This is a truly wild album and if the description of their music sounds interesting to you, get this album.
by Ben Miler
Tracks
1. Smoking The Day Away - 8:19
2. I Don't Know? - 4.52
3. Dreaming - 6:40
4. Squeet - 6:51
5. Tomorrow May Come - 4:47
6. Fire Queen - 4:14
7. Virgin Waters - 6:56
All compositions by May Blitz and Mark Hudson.
May Blitz
*James Black - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*Reid Hudson - Bass
*Tony Newman - Drums
