Special Spring Break Excursion: EUPHONIOUS VOYAGE 4 Is Now Leaving

 

Are You Living In A Turned On World?

Your ports of entry (link to musical files and PDF CD booklet at bottom of post) ... 

1 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (ad)

Yea, if it's Russ Meyer... it's about the breasts

Now watch the trailer!


2 Szerelem - Illés
Who said the red menace couldn’t trip on a psychedelic groove every now and then? Hungary’s Illés (named after lead vocalist Lajos Illés) proved to be a popular pop psych sensation in their communist-lead homeland, earning them comparisons to England’s Fab Four.

The band had been performing since the early sixties, though it was not until 1969, with the support of the government, that they released their debut LP Nehéz az út (translation: It’s Hard On the Road). One of the highlights of the surprisingly engaging album is the track “Szerelem”, which means “Love”. They would go on to release four more albums before a candid interview with a UK journalist earned them the wrath of János Kádár, General Secretary of the Hungarian MSZMP. The band was quickly dissolved at that point. Almost literally!

Szerelem

3 Sound of a Screaming Day - GOLDEN EARRINGS
“Screaming Day” was written by Golden Earrings founder George Kooymans and marked the band’s musical transition from their second long player Winter Harvest to the forthcoming Magic Mirror. That transformation began in early 1967, with English native Barry Hay coming on board to tweak the group’s appeal. His presence was felt immediately with Hay handling flute and guitar parts, as well as taking over lead vocals from departing member Frans Krassenburg.

Recorded for Phonogram in Hilversum, the single “Screaming Day” was released throughout Europe in July of 1967 and made it to #4 in their homeland. Interestingly, while both Krassenburg and Hay make a vocal appearance on the boisterous track, it is actually Kooyman who is performing a rare lead vocal. Beneath the maturing arrangements, lies a clear attempt to pay homage to Kinks front man Ray Davies.

Watch the Golden Earrings perform a madcap romp to support their new single "Screaming Day"

Sound of A Screaming Day

4 Our Love Was (mono) - WHO
December 1967 saw the release of The Who’s third LP Sell Out, a sort of concept album celebrating Britain’s pirate radio stations. Pirate radio was a distinctly English phenomenon that developed in the early 1960’s as a reaction to the BBC’s refusal to play music preferred by the young generation. Well healed enthusiasts of rock music established radio stations on offshore vessels, and beamed their signal across the UK. Sell Out was designed to mimic one of these broadcasts.

At this point, the Who were still not a particularly popular band in the US, and the album failed to enter the Billboard Top 40. Regardless, many music historians consider it one of the group’s strongest albums and along with “I Can See For Miles”, it contains many excellent examples of pop psych, including  “Our Love Was”. 

Our Love Was

5 2069 A Spaced Oddity - U.S. ‘69
Stanley Kubrik’s 1968 epic 2001: A Space Odyssey had a huge cultural impact upon its release, even reaching into the evolving psychedelic music scene. In July of 1969, David Bowie introduced the world to Major Tom with his eerie “Space Oddity”, but an arguably odder response was transmitted a month later by the equally “out there” U.S. ‘69. The Connecticut band, known initially as The Mustard Family, were signed to Buddha Records as the decade ebbed, in hopes of diversifying the label’s bubblegum-heavy catalogue.

Finally in March '69, the band’s debut 45 “Yesterday’s Folks/African Sunshine” was released with the group’s unique soul, jazz, and psych fusion on full display. At some point soon afterwards, they officially renamed themselves U.S. ‘69 and their mind blowing LP Yesterday’s Folks hit the racks five months later. The interesting and schizophrenic record has fascinated music fans of all stripes, particularly after DJ Shadow sampled a track for “Red Bus Needs to Leave”. A vinyl reissue surfaced in 2013, followed by an official CD release in May of the following year.

 

2069 A Spaced Oddity

6 Good Vibrations (mono) - BEACH BOYS
Per legend, the title “Good Vibrations” is attributed to something Brian Wilson had heard his mother say about dogs, specifically their ability to sense people’s auras. Whatever the inspiration for the title, the song calcified the estrangement between Wilson and the rest of the band. His partnership with Van Dyke Parks and other “outsiders” (the Wrecking Crew) was reportedly one source of friction. And it certainly did not help matters that his colleagues were individually ushered into the studio to contribute their parts then dismissed like session men. 

There was of course a method to the piecemeal madness, as Wilson’s compartmentalized approach was the only way for him to record what he claimed to hear in his head. When the bits and pieces were finally cobbled together and mixed down to mono on a 16 track board at Columbia, Wilson knew he had a masterpiece.

When Karen Valentine is your interior decorator

Good Vibrations

7 Mais La Vie Continuait - PUSSY CAT
Born Evelyne Courtois, the young Parisian made an early decision to take her musical queues from the U.K. and America, thereby bucking the usual trend in France. A close look at her melodious pallet illustrates the point, as it is teaming with covers popularized by mod/pop bands abroad:  “Ce N’ Est Pas Une Vie” (“Sha-La-La-La-Lee” by Small Faces), “Mais Pourquoi” (“You’re No Good” by The Swinging Blue Jeans), “Les Temps Ont Change” (“Have Courage Be Careful” by The Spokesmen), and “La Mariee” (“Kicks” by Paul Revere & The Raiders), among others.

One of the more interesting covers was of The Hollies’ track “So Lonely” (“Mais La Vie Continiuait”) which was released by RCA as a single in late 1966. The Hollies’ Mersybeat version kind of trudges along at a snail’s pace while Pussy Cat’s take bumps up the tempo and spices it with an element of dark mystery. Pussy Cat ended up leaving music for a successful life in the fashion industry.

Mais La Vie Continuait

8 I’m Going To Take You There - DAVE BERRY
Dave Berry was an English pop star during the early and mid sixties who enjoyed a string of hits which included “Memphis, Tennessee” in 1963 and “The Crying Game” in 1964. “The Crying Game”, of course, would later make a big return to the top 40 when covered by Boy George.
Berry’s popularity extended throughout northern Europe, Belgium and especially The Netherlands (where he received an award for best selling pop song of all time). “I’m Going To Take You There” (penned by 10CC co-founder Graham Gouldman) was released as a single by Decca in October of 1965.

English teeth and all... probably best not to smile.

I’m Going To Take You There

9 Grok! - FREAK SCENE
The Freak Scene was a studio band fronted by former Greenwich Village folkie Rusty Evans. Evans had fronted another studio band in late 1966 called The Deep for Philly label Cameo-Parkway. That band’s album The Psychedelic Moods of The Deep proved as popular as the clap, and Evans quickly moved on the following year with this new entity.

Freak Scene was much like The Deep, particularly with regards to their inconsistent approach. This was due in no small part to a lack of a “group” vision. Nonetheless, Columbia Records was impressed enough to release Psychedelic Psoul in 1967. The LP contained every psychedelic calling card out there at the time (sitars, looped tapes, audio phasing), but still failed to chart. 

Grok!

10 The Killer - NAMES AND FACES
The Names and Faces began as a beat/pop band in the Netherlands sometime around May of 1966. It was Phonogram producer Bob Bouber who discovered them, quickly coaxing the band into the studio to record the track “Keep Smiling” for a compilation titled Beat Behind The Dikes. The first proper single appeared in early 1967 featuring their original composition “You’re An Old Leaf” backed by “Keep Smiling”. Touring followed, often opening for Boudewijn de Groot, where they performed a mix of originals and tracks by The Fifth Dimension, Mamas & Papas, and Ray Charles. It was their fortuitous encounter with de Groot which would flower into their strongest record yet.

Boudewijn de Groot had enjoyed European success as a protest singer, but was more than ready to break the typecast. Similarly, the Names and Faces were yearning to stretch beyond their poppy approach as 1967 came to a close. As a result, de Groot composed and produced “The Killer”, a song that graphically details the crimes of a serial murderer who has terrorized a classroom filled with children. The performance by Names and Faces has remarkable similarities to The Rolling Stones track “Sympathy for The Devil”, and was released in early ‘69.

The Killer

11 Woodstock - THOMAS & RICHARD FROST
Not to be a contrarian, but while many boomers look upon Woodstock as a culmination of everything wondrous about the love generation, I find the epic mud bath to be the sour beginning-of-the-end for idealism. Woodstock is not the last great stand of the hippies, but the first dark shudder of a lost generation which grimly convulsed into larger quakes such as Altamont and The Manson trial.

By the dawn of Woodstock, drug use for purposes of mind expansion had been usurped by a lazy-headedness that misinterpreted “tuning out” to mean complete disengagement. Indeed, the slovenly debacle of Woodstock is more in tune with the self-indulgence on full display at Altamont than with the civil rights marches in the early half of the decade. 

Not all that far from Altamont (literally and figuratively), the same sort of mindless drug haze that bedazzled that audience had besieged a group of middle class drop outs who were under the direction of a charismatic nitwit. Those formerly well-to-do teens would end up viciously murdering Sharon Tate and Rosemary LaBianca, among others. During the trial, the perpetrators displayed a staggering disregard for their crimes... completely detached from the spectacle engulfing them.

Woodstock was not a celebration of youth enjoying the fruits of their labor. It was a depraved last gasp by decadent pinheads declaring defeat against a musical backdrop provided by boring, self-important bands who were easily out-shined by the headache-inducing Sha Na Na. If only it was a quarter as fun as the song “Woodstock” would have you believe.

A stampede to leave the grounds ensues as Sha Na Na takes the stage

Woodstock

12 Carnation Instant Breakfast (promo)
 

Nothing says "breakfast" like a powder that turns milk the color of the Passaic River

Carnation Instant Breakfast

13 Turn Me On - ROTARY CONNECTION
The Rotary Connection was fronted by vocalist Minnie Riperton, who would later go on to break a thousand and one champagne glasses with her piercing performance on “Loving You”. In addition to Riperton, the group benefited greatly from Charles Stepney’s (a musical supervisor at Chicago’s infamous Chess Records) production expertise. His lush string arrangements, certainly added a level of beauty to the psychedelic soul exhibited by the band.

Their self-titled debut LP was recorded in October of 1967 for Cadet, a subsidiary of Chess. The multiracial seven piece walk through an assortment of Stones, Dylan and Spoonful covers, but the magic really shows on their originals. “Turn Me On” is one such highlight, composed by group vocalist Sidney Barnes.

Turn Me On

14 You Turned My Head Around - ANN MARGRET
Yes, that Ann-Margret! And get that snobby look off your face. Long before becoming Elvis Presley’s sex kitten, Ann-Margret Olsson embarked on a singing and dancing career in the suburbs of Chicago. From 1961 to 1968 she released no less than 10 albums for RCA, though you would be hard pressed to find a copy in anyone’s home.

By 1968, with the culture radically changing, Ann-Margret attempted to update her musical image. She joined forces with producer/composer extraordinaire Lee Hazlewood and released the LP The Cowboy & The Lady. While hipper than her previous releases, the LP failed to reinvigorate her recording career. It would be ten years before she cut another album for a disinterested public.

Not a particularly good day to be the person who handles the props

You Turned My Head Around

15 Katip Arzvhalim Yaz Yare Boyle - MOğOLLAR
Named after the famous Mongol Empire, Mogollar was a Turkish band who recorded a brand of local folk rock (Anatolian) with occasional flares of psych. From 1967 to 1971 they released over a dozen singles, earning the “Grand Prix du Disque” along the way. “Katip Arzvhalim Yaz Yare Boyle” was released in 1971 as the flip side to “Iste Hendek Iste Deve”.

Katip Arzvhalim Yaz Yare Boyle

16 I Believe In Sunshine - PASSING FANCY
Passing Fancy were a band from Toronto Canada who recorded a number of singles from 1967 - 1969 for Columbia Records. None of their records cracked the Top 20 in their homeland, though they did score a near miss with the song “I Believe In Sunshine,” which struggled to #28.

After their arrangement with Columbia expired, the group was approached by Boo Records, a label created by two record store owners. The fledgling label’s national reach was predictably limited, so when they released the group’s sole LP, sales failed to make any sort of impact. “Sunshine” was written by band member Greg Hambleton, who was responsible for several of Passing Fancy’s original tracks. Recently, Outrageous Cherry did a BOFFO cover of this relic.

I Believe In Sunshine

17 Reaction Of A Young Man - ELMER GANTRY’S VELVET OPERA
Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera epitomized the U.K. psych movement with their blend of R&B roots and the psychedelic sounds of the day. Arguably, the most noticeable difference between English and American pop psych at the time was the emphasis on soul and R&B utilized by many Brit acts (e.g. The Pretty Things, Timebox). It should be noted the Velvet Opera did differentiate themselves with extraordinary craftsmanship as well as a willingness to explore many musical sub genres. One might even classify them as early prog rock.

Their interest in psych did not occur until after sharing a bill with Pink Floyd; an association that helped land them on the CBS subsidiary Direction Records. Inexplicably, the group released a string of unimpressive singles, ignoring far stronger tracks which would later appear on their self-titled debut LP.

Reaction Of A Young Man

18 Concentration Baby - DAVE CLARK FIVE
Even the most casual rock fan has heard any number of recordings by the Dave Clark Five. Their popularity was in the same league as the Stones and Beatles, but while those two bands moved into stylistically psych terrains, the DC5 generally refrained from those musical trappings. There were exceptions, however.

“Maze of Love” was one overt attempt by the group to please the psychedelic crowd. More enjoyable yet was “Concentration Baby”, released as the B-side of their November 1967 single “Red And Blue”. “Concentration” mixes an Otis Redding sneer (think “Respect”) with a slightly acid tinged flavour.

Concentration Baby

19 Secret Ceremony (promo)

Watch the Secret Ceremony Theatrical Trailer


20 Let Me Sleep Beside You - DAVID BOWIE
In 1967, David Bowie released his debut album on Deram records, a mish-mash of theatrical dance hall tracks, all written by the artist,  and exhibiting little vision. Bowie recalls the album “seemed to have its roots all over the place, in rock and vaudeville and music hall. I didn’t know if I was Max Miller or Elvis Presley.”

After the album tanked, a penniless Bowie was introduced to Tony Visconti, a 22 year old producer who had already worked with T-Rex and other unique artists. The two became close, allowing the young producer to convince Bowie to make a musical change. At Visconti’s behest, Bowie recorded the straight forward rocker “Let Me Sleep Beside You”, a song lyrically similar to the Rolling Stones “Let’s Spend The Night Together.”

On September 1, 1967, Bowie recorded the sexually suggestive track backed by a fashionably trendy string section. As promising as it was, Deram Records declined to issue the single.

Let Me Sleep Beside You

21 Magic In The Air - THE ATTACK
The Attack were part of the British freakbeat scene, recording several singles for Decca records in 1967 and 1968. Their first record was “Try It”, a cover of the Standells tune banned that same year in the U.S.  After that, their releases veered progressively into the pop psych arena with records like “Created By Clive” and “Hi Ho Silver Lining”. During the late 90’s and early 2000’s numerous collections surfaced revealing a huge catalogue of unreleased recordings by the previously unheralded band.

Decca Records learned a hard lesson when the band offered to take their own publicity photos

Magic In The Air

22 Keep It Out of Sight - PAUL & BARRY RYAN
“Keep It Out of Sight” was penned by Cat Stevens. Stevens was amazingly prolific during the late 1960’s, writing not only for himself but artists such as The Tremeloes, P.P. Arnold, and The Koobas. Looking to update their standard pop sound, brothers Paul & Barry Ryan took a stab at “Keep It Out of Sight” in 1967. The Decca single was backed by strings and horns with a swinging London feel, but failed to chart successfully. Their follow up would prove much more successful, the dramatic “Eloise”.

Keep It Out of Sight

SOUND CLIPS AND PDF CD BOOKLET ARE LOCATED HERE