This outfit came out of Galveston, Texas. I'm Lonely a powerful punk cut can also be found on Texas Flashback (The Best Of) (CD), Texas Flashbacks, Vol. 5 (LP) and Flashback, Vol. 5 (LP).
From Arlington, Virginia, this outfit would later become Pentagram. This sole 45 under this incarnation has received good compilation coverage. Be Forewarned can also be heard on Pebbles Box (5-LP), Acid Dreams - The Complete 3 LP Set (3-LP), Acid Dreams Testament (CD), Trash Box (5-CD) and Gathering Of The Tribe (LP). The flip, Lazy Lady, has also resurfaced on Turds On A Bum Ride Vol. 1 & 2 (Dble CD) and Turds On A Bum Ride, Vol. 1 (Dble LP). (Max Waller)
This Savannah, Georgia group started circa 1963 as The Fugitives. By 1967 they'd evolved into The Mach V with their most stable line-up (above) who recorded their sole 45 at Decca in Nashville late that year. If I Could is a straight-ahead fuzz-punker with pumping bass and keyboards; it would be classic Class Of '66 fare but for the occasional use of wah-wah. Compilation appearances include: If I Could on Pebbles Vol. 10 (CD), Scum Of The Earth (Dble CD), Scum Of The Earth, Vol. 1 (LP) and Psychedelic States: Georgia Vol. 1 (CD). (Max Waller/Roger Maglio)
This arist came from Tyler, Texas. The 'A' side of his sole 45, a folk-punk number, can be heard on Highs In The Mid Sixties, Vol. 23 (LP).
NB: (1) reissued on CD as Midnight Minstrel (ESP 1069-2).
A self-penned singer/songwriter album. MacKay is assisted by his wife Tanya and various ESP label artists, Cyril Castor (lead gtr, piano), Lee Crabtree (organ, piano) (of Pearls Before Swine), Chuck Raney (bs), Bob Sanderson (flute, bs, clarinet), Peter Schubert (bs), Warren Smith (drms), and Richard Tyler (electric harpsichord, organ). Tracks like In The Misty-Eyed Shores Of Morning and Geneva Brown are a bit Tom Rapp-ish, but the strongest composition is Feet Of Clay. Pleasant but unexceptional (like most of these types of albums usually are). (Vernon Joynson/Max Waller)
NB: (1) also issued on MCA.
NB: There was also a UK 45: Candy/Hard Time Woman (MCA MU 1041) 1968. Issued two albums of soft breathy folk with a psychedelic tinge. They achieve rather a primitive amateurish sound very much in the spirit of dope smoking and the glorification of the Southern Californian hippie lifestyle. The end result is a blend of quite effective laid back tunes alternating with light-hearted acoustic sing-along type celebrations. The best of the former style are reminiscent of the second West album. Compilation appearances include: West Grogan Dormitory Blues on Turds On A Bum Ride Vol. 6 (CD) and Turds On A Bum Ride, Vol. 2 (Dble LP); Tendency To Be Free on Baubles - Down To Middle Earth (LP), Turds On A Bum Ride Vol. 1 & 2 (Dble CD) and Turds On A Bum Ride, Vol. 1 (Dble LP).
A rather strange, some might say psychedelic, 45 by a Los Angeles studio group that previously replied to the name of Pasternak Progress with the venerable Brian Ross (of Music Machine and Friendly Torpedos fame) at the controls. Plenty of sound effects and an odd feedback intrusion but leaning more towards Zappa/Bonzos. (Max Waller)
Hailing from Anapolis, Maryland, this quartet played their own brand of Bob Dylan - P.F. Sloan-influenced folk-rock. They benefited from a strong management-production team of Tom Traynor and Barry Seidel. Their first 45 is very much in that mould. By 1966 and their second 45 they'd developed a fuller, more mature sound. Drummer Richard 'Spider' Kumer later teamed up with Jack Bryant (who wrote Hello Girl for The Mad Hatters) in The Fallen Angels. One side of Washington D.C. Garage Band Greats! is given over to the band. It includes their two 45s (a previously unreleased alternate take of Hello Girl and three previously unreleased tracks:- Go Fight Alone, A Pebble In My Sand and Goodbye Babe. Their finest moment? I guess that was I'll Come Running, a fine uptempo folk-punk number, full of energy, enthusiasm and pulsating organ. There Goes The Neighborhood, Vol. 3 (CD) also contains four live track from 1965 - Time Is On My Side, Satisfaction, Mickey's Monkey and What's Your Hurry - plus two radio spots. Other compilation appearances have included: I'll Come Running on Pebbles, Vol. 12 (LP); I Need Love on Signed, D.C. (LP); Go Fight Alone and A Pebble In My Sand on Green Crystal Ties Vol. 10 (CD). (Max Waller/Bob Embrey)
The 'A' side of this obscure New York 45 can also be heard on Scum Of The Earth, Vol. 1 (LP) and Scum Of The Earth (Dble CD). The flip is also on The Big Itch Vol. 3.
NB: (1) reissued as Edsel ED 140 (1985) and (2) as Edsel ED 188 (1986). (1) and (2) also available now on CD.
NB: (1) - which is commonly referred to as 'The Wind Chimes' EP, was booted in the late seventies/early eighties. It has since been included on The Berkeley EPs CD, (Big Beat CDWIKD 153) 1995, along with the EPs by Country Joe and The Fish (June 1966), Frumious Bandersnatch and Notes From The Underground. It features different recordings of the two cuts which appear on their album.
This unique band were fronted by Lawrence Hammond, who was born in Berkeley, but spent much of his childhood in Nebraska. Bluegrass music was his main musical influence. The band was formed by Hammond (harp, vcls) and a series of fellow medical students (Robinson (gtr), Manning (bs), and Dewey (drms)), who all attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They were originally known as The Mad River Blues Band - Mad River being a small tributary of the Ohio. The band, minus Manning, then moved to Washington D.C. for a while. In this period they began to write their own material and secured gigs at very disreputable dives. They then returned to Yellow Springs where Manning rejoined the band and Rick Bochner was added on guitars. In the Spring of 1967 the band quit college, headed for San Francisco, and soon became based in Berkeley. Soon afterwards Sam Silver, a friend of Ed Denson, manager of Country Joe and the Fish, became their manager. Consequently, they secured a number of gigs with The Fish. The band were befriended by Lonnie Hewitt and in 1967 recorded their legendary Wind Chimes (EP) on his Wee label (10021). It's an interesting record, not easy to obtain, which contains an early version of Amphetamine Gazelle (simply called Gazelle on the EP), Wind Chimes and Orange Fire. The first two are on the first album. Orange Fire is a non-LP track. By the end of 1967 they had played a number of Fillmore and Avalon gigs and were signed to Capitol along with The Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Steve Miller Band. Their debut album was issued in 1968. Extremely uncommercial it was particularly noteworthy for Lawrence Hammond's distinctive quavering vocals and some superb interweaving acid guitar work (particularly on The War Goes On and Eastern Light. It has later transpired that during its making the recording and playback speeds were not the same - so everything came out higher and faster than they had played it! Prior to the recording of their second album, Manning left the band and they got a new manager, Harry Sobol. They also asked Jerry Corbitt (of The Youngbloods), an acquaintance from their Yellow Spring days, to produce it. The album was an amalgam of different styles - short country rock tracks like Paradise Bar and Grill, Love's Not The Way To Treat A Friend and Cherokee Queen appear alongside a couple of long acid influenced tracks, Leave Me Stay and Academy Cemetery. This album was greeted with more enthusiasm than their debut by the critics, but Capitol did nothing to promote it and did not release it in Britain. Inevitably, then, Mad River split up in 1968. Bochner went to run a homestead in Canada. Dewey worked on Jerry Corbitt's first album and later had a spell with Country Joe and the Fish, Grootna, Eggs Over Easy and Bodacious D.F.. Robinson became a building contractor and Manning did occasional work for him and some session work. Lawrence Hammond later formed The Whiplash Band, a bluegrass/country music outfit. Supported by this outfit (Alan Lane (bs), Janet Bryson (vcls), Al McShane (drms), and James Louis Parber (lead gtr)), Hammond recorded a country rock album Coyote's Dream (Takoma C 1047) in 1976. Fellow Mad River members, Dewey and Robinson also made guest appearances on the album. As tor Mad River - their output is essential for any collector of psychedelia. Compilation appearances have included: High All The Time on Rock A Delics (LP); A Gazelle, Orange Fire, and Windchimes on The Berkeley EPs (CD); and Orange Fire on Glimpses, Vol. 3 (LP). California Easter contains a live recording of War Chimes and War Goes On from Dr.Sunday's Medicine Show at Fairground Family park, San Jose on 10th August 1967. (Vernon Joynson / Max Waller / Stephane Rebeschini)
A quartet from East Troy and Palmyra, Wisconsin, who started in the early '60s as The Mad Madadors. Girl Don't Leave Me is a melodic garagey ballad, that sounds uncannily like the Everly Brothers' When Will I Be Loved on occasions. The flip is a brisk version of the Ross-Vanadore song, also covered by The Coastliners and The Legends. In 1967 they changed their name to Easy Street. Confusingly there was another 45 on Feature by Matadors, a totally different group from Sheboygan Falls. (Max Waller / Mike Markesich / Gary Myers)
Another band from Mankato in Minnesota which involved Dale Menton. He formed them after the break-up of The Gestures and they were also known as The Best Thing. The first 45 is credited to Tommy Mason and The Madhatters. Mason, an all-American halfback with the Minnesota Vikings, had sung lead vocals on both sides of the disc. The 2nd 45 was picked up and released on United Artists 500027 as by The Best Things. The 'A' side, You May See Me Cry is a slow melancholy ballad with subdued organ. Compilation appearances have included: You May See Me Cry on No No No (CD) and Sixties Rebellion, Vol. 9 (LP & CD); and Chicks Are For Kids on Root '66 (LP).
This band was based in San Antonio, Texas. The flip to their sole vinyl output, Another Man, is a pleasant garage number. Compilation appearances include: Another Man on Texas Flashbacks, Vol. 4 (LP & CD), Flashback, Vol. 4 (LP) and Highs In The Mid Sixties, Vol. 13 (LP).
The compiler of the Gone, Vol. 1 (LP) included I Saw What You Did by a band of this name. Max Waller writing in 'Freakbeat' was first to discover that this was actually The Olivers track of the same name. See The Olivers' entry for details of this superb farfisa'n'fuzz punker which has resurfaced on a number of compilations. So what of Madson? Either The Olivers' also released the 45 under this name or, more likely, as Max suggests, the compiler of Gone, Vol. 1 really was totally gone. |
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