VARIOUS ARTISTS - Real Life Permanent Dreams:A Cornucopia Of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 CD Box Set (Castle Communications)

UK 60’s psychedelic/freakbeat compilations are usually a risky affair. When purchasing them one usually runs the chance of winding up with half a CD’s worth of tunes you’ve already got or the tracks could come from a variety of sources ranging from the master tapes to a copy someone made of an acetate with a hand held mic. David Wells of Tenth Planet (a UK label devoted to unearthing rare British 60’s psych/freakbeat/mod music) fame and an occasional “Record Collector” scribe has complied a new 4 CD set for Castle communications (home of Sequel records, best known for their comps that utilize as many 60’s Kinks/Bowie/Foundations and anyone else who was on the Pye/Piccadilly label with cheap licensing rates). Mr. Wells is pretty much a UK 60’s musical archeologist, he not only knows his stuff but he’s passionate about it and actually tracks down the bands he writes about instead of regurgitating oft told/untrue rock n’ roll mythology. On this venture he skillfully took 99 tracks from the British Isles recorded between 1965-1970 and lovingly compiled them with a well illustrated booklet chock full of track info(with lots of photos, 45 label and picture sleeve scans and gig/management adverts). The sheer volume of this set makes it pretty hard to go at it track by track so we’ll restrict it to a few highlights on each disc. Probably the most rewarding part of the package is that of course despite the fact that there are a few usually repeated tracks here (ie “My Friend Jack”), closer inspection reveals that some are either live on the BBC versions or alternate mixes.

DISC ONE:Sowing The Seeds
The late Lee Hazlewood’s “The Cheat” covered by (Screaming) Lord Sutch from May of ’66 is a shock to anyone like me who’s familiar with his gritty/looney rock n’ roll horror show antics. This one’s an orchestral-raga number that sounds straight out of some druggy Swingin’ London Hammer film. The Frame’s “Doctor Doctor” has long cropped up these past 20 years on crap quality comp Lp’s like “Electric Sugarcube Flashbacks” or “The Perfumed Garden”. For those who haven’t had the chance to become acquainted with the number, it’s a slice of macabre ’66 Who/mod-pop-art style fun with high backing vocals, infectious throbby bass and catchy lyrics. Equally following the mod/freakbeat footing are Winstons Fumbs, the pre-Status Quo act Traffic Jam (with an amazing BBC session version of “I Don’t Want You” that sounds more like American poppy garage like The Blues Magoos or Shadows Of Knight ), The Buzz , The Kirkbys and John’s Children with the previously unreleased Marc Bolan number “The Lilac Hand Of Menthol Dan”. Of equal interest is the Immediate records rarity “Black Sheep R.I.P.” by The Australian Playboys , a number that’s long eluded CD/LP compilers.

DISC TWO: Plant A Flower Child Today
Things get a tad more trippy on disc two, but there’s still lots of pre-lysergic fun like a BBC session version of Skip Bifferty’s best 45(in my opinion) “Man In Black” . The acid kicks in with an alternate version of The End’s “Loving Sacred Loving”, produced by Bill Wyman . One his other musical protégé projects is represented in Moon’s Train , best known for their sole semi rare mod jazz/r&b 45 rpm stab at Mose Allison’s “Deed I Do” and for backing Brian Jones on his film soundtrack work for “A Degree Of Murder” (which no one seems to have been able to unearth). Their offering here is decidedly different. The Flamingo Club, American blues/jazz and the bespoke suit scene gives way to kaftans, beads, fuzzed out guitars and phlange on the Wyman penned “Bakerman”. Ex-Undertakers leader and future George Harrison Apple records project Jackie Lomax’s band The Lomax Alliance serve up “The Golden Lion”, a shimmering bit of pop-psych from their unreleased ’67 LP. Somebody should seriously get around the releasing this one day instead of bleeding us cut by cut these past 15 years or so! You can all scream in disgust, but I must digress and admit disc two’s highlight is “Sunshine Day”, a catchy/poppy affair by Jethro Toe , a glaring intentional label typo by a snooty producer who liked neither the band or their name (Jethro Tull). On this, their debut recording, there is nary a cross-legged flute solo or jam to be heard just good old 60’s pop. The Bobcats sole 45 was 1967’s “Can’t See For Looking” a Zombies influenced affair of teen angst (all possibly true as the oldest member was reputed to be 15!) that sounded as if it’d been recorded three years earlier. Their inclusion here is the amazing unreleased “Lord John”, which scoffs at wealthy deb scions who get fed up with the Bentley and home in Mayfair and go slumming (ala the book/film “Up The Junction”). The social commentary territory is furthered explored in the lushly orchestrated poppy harmonies of Marmalade’s “Man In A Shop”, proving the pop/psych was not all bicycles, magic elves and hallucinations.

DISC THREE:Happydaystowntown
Things get a bit more twisted here on disc three with the likes of The Californians West Coast harmonies meet raga “Golden Apples Of the Sun” and Status Quo’s BBC version of their hit “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”. The dreadful and twee “Bitter Thoughts Of Jane” by Timon (better known to us old folks as Tymon Dogg, a one-time Clash associate in his later years) represents why British 60’s psych-pop can sometimes be synonymous with “crap”. On a more positive note is “Colour Sergeant Lilywhite” by The West Coast Consortium (who as the name implies worshipped US West coast acts like The Association ). It’s a cheeky affair that again plumbs the story telling angle of the genre masterfully. Songs in 1968 that took sympathetic views towards the military were rare, so this single no doubt vanished without a chart placing. The Turnstlye’s “Riding A Wave “ (covered by the now defunct Embrooks on their final CD)is a cheery affair where a full string session trades with licks with riff heavy Move/Who style bashing. Ex-John’s Children lead singer Andy Ellison’s solo single “Fool From Upper Eden” is a welcome surprise, having eluded numerous comps (both bootleg and legit) of his former band all these years. It’s quite far from the quirky mod angst of his white suited J.C. days but don’t let that put you off, it’s a really good track driven by a decent groove around a funky organ. The Alan Bown Set , like the previously mentioned Moon’s Train, were firmly rooted in the American r&b aping, mod pleasing stuff and took a slight turn with the unreleased “Mr. Job”, the horn section and organ are still there but instead of Rufus Thomas worshipping we’ve got a quirky English sing-along pop song with a message/social vignette. One can’t conclude this disc’s review without mentioning Immediate records in-house sing writing/recording duo Twice As Much and their stellar/dreamy version of The Small Faces “Green Circles”. The Mighty Midgets themselves are included with the knees up mother brown ale cheeky Cockney chappie edit of “Happydaystoytown” (minus Stanley Unwin”).

DISC FOUR:Circus Days Are Here Again
As you are no doubt tired of this review by now we’ll wind things up. The fourth disc is indeed a mind blowing affair. It’s shorter than the other three as, well it’s tracks are all from 1969-1970, which, for good or bad, means songs tended to be on the long side in that era! But not every song here falls into that sometimes tedious, over indulgent category. On that note I give you The Kult’s stunning “No Home Today”, a 45 on CBS with blistering brief guitar prominence and eerie backing vocals over a Yardbirds ‘66 riff that’s not as freaky as the 1969 manufacture date implies. The track hints that at the close of this decade some bands still remembered their mod/freakbeat roots or were possibly so provincial that they were convinced that the ’66 sound was “with it”. The last time I checked a copy of it went for $500 on Ebay, and now that it’s here I can retire my 20+ year old patchy copy of “The Perfumed Garden Volume Two”! Eddie Hardin had been a veteran of the second phase Spencer Davis Group with surviving original member Pete York . The two reunited as a duo as Hardin & York , represented here with “Candlelight” a Hammond infused number that brings to mind not only late Winwood era S.D.G. but Brian Auger . The organ connection drives on with former Herd keyboardist/vocalist Andrew Bown and his 1970 single “Tarot”, a light hearted pop excursion with mellotron that was used as the theme for a short lived Thames Television program “Ace Of Wands”. What is a UK 60’s psych comp without some mellotron right? And what about some sitar? That is duly answered with Humble Pie’s trippy/dreamy “Light Of Love” sung by bassist Gregg Ridley . The freaky way out end of our tale is no better represented by Man , formerly a Welsh blue eyed soul/West Coast harmony act known as The Bystanders . Their “Empty Room” from their debut album “Revelation” is awash in Doors style organ and some screechy annoying vocals that signal the 70’s and the end to our review.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Real Life Permanent Dreams:A Cornucopia Of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 CD Box Set (Castle Communications)

Castle just has just issued a 4 CD set of vintage 1960's British psychedelia. Uppers music editor and bona fide UK psych devotee Bill Luther dissects.

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