The Charlatans - Sidetracks (1968)

The Charlatans were one of the earliest bands to have an album shelved by their record company, way back in 1966. The band were an American folk-rock and psychedelic rock group that played a role in the development of the San Francisco Haight-Ashbury music scene during the 1960's, often being cited as being the first group to play in the distinctive San Francisco Sound. Exhibiting a more pronounced jug band, country and blues influenced sound than many bands from the same scene, the Charlatans' rebellious attitude and distinctive late 19th-century fashions exerted a strong influence on the Summer of Love in San Francisco. They were formed in mid-1964 by amateur avant-garde musician George Hunter on autoharp and music major Richard Olsen on bass, along with Mike Wilhelm on lead guitar, Mike Ferguson on piano/keyboards, and Sam Linde on drums, later replaced by Dan Hicks, who went on to form Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks after he left the group. One of the most striking things about the band was their penchant for dressing themselves in late 19th-century attire, as if they were Victorian dandies or Wild West gunslingers. This unconventional choice of clothing was influential on the emerging hippie counter-culture, with many young San Franciscans dressing in similarly late Victorian and early Edwardian era clothing, including The Beatles in their 'Sgt. Pepper' period. In the summer of 1965 they were given the chance to audition for Autumn Records, but weren't signed by them, partly due to conflicts between the group and Donahue over suitable material, and partly due to lack of money, as the label was on the verge of bankruptcy. The failed Autumn Records audition proved to be only a minor setback, with the Charlatans signing with Kama Sutra Records in early 1966, home of the Lovin' Spoonful, one of the earliest folk rock bands to find international success. 
The band had recorded a number of songs for the label, and chose to issue 'Codine' as their debut single, but the record company vetoed the release, citing the song's drug connotations. In fact the song was written by folk artist Buffy Sainte-Marie as a warning of the dangers of drugs, rather than promoting their use, but Kama Sutra was adamant and refused to release the single. Instead, two other songs from the Kama Sutra sessions, 'The Shadow Knows'/'32-20', were released by Kapp Records in 1966 as the band's first single, but had little success due to Kapp Records' failure to adequately promote the release. The remaining songs recorded during the Kama Sutra sessions for the Charlatans' debut album, including a couple with lead vocals by Lynne Hughes, remained unreleased until they were officially issued for the first time by Big Beat Records in 1996. Following major upheavals with the line-up, with nearly everyone getting fired and replaced, a new line-up of the band secured a recording contract with Philips Records and released their one and only self-titled album in 1969. The Big Beat issue of the shelved album included everything that they had recorded between 1966 and 1968, which to my ears included a lot of sub-standard material, novelty songs, and music that just didn't sit well with their reputation as one of the first and finest West Coast bands, so I've selected only the very best songs for this post, making a 40-minute album that would have cemented their standing in the history of West Coast music had it been released at the time. 

Track listing

01 Codine Blues
02 By Hook Or By Crook
03 Sidetrack
04 Jack Of Diamonds
05 East Virginia
06 I Saw Her
07 We're Not On The Same Trip
08 Number One
09 Devil Got My Man
10 Walkin'
11 Baby Won't You Tell Me
12 Alabama Bound