Neil Christian And The Crusaders - Get A Load Of This (1967)

Neil Christian And The Crusaders might be a relatively obscure UK pop group of the early 60's, but they were as good a breeding ground for guitarists as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, including in their ranks at various times such luminaries as Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Albert Lee, Mick Abrahams and Paul Brett, as well as pianist Micky Hopkins, and bassist Alex Dmchowski, who later went on to join Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation. Christopher Tidmarsh started his career in music by managing a North London-based outfit called The Red-E-Lewis And The Red Cats, who underwent a line-up shift when the original members joined Johnny Kidd as The Pirates from July 1961 to early 1962. Recruiting guitarist Bobby Oats and drummer Jim Evans, they played a few gigs at the Ebisham Hall in Epsom, and Tidmarsh first spotted Jimmy Page paying there. In early 1959, John Spicer joined the band on rhythm guitar, and when Oates announced that he was leaving the band, Tidmarsh contacted Page and invited him down to Shoreditch to audition for the vacancy. He became their new lead guitarist and Spicer switched to bass, and in Spring 1960 Tidmarsh replaced Lewis on vocals, and they reinvented themselves as Neil Christian And The Crusaders. Tidmarsh changed the names of his musicians, with Page being known as 'Nelson Storm', John Spicer was 'Jumbo' and drummer Evans was nicknamed 'Tornado'. 

Page toured with them for two years until he was forced to quit due to illness, suffering from glandular fever, although he would later still record with the band in the studio until 1964. Page's replacement was Paul Brett from the Impacs, who was himself briefly replaced by Albert Lee, while bassist Jumbo Spicer left to be replaced by Arvid Andersen. The Crusaders were augmented by pianist Tony Marsh, who had previously been in a Wembley-based combo called the Escort alongside drummer Keith Moon, and is was Marsh who introduced guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to Neil Christian, who teamed up with Andersen and Evans for a brief spell in early 1965. In March 1965, Blackmore and the rest of the group defected Screaming Lord Sutch to become The Savages, and so Christian pulled in an entirely new line-up, taking over a Luton group called The Hustlers, who featured Mick Abrahams on guitar. By June 1965 the new line-up was cemented by the addition of drummer Carlo Little, keyboardist Graham Waller and bassist Alex Dmchowski. While he was guitarist with the Crusaders, Abrahams stood in for Screaming Lord Sutch, who did exactly the same set as The Crusaders, before eventually leaving in late 1965. 

Christian disbanded the Crusaders soon after and decided to pursue a solo career, and his fortunes went on the upswing after he hooked up with songwriter and producer Miki Dallon, and landed a number 14 hit single with Dallon's 'That's Nice. To promote 'That’s Nice', Christian reassembled The Crusaders with Richie Blackmore, Tornado Evans, Avid Andersen and Tony Mash, and they toured the UK and Europe, particularly Germany, where they had a residency in Munich. While there he also recorded some tracks for the Metronome label, with 'Two At A Time' being a big hit for him in Germany in 1966. Christian went back to England and recruited new musicians who formed the final incarnation of the Crusaders, with pianist Matt Smith joining three members of Lord Caesar Sutch & The Roman Empire, Richie Blackmore, Carlo Little and bassist Tony Dangerfield. After The Crusaders split up following an argument in a restaurant, Christian released his final UK 45 'You're All Things Bright And Beautiful' for Pye in 1967, although when he moved to the Vogue label he recorded 'My Baby's Left Me' with his old Crusaders mates Blackmore and Little, with Nicky Hopkins on piano and Rick Brown on bass. Christian continued to release singles under his own name and as Neil Christian And The Crusaders well into the mid 70's, but he is best remembered for employing a string of guitarists who later went on to greater things, and an album around 1967 could have included tracks featuring most of them. As that never came about, then here is the best of the band's output, leaving aside some of the more 'pop' moments, and concentrating on the R&B that let those guitarists shine. 

Track listing

01 She's Got The Action
02 Get A Load Of This
03 One For The Money
04 Yakity Yak
05 That's Nice
06 Honey Hush
07 Bad Girl
08 Crusading
09 Oops
10 Countdown
11 My Baby's Left Me
12 Let Me In
13 I Like It

Featuring on guitar:
01, 02, 08, 12, 13 Jimmy Page
04, 07, 09, 10, 11 Richie Blackmore
01, 05 Mick Abrahams 
03, 06 Phil McPill 

The Micky Finn - The Sporting Life (1967)

In the summer of 1961 lead guitarist Micky Waller, rhythm guitarist Bevis Belmour, bassist Mick Stannard, and drummer Richard Brand put together a Shadows-like instrumental band called The Strangers, and gigged around Bethnal Green in East London. The following year, they became a much more R&B-oriented group and enlisted vocalist Harry Bates, although by 1963 Waller and Brand had left to form a more 'mod' sounding band, while the remainder of the group carried on as The Mates, with new drummer Albert Smith. Having been  bitten by the Jamaican Blue Beat bug whilst hanging out at the Crypt Club, Aldgate, they decided to concentrate on this music, and so formed a new band, recruiting John Cooke aka "Fluff" on keyboards, John Burkitt on bass and Alan Marks on vocals. After having heard that Cyril Davis & His R&B All Stars featured a drummer called Micky Waller, he changed his surname to Finn, and the band became Mickey Finn & The Blue Men. Their agent, Don White, secured them a recording contract with Blue Beat Records, and in 1964 they released their debut single, a rendition of Elias & The Zig-Zag Jive Flutes 'Tom Hark', coupled with 'Please Love Me', composed by Alan Hawkshaw of Emile Ford & the Checkmates. After a couple of months, they switched to Oriole, and began recording with Jimmy Page on harmonica, after meeting him at Hackney Club 59. 

The follow up single, covering Bo Diddley's 'Pills' and Jimmy Reed's 'Hush Hush', was released in March 1964, and was banned after the police had discovered some purple hearts stashed in Mickey Waller's amp during a raid on The Scene Club. By mid 1964, ex-Stranger Mick Stannard had replaced Burkitt on bass, and they became known as simply The Mickey Finn. Their final 45 for Oriole was a Chuck Berry number 'Reelin' And Rockin'', but it failed to chart, even though it was tipped as a hit on 'Juke Box Jury'. Through their new manager, Chris Radmall, they got a deal with Columbia, and began recording with producer Shel Talmy in 1965, and their cover of Ian Whicomb's smash hit 'The Sporting Life' is now one of their most notable releases. They followed this with 'I Do Love You'/'If I Had You Baby' in July 1966 on Polydor, and then spent the summer of 1967 in Southern France, where they had a residency at the Voom Voom Club, St-Tropez. 'Garden Of My Mind' appeared on Direction Records in 1967, but after a few more years on the circuit, they decided to call it a day in 1971, with Micky Waller and John Cooke going on to The Heavy Metal Kids. Waller relocated in France and became a sought-after session musician, recording with Nino Ferrer, among others, and he eventually returned to the UK and joined Steve Marriott’s All Stars in 1976, and then the group formed by ex-Pretty Things singer, Phil May & the Fallen Angels, in 1977. The Micky Finn made a couple of excellent singles in their hey-day, and this has kept them at the top of any list of obscure UK beat groups of the 60's, and by 1967 they had recorded enough material for an album, although this would have had to include both their R&B and psychedelic songs on the same record, so this could be why it never happened. However, let's enjoy all of their best music on this imaginary album from 1967.  

Track listing

01 Night Comes Down
02 Ain't Necessarily So
03 Poverty
04 Reelin' And A'Rockin'
05 Garden Of My Mind
06 Hush Your Mouth
07 If I Had You Baby
08 The Sporting Life
09 Miss Jane

10 Because I Love You
11 I Still Want You
12 God Bless The Child

13 Please Love Me
14 Time To Start Loving You

The Four Pennies - A Place Where No One Goes (1966)

The Four Pennies started out as the Lionel Morton Four, taking their name from their singer, who had served as a choir boy in a cathedral in his hometown of Blackburn, Lancashire, during his youth. In 1963 they changed their name to the more commercial alternative of The Four Pennies, named after Penny Street, where their favourite music shop was located. The band now consisted of Lionel Morton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Fritz Fryer on lead guitar, Mike Wilshaw on bass, keyboards, and backing vocals, and Alan Buck on drums, and they got a record deal with Philips almost immediately, and their first single 'Do You Want Me To' came out in 1963, scoring a number 47 placing in the UK singles chart. Their second single, 'Tell Me Girl', was released in 1964, but the b-side proved the more popular song, and 'Juliet' is now the song with which they are most associated, after it hit the number one slot on the UK Singles Chart. It was a self-penned number, written by Fryer, Wilshaw and Morton, but ended up being the only UK Number one of 1964 not to chart in America. Following the UK chart-topping success of 'Juliet', the band racked up subsequent 1964 UK hits with their original 'I Found Out The Hard Way' and a cover of Leadbelly's 'Black Girl', followed by the release of their debut album 'Two Sides Of Four Pennies', which, as was customary for British acts of the time, mostly ignored their hit singles. After their first single of 1965 failed to reach the UK chart, Fryer left The Four Pennies to found a folk trio called Fritz, Mike and Mo, and he was replaced on guitar by David Graham. The revamped quartet then hit the UK chart again with 'Until It's Time For You to Go', written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, but their 1966 cover of Bobby Vinton's 'Trouble Is My Middle Name' would be their final chart placing, after which Fryer returned to the fold, replacing his own replacement Graham. They finished 1966 by releasing their second album, 'Mixed Bag', but neither it, nor the singles 'Keep The Freeway Open' and Tom Springfield's 'No More Sad Songs For Me', charted, and so by the end of the year the group had dissolved. As it happened, they could have released a much better second album than 'Mixed Bag' in 1966, by just including some of their better singles and their b-sides, but as they didn't do that then here is what it would have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Square Peg
02 Till Another Day
03 Don't Tell Me You Love Me 
04 Juliet
05 Trouble Is My Middle Name
06 No Sad Songs For Me
07 Black Girl
08 Keep The Freeway Open
09 Miss Bad Daddy
10 Cats
11 The Way Of Love
12 A Place Where No One Goes
13 Way Out Love
14 I Found Out The Hard Way
15 Tell Me Girl (What Are You Gonna Do)

Bern Elliott & The Fenmen - I Can Tell (1964)

Bernard Michael Elliott was born in Erith, Kent, on 17 November 1942, and attended Picardy School in Belvedere, before forming his own beat group, which became Bern Elliott and the Bluecaps. After a name change to Bern Elliott and the Fenmen in 1961, the group performed over the next two years in clubs in Hamburg, Germany, and were signed to a recording contract with Decca in early 1963. 'Money' was released by several artists at the time, but Bern Elliott and the Fenmen were unique as a group in registering a UK Singles Chart Top 20 hit with the song in December 1963, with their Merseybeat style belying their southern England roots. However, they did appear on 13 March 1964 episode of the UK television programme Ready Steady Go!, playing their follow-up hit, 'New Orleans'. In May 1964, Elliott parted company with The Fenmen, and utilised The Klan for a short time as his backing group on one release, 'Good Times'/'What Do You Want With My Baby', which was released on Decca in September 1964. The following year Elliott tidied himself up in an effort to become a smoother pop entertainer, and issued two solo efforts, 'Guess Who' and 'Voodoo Woman', neither of which troubled the charts. The Fenmen continued as a band in their own right, issuing further efforts both for Decca and CBS, including 'I've Got Everything You Need, Babe' in 1965 and 'Rejected' in 1966. After the Fenmen themselves disbanded, Wally Allen (aka Wally Waller) and Jon Povey moved on to The Pretty Things, but despite only releasing one EP and a couple of singles before the band members went their separate ways, they had recorded enough material for an album by 1964, and so if Decca had wanted one then it could have sounded like this. 

Track listing

01 Money
02 Be My Girl
03 Everybody Needs A Little Love
04 Good Times

05 (Do The) Mashed Potato
06 Chills
07 New Orleans
08 Please Mr. Postman
09 Talking About You
10 Nobody But Me
11 What Do You Want With My Baby
12 I Can Tell
13 Shake Sherry Shake
14 Little Egypt
15 Shop Around

The Attack - Art Attack (1968)

The Attack were founded by Richard Shirman and Gerry Henderson, who were originally in a group called the Soul System, whom, for the best part of a year, had a very unstable line-up. In early 1966, the remnants of the crumbling group were joined by Bob Hodges on organ, David John (Davy O'List under alter ego) on guitar, and Alan Whitehead on drums. They soon came to the attention of entrepreneur Don Arden, who then signed them to Decca and changed their name to The Attack. Their debut single was released in January 1967, and was an extremely anglicized cover of 'Try It', an American hit for both the Standells and Ohio Express, whose versions were exemplar of the sneering garage sound. However, The Attack's powerful vocals, pop art guitar, and the underbelly of a warm Hammond created a similar atmosphere to the Small Faces, the Birds, and the Creation. Shortly after the single was released, Davy O'List was handpicked by Andrew Loog Oldham to join the Nice, who were to act as the backing band for newly acquired American soul singer P.P. Arnold, and so he quit the group in late February. Meanwhile, Shirman, a regular visitor to the London clubs, had been keeping a watchful eye on a young guitarist he had seen jamming with Jimmy Page, and so John Du Cann was introduced into the group. 

As a follow-up to 'Try It', a version of 'Hi-Ho Silver Lining' was then released, but Jeff Beck got the hit first in Britain in 1967. The third 45, 'Created By Clive'/'Colour Of My Mind', backed a foppish sub-Kinks-style number with a fairly groovy mod-psych tune penned by DuCann. Bassist Kenny Harold and guitarist Geoff Richardson left shortly after the disappointment of the 'Created By Clive' single, leaving Du Cann as the only guitarist, and Jim Avery was drafted in on bass, with Plug still on drums. Their next single was to be be the excellent 'Magic In The Air', but Decca refused to release it on the grounds that it was too heavy, and so Plug and Avery left the ranks to be replaced by Roger Deane on bass and Keith Hodge on drums. The final single, released in early 1968, was 'Neville Thumbcatch', a fruity mod-pop tune with spoken narration, like a lesser counterpart to Cream's 'Pressed Rat And Warthog', and Decca's deal with the Attack expired after that single, with a projected fifth 45, 'Freedom For You'/'Feel Like Flying', remaining unreleased. This led to the break-up of the group, with Du Cann going on to form Andromeda, and later to join Atomic Rooster in the 70's. The Attack have been well-served with compilations of their material, but as so often happens with these anthologies, the label try to cram in every single thing that they could track down by the band, whether good, bad or indifferent, and The Attack are the perfect example of the need for some judicious pruning of their material in order to present them in the best light. Their singles 'Hi-Ho Silver Lining', 'Created By Clive', and 'Neville Thumbcatch' are not representative of the band's powerful mod sound, and so they need to be excised in favour of scorching rockers like 'Any More Than I Do', and so here is the album that they should have released in 1968, which shows what a great band they really were. 

Track listing 

01 Any More Than I Do
02 Go Your Way
03 Colour Of My Mind
04 Strange House
05 Come On Up
06 Magic In The Air
07 Feel Like Flying
08 Lady Orange Peel
09 Too Old
10 Freedom For You
11 Anything
12 Mr Pinnodmy's Dilemma
13 Try It
14 We Didn't Know

The Glass Menagerie - Run To The Sun (1969)

In August 1967 guitarist John Kendall and bassist John Medley left their band The Truth and teamed up with three ex-members of The Raging Storms, being Lou Stonebridge on vocals, Keith O'Connell on organ and Bill Atkinson in drums. Inspired by the new wave of progressive and psychedelic rock, they started out as a covers band, playing material by Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Doors, Traffic, The Lovin' Spoonful, and Jefferson Airplane, and they quickly gained a reputation and a strong following, and in 1968 they signed a deal with Pye Records. After they moved to London, O'Connell left the group to join Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band, and so Stonebridge took over on organ as well as vocals. Their fist single for Pye was a cover of The Rolling Stones' 'She's A Rainbow', which was released in April 1968, and they followed that in June with another cover, this time tackling The Lovin' Spoonful's 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice'. For their third single they covered Harry Nilsson's I Said Goodbye To Me', and backed it with a John Medley original in 'Frederick Jordan', but despite all three records containing some excellent music, and enjoying decent airplay, none of them were hits. The band continued to build up a popular live following through constant touring, broadcasts on John Peel's 'Top Gear' radio show, and regular appearances at clubs like The Marquee. In 1969 the band moved to the Polydor Record label, where they released two singles, 'Have You Forgotten Who You Are' and 'Do My Thing Myself', and they also recorded an album, which was never released, possibly due to the lack of success of the singles. By the end of 1969, both Kendall and Medley felt that they were getting nowhere with the group and so left, and the remaining members recruited Tony Dangerfield as the new bassist, and they continued for another year as a three-piece, before finally folding in 1970. The unreleased album has never surfaced, but we can have a guess at what might have been included on it, and as some of their radio sessions have survived, we know the sort of material that they were playing in 1969, and so here is my attempt to piece together what a Glass Menagerie album could have sounded like if it had appeared in 1969. 

Track listing

01 I Said Goodbye To Me
02 That's When I Start To Love Her
03 Watching The World Pass By
04 Life Is Getting It Together
05 Have You Forgotten Who You Are
06 Chequebook Girl
07 Do You Ever Think
08 Let's All Run To The Sun
09 Frederick Jordan
10 Run Out Of Time
11 Do My Thing Myself
12 Putting It Off Till Another Day
13 She Came From Hell

This album is the perfect companion to a recent post on the albumsthatshouldexist site, as it includes all their singles, alongside a few sessions for the BBC.  

The Human Expression - Optical Sound (1967)

The Human Expression formed in 1966, with the members coming from Westminster, California, and Tustin, California.  Jim Quarles and Jim Foster began writing songs for the new band, and they started performing in local venues and school dances to create a more cohesive unit. After rehearsing for six months, they went to a recording studio and cut the demo recordings for their first single, eventually securing a recording contract with Los Angeles-based Accent Records. Although 'Every Night' was chosen as the A-side, the original flip, 'Readin' Your Will', was replaced with a song that is probably their best known recording, 'Love At Psychedelic Velocity'. Two more original compositions made up the second single, 'Optical Sound'/'Calm Me Down', but perhaps due to the slow sales of the band's own songs, their manager brought demos of two songs by then-unknown songwriter Mars Bonfire to the band to consider for their third single. They selected 'Sweet Child Of Nothingness' for their third release, to be backed with another original composition 'I Don't Need Nobody', turning down 'Born To Be Wild' in the process, as Quarles was not impressed with the song. Before the third single was released, lead guitarist Martin Eshleman injured his hand, when Tom Hamilton accidentally slammed a door on it, leaving Eshleman with severed tendons, forcing him to leave the band. Although a new guitarist was brought in, Quarles left almost immediately, and the band then fell apart. By that time they had recorded enough material to put together an album of their single sides plus a few demos, and so here is the best of The Human Expression from 1967.

Track listing

01 Love At Psychedelic Velocity
02 Outside Of It All
03 Every Night
04 Calm Me Down
05 Optical Sound
06 Your Mind Works In Reverse
07 Who Is Burning
08 Readin' Your Will
09 I Don't Need Nobody
10 You Need Lovin' Too
11 Sweet Child Of Nothingness
12 Following Me

The Pete Best Combo - I Don't Know Why I Do (1965)

Randolph Peter "Pete" Best was born 24 November 1941 in the city of Madras, then part of British India. After Best's mother, Mona Best, moved to Liverpool in 1945, she opened The Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the Bests' large house in Liverpool, and it became very popular with British youths, having a membership of over 1,000. The Beatles (at the time known as the Quarrymen) played some of their first concerts at the club, and Best played there with the Beatles, as well as with his first band, the Black Jacks. In August 1960 The Beatles invited Best to join the group, on the eve of their first Hamburg season of club dates. He was eventually replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962, when the group's manager, Brian Epstein, dismissed Best under the direction of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, following their first recording session at Abbey Road Studios. Soon after he was dismissed, Epstein attempted to console him by offering to build another group around him, but Best refused. Feeling let down and depressed, he sat at home for two weeks, not wanting to face anybody or answer the inevitable questions about why he had been sacked. Epstein secretly arranged with his booking agent partner, Joe Flannery, for Best to join Lee Curtis & the All Stars, which then broke off from Curtis to become Pete Best & the All Stars, and they signed to Decca Records, releasing the unsuccessful single 'I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door'. Best later moved to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington, and as The Pete Best Four, and later as The Pete Best Combo, they toured the US in 1965 with a combination of 1950's songs and original tunes, recording for small labels Cameo and Mr. Maestro, but with little success. They ultimately released an album on Savage Records in 1966, 'Best Of The Beatles', which was a play on Best's name, but which led to disappointment for record buyers who neglected to read the song titles on the front cover and expected a Beatles compilation. The group disbanded shortly afterwards, and Bickerton and Waddington were to find greater success as songwriters in the 1970', writing a series of hits for the American female group, The Flirtations and the British group, the Rubettes. Many of Best's group's singles were written by Bickerton and Waddington, and by 1965 they had amassed a considerable body of original material, which would have been enough to put together an album of their own songs in 1965. While 'Best Of The Beatles' did include some of those songs, it also featured a lot of covers, and so this album would have been a much better example of their work, had it come out a year earlier in 1965. 

Track listing

01 Why Did You Leave Me Baby?  
02 I Need Your Lovin'  
03 I Can Do Without You  
04 She's Alright  
05 Keys to My Heart  
06 I'm Checkin' Out Now Baby 
07 I'll Try Anyway  
08 I Don't Know Why I Do  
09 How Do You Get to Know Her Name?  
10 She's Not the Only Girl in Town 

11 Don't Play With Me 
12 More Than I Need Myself  
13 I'll Have Everything Too 
14 The Way I Feel About You  
15 If You Can't Get Her 

The Mystic Tide - A Psychedelic Journey With The Mystic Tide (1967)

The Mystic Tide formed in Long Island, New York, in 1965, and was led by guitarist and songwriter Joe Docko, Paul Picell on bass, Jim Thomas on rhythm guitar, and John William on drums. They formed in early 1965 as The Chosen Few, and changed their name to The Mystic Tide in late 1965, inspired by 'Mystic Eyes', the most extreme single by Van Morrison’s Them. Contrary to what might be expected, The Mystic Tide’s own song cheekily titled 'Mystic Eyes' was a moody, vaguely Zombies-esque folk-punker rather than the rave-up the band name and title would suggest. Their first two singles have none of the wired aggression running through what came next, as something seemed to happen to them between singles two and three, with 'Frustration' featuring elements of bands like The Magicians and The Blues Magoos bleeding into their sound. However, none of this directly explains where The Mystic Tide were coming from, as their sonic attack is like nothing else heard at the time. Their four self-released singles between 1966 and 1967 captured a foreboding kind of early psychedelia denoted by raw, fuzzy guitars, angsty sentiments, and a vaguely Middle Eastern-flavor. They remained largely overlooked on even a local level and disbanded in 1967, but as the years went on, their ahead-of-their-time sound became the fascination of garage rock historians and enthusiasts, and their incredibly rare singles began fetching collector's prices, and appearing on collections of obscure psychedelic bands of the 60's. In 1991, the band's eleven songs were released on a self-titled anthology, and since them a couple of demos have also surfaced, and last year yet another compilation of the singles appeared, but what I wanted to hear was just their 1967 recordings, including the demos, with an edited version of the two parts of the 'Psychedelic Journey' single sides, and the 1966 'Mystic Eyes' single added in. This would feature the band at their very best, and show their ahead of its time sound on their most innovative sides. So here is an album that could have come out a good 25 years before these tracks were eventually made available to the general public.

Track listing

01 Mystery Ship
02 You Know It's True
03 Frustration
04 Psychedelic Journey
05 I Search For New Love
06 Solid Ground
07 You Won't Look Back
08 Mystic Eyes
09 Silver Rails / Going Home
10 Running Through The Night

Wimple Winch - Lollipop Minds (1967)

In early 1963, after several name changes, Four Just Men settled in Manchester and decided to become professional musicians. At the time, the group was composed of Demetrius "Dee" Christopolus as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist Johnny Murphy, drummer Larry Arends, and bassist Pete Turner, and they became a popular attraction in Liverpool as they shifted through two line-up changes, with Keith Shepherd replacing Turner, and then John Kelman replacing Murphy. They toured with more prominent groups including The Rolling Stones, The Searchers and Del Shannon, but despite their initial success, the band was plagued by missed opportunities when they rejected 'Trains And Boats And Planes', a later hit for The Dakotas, and had lawsuit threats against them over their name, resulting in them having to change it to Just Four Men as another group had rights to their original choice of name. They did sign a recording contract with EMI Records in 1964, and produced two singles, which were both recorded at Abbey Road Studios, with their debut single, 'That's My Baby', being released in November 1964, and the second one, 'There's Not One Thing', following in February 1965. Both were positively received, but the release dates were in correlation with The Beatles' releases so sales were dwarfed in comparison, and they were subsequently dropped from the label, although they continued to perform until early 1966, at which point they morphed into Wimple Winch. The renamed band consisted of an altered line-up of Arends, Christopolus, John Kelman on lead guitar and newcomer Barrie Ashall on bass guitar, and the name change was brought about as a result of the band's addition of heavier and more psychedelic components into their music. 

Club owner Mike Carr, who would later become their manager, offered the band chance to be the house band at his new club in Stockport called "The Sinking Ship", which they accepted, and the club established itself when Wimple Winch opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the venue. An associate of Fontana Records watched them perform and signed the group to record at Philips Studios in March 1966, during which the band completed demos for their debut single, 'What's Been Done'. It received heavy local support and was listed as a "climber" by Radio London in April 1966, but still failed to chart, and for their second release the band choose 'Save My Soul', which incorporated a protopunk structure. The single was immensely popular locally on its release but was unsuccessful nationally, although it has since been recognized as one of the more innovative tracks of the Mersey beat scene. In between performing, Wimple Winch recorded in August and December 1966, and several tracks were finished, with the Who-styled song 'Rumble On Mersey Square South' being released as the group's final single in January 1967. Things were looking good for them, but then The Sinking Ship caught fire and destroyed the group's housing and equipment, and as a result Fontana Records decided to not re-sign them when their contract expired. The band continued to tour, and recorded more demos in a personal studio, but decided to disband in mid-1967, never managing to release an album under either of their guises. Four Just Men only recorded a few songs, but Wimple Winch were much more active in the studio, and so there are enough excellent recordings to put together the album that they should have released in 1967. 

Track listing

01 Save My Soul
02 Atmospheres
03 I Really Love You
04 Lollipop Minds
05 Marmalade Hair

06 Coloured Glass
07 Those Who Wait
08 What's Been Done
09 Sagittarius
10 Bluebell Wood
11 Last Hooray
12 Rumble On Mersey Square South

The Mojos - Everything's Alright (1965)

The Mojos formed as a duo under the name the Nomads in 1962, and originally consisted of bassist Keith Karlson and drummer Jon "Bob" Conrad. Before Conrad, Snowy Fleet was the drummer, but he was replaced by Conrad when he emigrated to Australia, and after that the band was joined in September 1962 by lead singer/pianist Stu James, and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Adrian Lord. They were a bit different from most of the other Merseyside bands in that their first love was American blues rather than R&B and rock & roll, preferring to cover the works of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. The band continued without a lead guitarist when Wood left, and at the suggestion of Beatle George Harrison, pianist Terry O'Toole was added to the line-up in August 1963. The band also changed their name in August 1963 to The Mojos, and Lord swapped from rhythm guitar to lead guitar, with this line-up recording 'My Whole Life Through', which was featured on the Oriole Records 'This Is Merseybeat' compilation album. After signing to Decca Records they released their debut single 'They Say' in 1963, and it achieved some popularity, especially after it was used for the party scene in the 1964 film 'The Comedy Man'. Despite having written the single's b-side, Lord left the group soon after its release, and was replaced by Nicky Crouch, with this line-up continuing until October 1964, recording the group's three charting singles, 'Everything's Alright', 'Why Not Tonight', and 'Seven Daffodils'. 

They also appeared in the movie 'Every Day's A Holiday', and like many of their contemporaries the group played at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany. In 1964 they released a four-track EP, but by this time the group had only scraped the Top 30 since their solitary big hit, and the label began losing interest. In October 1964, Karlson, Conrad and O'Toole left the group and James and Crouch were joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Lewis Collins, and this line-up recorded the singles 'Comin' On To Cry' and 'Wait A Minute', both of which were released as by "Stu James And The Mojos". In September 1966 the group broke up, with James and Crouch forming a new version with Birmingham bass player Deke Vernon and Southampton drummer Martin Smith, while Collins went into acting, and scored huge acclaim when he appeared in 'The Professionals' with Martin Shaw. The Mojos in their original incarnation were only around for a couple of years, but they will forever be remembered for 'Everything's Alright' after David Bowie covered it on his 1973 'Pin Ups' album, and it's a shame they never recorded an album, as their style of Merseybeat was a bit different to what was generally coming out of the city at the time, and so here is what a long-player from them could have sounded like in 1965.  

Track listing  

01 Give Your Lovin' To Me
02 Don't Do It Anymore
03 I Got My Mojo Working
04 Comin' On To Cry
05 Everything's Alright
06 Nothin' At All
07 Seven Daffodils
08 Nobody But Me
09 They Say You Found A New Baby
10 Forever
11 Why Not Tonight
12 That's The Way It Goes
13 The One Who Really Loves You

The Ides Of March - Strawberry Sunday (1968)

In 1964 four schoolfriends decided to form a band, and so with Jim Peterik on vocals and guitar, Larry Millas on guitar and vocals, Bob Bergland on bass and vocals, and Mike Borch on drums and vocals, the group adopted the name the Shon Dels. In 1965 they released the single 'Like It Or Lump It', backed with 'No Two Ways About It', on their own Epitome Records label, and at this time they were palying garage rock with a strong British Invasion influence. In 1966 they changed their name to The Ides Of March, after Bergland had read Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' in English class, and this seemed to herald an increase in the group's popularity, and so a second single was issued, with 'You Wouldn't Listen' coming out on the regional Harlequin Records label. The A-side received some airplay in Chicago, and so Parrot Records signed the band and reissued the 45 for the nationwide market, resulting in it rising to number five on the Chicago singles charts, and just missing the Top 40 across the country, topping the nationwide listings at 42. Their second single for Parrot, 'Roller Coaster', appeared a few months later, and while the A-side was another hit in Chicago, peaking at number 14 in the Windy City, this time it failed to make the national charts. Three more singles for Parrot followed, with 'You Need Love' in 1966, and then two more in 1967 with 'My Foolish Pride' and 'Hole In My Soul, but while the group was still a major draw in their hometown, their ability to sell records seemed in doubt, and they cut ties with Parrot. 

After signing with Kapp Records, the next Ides of March single was the moody pop number 'Nobody Loves Me' in 1968, backed with the semi-psychedelic 'Strawberry Sunday'. It was their first and last release for Kapp, but 'Nobody Loves Me' did point the way to the future with its use of a trumpet in the arrangement. Later that year, with the popularity of horn-based rock bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago on the rise, the band added two trumpet players, John Larson and Chuck Soumar, to give their sound an extra punch. This new sound was enough to gain them a record deal with Warner Bros., and their first full-length album, 'Vehicle', arrived in early 1970. The title track was issued as a single, and it quickly became a smash hit, spending ten weeks on the charts and peaking at number two. Suddenly the Ides Of March were stars across the United States, and they soon found themselves touring the nation and sharing stages with luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead. The group wasted little time cutting a follow-up album, and their second disc, 'Common Bond', hit stores in 1971. The soft-rock of the 'L.A. Goodbye' single took the emphasis off the horns in favour of a mellower sound, and although it earned a solid amount of airplay, 'Common Bond' didn't spawn a major hit single like 'Vehicle', and so Warner Bros. dropped the band. They did manage to sign a recording contract with RCA Victor, and released more albums in the 70's, but by waiting until 1970 to record their first long-player, it meant that we never got to hear an album by the band before they added the horn section. Hopefully this will put that right with a record that could have been issued in 1968, using the single tracks and the odd unreleased recording that they had amassed by that time. 

Track listing

01 Roller Coaster
02 Things Aren't Always What They Seem
03 Hole In My Soul
04 My Foolish Pride
05 I'll Take You Back
06 Girls Don't Grow On Trees
07 Strawberry Sunday
08 You Need Love
09 I'll Keep Searching
10 One And One Does Not Make Three
11 Give Your Mind Wings
12 I'm Gonna Say My Prayers
13 High On A Hillside
14 Nobody Loves Me
15 You Wouldn't Listen

Thanks to Paul from albumsthatshouldexist for pointing me in the direction of a new colourization programme called Kolorize, so I've tested it on this post. If you want the new cover then just download it from this page. 

The Mirage - The World Goes On Around You (1968)

The Venders were formed in the Hertfordshire village of Hunsdon, and featured Del Vincent on lead vocals, Pat Hynes on lead guitar, his brother Pete Hynes on rhythm guitar, Percy Bishop on keyboards, Colin Felstead on bass, and a third Hynes brother, Dave, on drums. Playing local venues and the occasional American air force base, one of the Venders' more successful peers were the Diamonds, featuring lead guitarist Ray Glyn Mynott, who owned a Fender Stratocaster, then hard to come by in the United Kingdom. When Pat Hynes hurt his finger and was unable to play a gig, the Venders asked Mynott to fill in for him, and they were happy enough with his work to invite him to join the band full-time. Mynott agreed, and after shuffling a few members, the new Venders line-up was Pete Hynes on lead vocals, Mynott on lead guitar, Pat Hynes on rhythm guitar, Dee Murray on bass, and Dave Hynes on drums. They made their debut as the opening act for the Tornados on Christmas Eve 1964, and early the following year they decided they wanted a hipper sounding name, and so rebranded themselves The Mirage. Several members were working as session musicians in their spare time, and this moonlighting put them in contact with Dick James, one of England's most successful music publishers. James had installed a recording studio in his London office complex in order to cut song-writing demos, and The Mirage became one of James' house bands, as well as being signed as staff songwriters for his firm. 

After meeting at the studio, the band struck up a friendship with Graham Nash and Allan Clarke of the Hollies, and on their recommendation, The Mirage landed a record deal with CBS. Their first single, 'It's in Her Kiss' (a gender-switched cover of the Betty Everett hit) was issued in June 1965 to little success, although their Nash/Clarke-produced second release, 'Go Away', earned respectable radio airplay. Despite the modest success of 'Go Away' and the use of a Mirage recording, 'I'm Gonna Leave Her', in the hit film 'Georgy Girl', CBS was reluctant to authorize a third single, and the band bided their time, writing songs and committing them to tape at the Dick James studio. CBS eventually let them go, and music entrepreneur Larry Page, an associate of James, signed them and made a deal to release their material through Phillips Records. Dick James handled publishing for the Beatles, and for their first Philips single he arranged for them to be able to cover 'Tomorrow Never Knows' from the then-unreleased 'Revolver', with a band original 'You Can't Be Serious' on the flip. However, conflicting opinions at Phillips led to the single not appearing until December 1966, and as by that time the Beatles' recording of the tune had been out for some months, The Mirage recording suffered at the marketplace. 

Undaunted, the group cut a second single for Phillips, with 'Hold On' arriving in March 1967, and two months later saw the release of 'The Wedding Of Ramona Blair', a charming bit of pop psychedelia which was spun regularly by British pirate radio outlets. It received a smattering of BBC Light Programme play, but it wasn't enough to make it the success it deserved to be. With no hits to their name Phillips dropped The Mirage, and the various members had to make a living as sessionmen, cutting publishing demos, and backing other artists in the James/Page stable, including acting as backing musicians for Reg Dwight's unreleased album 'Regimental Sgt. Zippo, which was eventually released in 2021 as by Elton John. The Mirage landed a new record deal when Larry Page brought them aboard for his new Page One label, but much to the group's annoyance, the A-side for their 1968 Page One debut was a bit of pop fluff called 'Mystery Lady' that was co-written by Page under the nom de plume Larry Stein. Their second Page One release, September 1968's 'Here Comes Jane', wasn't even released under their own name, with the group credited as the Yellow Pages, and when a month later Page One released 'Carolyn', another substandard number written by Page, the band were at the end of their tether, and deliberately broke up just to free themselves of their contract with Page.

A few months later, Ray Glynn, Dave Hynes, Pete Hynes, keyboard player Kirk Duncan, and bassist Jeff Peters signed with Carnaby Records, a new label launched by music promoter Mervyn Conn, and as they were unable to use the name The Mirage, the band called themselves Portobello Explosion. Their first release for Carnaby was 'We Can Fly', a Hynes brothers original backed with a cover of the Bubble Puppy's Texas psych hit 'Hot Smoke And Sassafras', but it made little impression, and following Hynes and Duncan's love of the Band's first two albums, they shifted their music to resemble their rustic country-rock, and so another name-change was needed, this time to Jawbone. Their sole eponymous album came out in 1970, and was a unique mixture of Beatles-influenced pop and rootsy Americana, but reviews were tepid, and Jawbone played no live gigs in support of the release, resulting in the band breaking up. Because they were recording demos at the same time as releasing their singles, by 1968 they had amassed a collection of material that would have made an excellent album, and this is what it would have sounded like.  

Track listing

01 The World Goes On Around You
02 I See The Rain
03 The Wedding Of Ramona Blair
04 Ebaneezer Beaver
05 My Door No. 4
06 Chicago Cottage
07 Can You Hear Me
08 You Can't Be Serious
09 Mrs Busby
10 Gone To Your Head
11 One More Time
12 Is Anybody Home
13 Hello Enid
14 What Do I Care
15 Love Is Where You Find It

Count Five - Enchanted Flowers (1968)

In the early 1960's school students John "Mouse" Michalski and Roy Chaney had played guitar and bass respectively in a succession of local bands such as Johnny & the GTOs and the Renegades, specializing in surf instrumental music. They changed their name to The Squires and added Kenn Ellner as a singer, and tried picking up on the British Invasion sound, and in late 1964 they added Irish-born guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sean Byrne, and the band made a local name for themselves over the ensuing year. In 1965 organist Phil Evans quit for personal reasons and drummer Skip Cordell joined another group, and with the addition of his replacement, Butch Atkinson, the group changed their name to Count Five. It was around this time that Byrne was putting the finishing touches to a song he'd been outlining in his head, ultimately called 'Psychotic Reaction', and when it was finished it became a showcase for the band's abilities, especially guitarists Michalski and Byrne, and they began working it up into the crescendo of their stage act. At first it didn't seem to do much good, as the group was turned down by Capitol Records, Fantasy Records, and a handful of other California-based companies, but after working out a new arrangement of 'Psychotic Reaction' with the band, local DJ Brian Lord got the song and the group placed with Double Shot Records, a Los Angeles-based label. 

When they released the song as the band's debut single it eventually made number five nationally and number one in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they were never able to follow up the hit with anything even remotely as successful, and although an album was rushed out, featuring the hit plus some ill-conceived originals, nothing that the group did subsequently seemed to work. They tried reusing the same formula, working in a slightly more folk-rock vein, and even attempting some fresh guitar pyrotechnics (on 'The World' and 'Pretty Big Mouth' and, in a psychedelic vein, on 'Peace Of Mind'), plus a pair of pretty fair Who covers, but by 1967 it was clear that the group's days were numbered. They carried on releasing singles on Double Shot during 1967 and 1968, but the strain of maintaining music careers while attending college, which they had to do in order to keep their draft deferments, took its toll, as did the dwindling bookings, as memory of 'Psychotic Reaction' faded. In the end, after an attempt by the label to keep Byrne as the only active member, Count Five ceased to exist. Although they never managed to record another 'Psychotic Reaction', some of their later singles were not bad, and if we take those and add some previously unreleased recordings from the same timeframe then Double Shot could have put together a second album from the group some time in 1968. As the label never got round to it then it's up to me to do it for them. 

Track listing

01 People Hear What I Say
02 Merry-Go-Round
03 Hold Me Close
04 Teeny Bopper, Teeny Bopper
05 Revelation In Slow Motion
06 Declaration Of Independence
07 You Can't Get Me
08 Contrast
09 Enchanted Flowers
10 Move It Up
11 So Much
12 God Alone (Above)
13 Mailman
14 You Must Believe Me

The Majority - Tears Won't Help (1969)

Formed in Hull, England, as the Mustangs in the early '60s, the band changed their name to The Majority around the time they moved to London in 1965. With more of an American pop/rock vocal harmony style than most British Invasion groups, they tried their hand at a variety of material over the next few years, most of it coming from outside songwriters. After securing a deal with Decca Records that same year they released their first single, 'Pretty Little Girl', in July 1965, and as a minor coup of sorts, for their second single of that year, 'A Little Bit Of Sunlight', they managed to gain access to a Ray Davies composition that never found a place on a 1960's Kinks record. January 1966 saw the release of their third single 'We Kiss In A Shadow', and once again they managed to get hold of a Davies song, adding 'Ring The Bells' to the b-side. In their search for chart material, the Majority also tried compositions written or co-written by such luminaries as John Carter, Twice As Much, and Chip Taylor, but they never hit a commercial or artistic gold mine, with the production varying from the lush to straightforward mod-ish rock. The best they ever managed was the inclusion of their 'One Third' on the 'Nuggets, Vol. 2' box set, which was a collection of overlooked '60's British Invasion/early psychedelic-like rock from non-U.S. countries. 

The Majority's eighth and final single, 'All Our Christmases', would generate another collectible for future British '60s rock aficionados to hunt down in subsequent decades, as it was written but not recorded by the Bee Gees, but after some major line-up shuffles and work backing singer Barry Ryan in concert and in the studio, the Majority relocated to France, where they renamed themselves Majority One in 1969, and continued their recording career with a similar but more sophisticated musical approach. After a few singles released on the Dutch Pink Elephant label in 1970, they released their sole eponymous album in 1971, and although it didn't fare that well at the time, it is now highly regarded by collectors of early 70's prog. While their music is fairly enjoyable stuff, it's easy to hear why they became a sort of "in-between" group, with too much going for them to get dropped from their label, but not enough going for them to score hit records. One reason is that they didn't establish much of an identity, with their arrangements veering from mild British Invasion sounds to quasi-Walker Brothers productions and late-'60s British orchestrated pop with the slightest of psychedelic touches. This could be the reason that Decca never offered them the opportunity to record an album, but if they had then the band could have included a few of their better singles in the track listing and it might have ended up sounding something like this. 

Track listing

01 One Third
02 Tears Won't Help
03 Let The Joybells Ring
04 We Kiss In The Shadow
05 Simplified
06 Pretty Little Girl
07 Charlotte Rose
08 A Little Bit Of Sunlight
09 Wait By The Fire
10 Time Is On Your Side
11 To Make Me A Man
12 Ring The Bells
13 People
14 I Don't Wanna Be Hurt No More
15 All Our Christmases
16 Running Away With My Baby

Skip Bifferty - On Love (1968)

Skip Bifferty were formed when Newcastle upon Tyne band The Chosen Few parted company with their singer Rod Hood and guitarist Alan Hull, later of Lindisfarne, and recruited Graham Bell to replace him. A name change quickly folllowed, and the newly christened Skip Bifferty soon signed a contract with RCA Records. The group released a number of psychedelic singles, including the flower-power 'Happy Land', and 'Man In Black', which was produced by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces, and in 1967 they released their self-titled album 'Skip Bifferty'. Some of their songs were covered by established artists such as Cilla Black, The Tremeloes and The Kingsmen, and they built a following on the live circuit, including touring with The Who in October 1968. However, a management dispute with their manager Don Arden caused the band to walk out en masse, eventually leading to the group's demise under that name in November 1968, re-appearing the following year under the pseudonym Heavy Jelly, and with Paul Nichols replacing Jackman on drums. They released one single on Island Records, 'I Keep Singing That Same Old Song', but when their true identity was uncovered they were let go by Island and they split up soon after. Together with Turnbull and Gallagher, Bell formed Bell & Arc in July 1971, and later Turnbull and Gallagher reappeared as Loving Awareness, who later morphed into Ian Dury's backing band The Blockheads. Skip Bifferty were one of the lucky few late-60's psychedelic bands who were allowed to make an album, and quite rightly it's become regarded as something of a classic of the genre. However, they were not around long enough to released a follow-up to that record, even though they had recorded enough material to make it. A couple of these tracks are taken from their many radio sessions, but they fit quite nicely with the rest of the songs, so here is what Skip Bifferty's second release from 1968 could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 On Love
02 Happy Land
03 Disappointing Day
04 Higher Than The Clouds
05 Cover Girl
06 Aged Aged Man
07 Man In Black
08 The Hobbit
09 Reason To Live
10 In The Morning
11 Once
12 I Don't Understand It
13 The Lion & The Unicorn
14 Round And Round

Paul at albumsthatshouldexist has also posted a couple of albums by this band, but he split them into BBC Sessions and a stray tracks compilation, including the Heavy Jelly recordings, so if you want to hear more then pop over there. 

The Merseys - Some Other Day (1968)

Guitarist and singer Tony Crane was fifteen years old and bassist and singer Billy Kinsley was just fourteen when they were introduced by a mutual friend and discovered they could do Everly Brothers-style harmonies with ease. The two formed a band in 1961, initially called the Mavericks and briefly known as the Pacifics, before the booker at Liverpool's Cavern Club gave them the name the Merseybeats. They were soon gigging regularly in Liverpool and the surrounding area alongside fellow Merseyside acts like the Fourmost, the Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & the Pacemakers, and they often shared bills with the Beatles. In 1963, they signed with Fontana Records, and their debut single, 'It's Love That Really Counts' was a success, peaking at Number 24 on the British Pop chart, while their second disc, 'I Think Of You', was plugged by their pals The Beatles on the pop music show Juke Box Jury, and their endorsement helped it make the Top Five in February 1964. While the band was selling records and playing good-paying engagements, little of the money was making its way to the musicians, which Kinsley believed was due to their manager shortchanging them, so he responded by leaving The Merseybeats, and Johnny Gustafson, a veteran of the band the Big Three, took over on bass and vocals. By the end of 1965 Gustafson had been fired by the group's management, supposedly for asking too many questions about their finances, and so Crane responded by breaking up The Merseybeats. 

In the immediate wake of the breakup, Crane reunited with Kinsley and launched a vocal duo they called the Merseys, and with Fontana opting to maintain their relationship with Crane and Kinsley, their first single as the Merseys, 'Sorrow', was a major hit, topping out at Number 4 on the U.K. singles charts. The duo headed out on tour with a band called the Fruit Eating Bears serving as their backing band, including guitarist, Joey Molland, would go on to become an international star with Badfinger. By this time, Kit Lambert, who was managing the Who, also took on the Merseys as clients, and he spirited away Pete Townshend's 'So Sad About Us' for the group to record as their second single, after which The Merseys toured as the Who's opening act, and in early 1967 they were added to the bill of a package tour headlined by American soul stars the Four Tops. Increasingly disappointed with Lambert, who they felt was spending too much time on the Who while The Merseys' records were failing to chart, Crane and Kinsley fired him and finally signed on as part of Brian Epstein's stable of talent. Less than a month later, Epstein died, which did little to help the group's prospects or morale. After a pair of 1968 singles came and went with little notice, Crane and Kinsley brought out one final single, with 'Honey Do' appearing under the group name Crackers, before retiring the banner the Merseys. Kinsley would later formed the band Liverpool Express, who had some success in the 70's, and in 1973 they were suddenyl all over the music press when David Bowie recorded a cover of 'Sorrow' for his 'Pin Ups' album, and the song became a hit for the second time. The Merseys were more than a one-hit wonder, though, as most of their other songs were fine examples of mid-60's pop, and it's a shame that they never got around to recording an album, and it could have sounded something like this. 

Track listing

01 Rhythm Of Love
02 Change Of Heart
03 I Hope You're Happy
04 Nothing Can Change This Love
05 Sorrow
06 Some Other Day
07 Is It Love
08 Honey Do
09 Penny In My Pocket
10 Lovely Loretta
11 The Cat
12 So Sad About Us
13 It Happens All The Time
14 Dreaming
15 Love Will Continue

Morning Reign - Just A Friend (1970)

In 1966 Ric Seaberg was attending an orientation event at Salem's Willamette University, where he met Gene Heliker, a fellow freshman who had a guitar. Seaberg and Heliker were soon bonding over music, and they made plans to form a band with Seaberg on lead vocals and guitar, and Heliker on lead guitar. They recruited two fellow students, rhythm guitarist Craig Chastain and bassist Doug Heatherington, and later added Bob Baker on keyboards and Bill Thomas on drums, and Morning Reign made their public debut playing a dance at the Willamette University gymnasium. A few months later, they were playing regularly in and around Salem, branching out throughout the Pacific Northwest. Drummer Thomas left the band, and a second drummer, Tom Hallman, worked with them for a while before Howard Holland took his place behind the drum kit. As this line-up established itself as one of the most popular rock bands in the Northwest, they released their first single , with the Heliker/Seaberg original 'Please Stop' appearing on the 3S Record label in 1968. Later that year the band appeared on the TV series Happening '68, in a battle of the bands segment, and although they didn't win, it did put them in touch with music industry figures who saw promise in the group. In the meantime, they struck a deal with Garland Records, an Oregon-based label who in 1969 issued two singles, with the band tackling covers, 'Everybody' b/w 'But It's Alright' and 'Any Way You Want Me' b/w 'Reach Out I'll Be There'. 

As their popularity rose, the group shared stages with some of the best known acts of the day, including the Doors, Three Dog Night, Vanilla Fudge, and The Guess Who. In 1970 they had a brush with the major labels with T-A Records, distributed by Bell Records, who issued their single 'Can I Believe In You', but by this time Baker and Holland had dropped out of the act, and two members of another Salem band, Tyme, stepped in to replace them, with Larry Sieber taking over the keyboards and Jay Steven Tate the drums. They continued to play regularly and wrote and recorded many demo tapes of original material, but the cost of putting out an album on their own was too expensive, and they couldn't find a label interested in producing an LP of their music. In time, the band had run their course, and they split up in 1972. Two archival releases have appeared since the split, with 'Can't Get Enough Of It' being a collection of seventeen previously unreleased performances from the group's archives, while 'Taking Cover' was drawn from recordings they made during their association with Garland Records. Neither of these records purports to be the album that they wanted to release in 1969, and as the Garland disc can't include the 3S and T-A singles then it's up to me to piece together an album from the available material that they'd recorded by 1970, which includes the best of their single sides, some of their demos, and a recording of the 10-minute tour-de-force 'I Love', that they often used to close their shows.   

Track listing

01 I Can Believe In You
02 Belinda
03 Everybody
04 Just A Friend
05 Tambourine Lady
06 Tomorrow Morning's Love
07 Please Stop
08 Any Way That You Want Me
09 But It's Alright
10 Say It Once Again
11 Even Is It Me
12 I Love

The Orange Bicycle - Lavender Girl (1969)

The Orange Bicycle evolved from the beat group, Robb Storme & the Whispers, also known as the Robb Storme Group, who had recorded a handful of harmony pop singles for Pye, Piccadilly, Decca, and Columbia Records during the early '60s, but with little success. In 1966, the Robb Storme Group covered the Beach Boys' 'Here Today', which was arranged by the band's own multi-talented keyboardist/producer Wilson Malone and produced by Morgan Music's co-owner Monty Babson at Morgan Studios in the Willesdon area of London. With psychedelic music at its zenith, the group decided to change its name, and in 1967 they re-emerged as The Orange Bicycle. After signing a deal with Columbia Records, their fist single was 'Hyacinth Threads' in August 1967, which remains their best-known recording. 'Laura's Garden' followed in November 1967, and they continued to release singles sporadically over the next three years, including a cover of The Beatles' 'Carry That Weight' in 1969. In late August/early September 1968 they performed at the Isle of Wight music festival wearing matching black and orange suits, reportedly covering songs by Love and the Rolling Stones. In 1970, already somewhat past their prime, they recorded their only album, 'The Orange Bicycle', but it was made up largely of covers, including Elton John's 'Take Me To The Pilot', Bob Dylan's 'Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You', and Denny Laine's 'Say You Don't Mind', which was a wasted opportunity considering they had the writing talent of Wil Malone on board. By 1970 psychedelic pop music was on the wane, or transmogrifying into heavier prog or hard rock, so the group decided to call it a day, breaking up in 1971. As a sidenote, Malone went on to form the heavy psych-prog trio Bobak Jons Malone with celebrated engineer/producer Andy Jons and guitarist producer Mike Bobak, and their sole album 'Motherlight' is a classic which needs to be heard. During their career the band released many fine recordings as singles, and they also laid down some great unheard demos, and instead of waiting until 1970 to release a disappointing album they should have issued this one in 1969, which is a much better representation of their sound.

Track listing

01 Hyacinth Threads
02 Nicely
03 Lavender Girl
04 Competition
05 Laura's Garden
06 Go With Goldie
07 Trip On A Orange Bicycle
08 Jenskadajka
09 Soft Winds
10 Amy Peate
11 Carpet Man
12 Message For Mary
13 Early Pearly Morning
14 Dropping Out

The Fourmost - Just In Case (1964)

Guitarist/vocalist Brian O'Hara and best friend guitarist/vocalist Joey Bower formed The Two Jays in 1957, changing its name to The Four Jays in September 1959 when bass guitarist/singer Billy Hatton and drummer Brian Redman joined the group. The Four Jays played around Liverpool in 1961, including the Cavern Club in March, and in November rhythm guitarist/singer Mike Millward joined the Four Jays in November 1961, followed by drummer/singer Dave Lovelady in September 1962. The band changed its name to The Fourmost in October, and the following year they signed a management contract with Brian Epstein, which led them to an audition by George Martin, who signed them to EMI's Parlophone record label. With Epstein as their manager, The Fourmost had access to early Lennon–McCartney compositions before they were recorded by The Beatles, and their first two singles were written by John Lennon. 'Hello Little Girl' was released on 30 August 1963 and reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart, and the follow-up single, Lennon/McCartney's 'I'm in Love', was released on 15 November 1963 and reached No. 17 in the UK. It was also notable as one of the earliest Beatles-penned songs to be released in the United States but, as with The Fourmost's other singles, it failed to chart there. Their biggest hit was their next single, with Russ Alquist's 'A Little Loving' reaching No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in mid-1964. From then on, none of the group's singles cracked the Top 20 in the UK, and they tried covers of other's hits, such as the Four Tops' 'Baby I Need Your Loving' and Elvis Presley's 'Girls Girls Girls', even though they had a talented songwriter in the group, with O'Hara penning most of their songs, many of which were used as b-sides, including 'Waitin' For You', 'That's Only What They Say', and 'You Got That Way'. 

In 1965 they released their only 1960's album, with 'First And Fourmost' appearing in September 1965, and it included Jackie DeShannon's, 'Till You Say You'll Be Mine', alongside Jimmy Radcliffe's 'My Block', and their take on 'The In Crowd', which featured the brass section from Sounds Incorporated. In early 1966, the band was rocked by the sudden death of rhythm guitarist/vocalist Millward from leukaemia, and so they recruited George Peckham as replacement, and in August 1966 they re-visited the Beatles' songbook, covering 'Here, There And Everywhere. followed by a cover of George Formby's 'Auntie Maggie's Remedy' in November 1966, which highlighted the comedic element to some of the group's recordings. By 1968 they had moved to CBS Records, where they recorded 'Apples, Peaches And Pumpkin Pie', an R&B hit by Jay & the Techniques, followed by 'Rosetta' (suggested by Paul McCartney, who played piano on it), and 'Easy Squeezy'. Around 1969 the group stopped recording, and became popular on the cabaret circuit, but they will mostly be remembered for their early run of hits singles. It's surprising that after three Top 20 hits in the UK that Parlophone didn't offer them an album before their 1965 debut, as they could easily have scraped together enough material for a 1964 release, which could have sounded something like this. It's a fairly typical record of the period, containing fourteen tracks, and yet only running to just over half an hour. 

Track listing

01 Just In Case
02 I Love You Too
03 Waitin' For You
04 Hello Little Girl
05 Baby I Need Your Loving
06 Why Do Fools Fall In Love
07 A Little Loving
08 You Got That Way
09 That's Only What They Say
10 I'm In Love
11 Respectable
12 How Can I Tell Her
13 My How The Time Goes By
14 If You Cry