The 13th Floor Elevators - Bull Of The Woods (1969)

While the 13th Floor Elevators' debut album caught them as they were still buzzing with the excitement of their musical journey through inner space, and 'Easter Everywhere' found them exploring the possibilities of the recording studio as well as their own creative process, their final studio set, 1969's 'Bull Of The Woods', documented a band that was running out of steam. Legal problems were dogging the Elevators and preventing them from touring, they were justifiably unhappy with their record company, lead vocalist Roky Erickson was beginning to buckle under the group's steady diet of LSD, and lyricist and founder Tommy Hall was growing tired of the demands of the group after the difficult process of writing 'Easter Everywhere'. The album project commenced shortly after the completion of 'Easter Everywhere', and featured two bass players, with the 1968 line-up of Roky Erickson, Stacy Sutherland, Tommy Hall, Danny Thomas, and Duke Davis, with Ronnie Leatherman replacing Davis on some tracks. Only four songs feature Roky Erickson and Duke Davis, with the remaining seven tracks featuring only Sutherland, Thomas, and Leatherman, and so as a consequence, guitarist Stacy Sutherland became the de facto leader of the group during this period, writing most of the songs and singing lead on several numbers, and in his hands the 13th Floor Elevators were a very different band. Sutherland's compositions are more languid and pastoral than the material that dominated the first two albums, and while there's still a psychedelic undertow, Sutherland's music was gentler and his lyrics more solidly grounded in the real world than what he created in tandem with Erickson and Hall. At the same time, the record also showcases Sutherland's consistent strength as a guitarist, and his fluid lead lines and melodies rooted in country and blues figures are Texas psychedelic music at its purest and most refreshing, after the psychic roller coaster of the 13th Floor Elevators' first two albums. Unfortunately, the sessions for the album were recorded quickly, and producer Ray Rush overdubbed an incongruous horn section on several numbers at the insistence of International Artists Records, but even in compromised form, 'Bull Of The Woods' is a testament to Stacy Sutherland's talents and his often overlooked role in one of America's truly visionary rock bands. This version removes that overdubbed horn section, although as it was only present on a few of the tracks then this isn't a radical upgrade, but it's certainly worth a listen if you're a fan of the group. 

Track listing

01 Livin' On
02 Barnyard Blues
03 Til Then
04 Never Another
05 Rose And The Thorn
06 Down By The River
07 Scarlet And Gold
08 Street Song
09 Dr. Doom
10 With You
11 May The Circle Remain Unbroken

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

Tweet - Love, Tweet (2008)

Charlene Keys was born on 21 January 1971), and is better known by the stage name Tweet. In the early 90's she Tweet joined the female trio Sugah, which comprised Tweet, Susan Weems, and Rolita White, and they were part of Devante Swing's Swing Mob collective. While there, she met Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, with whom she formed a close friendship' leading to her appearing on Missy Elliott's platinum-selling third album, 'Miss E... So Addictive', being featured on one track and providing background vocals to another four. In March 2002 she released her debut solo single, 'Oops (Oh My)', which was produced by Timbaland and features guest vocals by Missy Elliott, and which hit number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In April 2002, Tweet released her debut album Southern 'Hummingbird', which featured Missy Elliott, Bilal, and Ms. Jade, and it reached number three on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2002 she appeared as a guest vocalist on a number of albums, including those from Trina, Meshell Ndegeocello, Karen Clark Sheard, Ms. Jade, and Whitney Houston. This continued throughout 2003, with appearance on records by Madonna, Monica, and Mark Ronson, and she also began recording songs for her follow-up to 'Southern Hummingbird'. The album was supposed to be released in early 2004, but was pushed back when Tweet moved from Elektra Entertainment Group to Atlantic Records, but she did release the single 'Turn Da Lights Off' that year, which was produced by Missy Elliott and Kwamé. In March 2005 her second album appeared, and 'It's Me Again' peaked at #17 on the Billboard album charts, before quickly falling out of the charts. 

She then broke away from her manager, Mona Scott, and Violator Management, and signed with Mathew Knowles of Music World, leading to her departing from Missy Elliott's Goldmind Inc. camp and signing to Jheryl Busby and Mike City's record label, Umbrella Recordings. There, she began recording material for her third album, along with producers Nisan Stewart, Warryn Campbell and Novel. Initially titled 'Love, Tweet', the album was preceded by the buzz single 'Good Bye My Dear', a collaboration with rapper T.I., it was expected to be released on 8 April 2008. The release of lead single 'Anymore' failed to materialize, however, and after a couple of years she grew tired of Umbrella's lack of promotion and ongoing delays to her releases, and so she left them and signed to MC Lyte's record label DuBose Music Group. In June 2012 she began posting previously unreleased material from the 'It's Me Again' and 'Love, Tweet' recording sessions on her new website, as a part of her weekly SoundCloud-hosted special, Tweet Tuesdays, and in 2013 DuBose did finally release her 'Simply Tweet' EP, which was recorded live with a full band. In July 2015, Tweet confirmed that she had signed with the independent eOne Music label, and her third album 'Charlene', was released in 2016, confirming that 'Love, Tweet' would never appear. This post is therefore made up of the tracks that she posted from both of her early album sessions, most of which would probably have appeared on the 'Love, Tweet' album, had it appeared in 2008 as intended. 

Track listing

01 I Just Wanna  
02 Remedy 
03 Everything  
04 Cruisin' 
05 Alone 
06 Trouble  
07 Anymore 
08 Love Again 
09 My Dear (feat. T.I.) 
10 I Admit It  
11 Real Lady 
12 Can't Live Without You (feat. Novel)  
13 See Ya
14 Whisper
15 Give It To Ya  

Mick Taylor - Special (1988)

In December 1974 Mick Taylor announced that he was leaving the Rolling Stones, coming as a shock to both the band and their fans. The Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice. After his resignation from the Stones, Taylor was invited by Jack Bruce to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary, and in 1975 the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop Festival, but disbanded the following year. In the summer of 1977, Taylor collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album 'Expresso II', released in 1978, and after that he began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album, working on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with Columbia Records, and his debut solo album, titled 'Mick Taylor', was finally released by Columbia Records in 1979 and reached No. 119 on the Billboard charts in early August. In 1981 he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, sharing the bill with Black Sabbath, and he spent most of 1982 and 1983 on the road with John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and Colin Allen. 

It was to be another five years before Taylor ventured into the studio to record his second solo album, when in the spring of 1988 he gathered together Shayne Fontaine on second guitar, Wilbur Bascomb on bass and Bernhard Purdie on drums, and recorded nine new pieces. However, most of these songs never saw the light of day when the album was put on hold. although a few of them had been played live. The title track 'Special' is solid rocker with catchy slide guitar playing, while Bob Dylan's 'Blind Willie McTell' is heard for the first time in a studio version, with the song developing faster than Dylan's recorded version, but still with a great guitar solo that carries it away. 'Separately' was originally written by Keith Richards and Mick Taylor for the 'Goat's Head Soup' sessions in Jamaica, but is presented here with lyrics that were presumably written afterwards by Taylor himself. 'Red Shoes' is a Max Middleton composition that could have easily appeared on a late 70's Jeff Beck album, and the album closes with the emotionally charged instrumental 'Soliloquy'. It's not known why Taylor decided not to publish these songs in 1988 or shortly after, and fans had to wait another two years to get a proper second studio album, with 1990's 'Stranger In This Town', but we can now hear what Taylor was up to a couple of years before that came out.

Track listing

01 Special 
02 Going To Mexico 
03 Red Shoes 
04 Blind Willie McTell 
05 Separately 
06 The Blue Note Shuffle 
07 Downtown Broadway 
08 Soliloquy

Cherry Roland - Just For Fun (1976)

Cherry Roland was born in Dartford, Kent, and is best known as an actress, starring in the 1963 UK comedy film 'Just For Fun', but she was also a recording artist signed to Decca Records, who released her first single, 'Handy Sandy', in February 1963, the same month as the film came out. With the success of the film making her name well known in the UK, and following a couple of appearance on the UK TV show 'Thank Your Lucky Stars', her second single, released in May 1963, was 'What A Guy', and it featured the title track from the film on the flip. Her third single, 'Nobody But Me', was released on Fontana Records in October under the name Cherry Rowland, possibly because she was still under contract to Decca at the time, but she soon reverted back to the original spelling for future records. Several of her singles were released in Europe, and she was particularly popular in Holland and Germany, where she had a good fan base, and so her next single was released on German Decca, with 'Another Night Alone' coming out in September 1965. Two of her performances with the Belinda Beats, which were recorded live at the Liverpool Hoop Club in Berlin, were included on a various artists album released in Germany in 1965, and by 1966 she was recording completely in the German language, with the 'Was Ist Gold, Was Ist Geld' single appearing in June of that year. After that she took some time away from the music industry, before returning some five years later with the 'Hey, Herr Kapitan' single in 1971, once again aimed at the German market. In 1974 she attempted a comeback, and released the single 'Here Is Where The Love Is' in the UK, and by the middle of the 1970's she'd joined a cabaret show which toured South Africa, where she recorded a number of singles as a solo artist whilst in that country. 'Second Time Around' did particularly well, apparently selling in excess of 200,000 copies, and it was also released in Holland and Jamaica. The success of the single led to the recording of an album of the same name, which was issued on the South African EMI label in 1976, and singles were released from it in a number of countries. While putting together this album, the only copies of the 'Another Night Alone'/'Cry Baby Cry' single that I could find were cut short after just under two minutes, so I've extended them slightly to a more reasonable length, so that they fit in better with the rest of this collection of the work of Cherry Roland.   

Track listing

01 Handy Sandy (single 1963)
02 Stay As I Am (b-side of 'Handy Sandy')
03 What A Guy (single 1963)
04 Just For Fun (b-side of 'What A Guy')
05 Nobody But Me (single 1963)
06 Boys (b-side of 'Nobody But Me')
07 Another Night Alone (single 1965)
08 Cry Baby Cry (b-side of 'Another Night Alone')
09 Wishin' And Hopin' (from 'Live At The Liverpool, No 1' 1965)
10 Can I Get A Witness (from 'Live At The Liverpool, No 1' 1965)
11 Was Ist Gold, Was Ist Geld (German single 1966)
12 Schade Fur Dich (b-side of 'Was Ist Gold, Was Is Geld')
13 Hey, Herr Kapitan (single 1971)
14 Pretty Old Lady (b-side of 'Hey, Herr Kapitan')
15 Here Is Where The Love Is (single 1974)
16 Second Time Around (single 1976)
17 I'd Rather Go Blind' (b-side of 'Second Time Around')

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 

Jean Michel Jarre - The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun (2000)

'The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun' was a concert held by Jean Michel Jarre on the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt starting on December 31, 1999 and carrying overnight to January 1, 2000. It was attended by 120,000 people, and consisted of two parts, the Main Concert in 1999 and a Sunrise Concert in 2000. It cost approximately $9.5m to put on, and it originated when Jarre was contacted by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with the idea of a special project to celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium. It was to be held at the foot of the only remaining monument of the original 7 Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids. Jarre's team had developed giant projections to be displayed on the faces of the Great Pyramids, however a heavy cloud of fog made the pyramids almost invisible, so most of the projections were discarded. On stage with him was Christopher Papendiek, Francis Rimbert, Gary Willis (the drummer from Pink Floyd), Joachim Garraud, the DJ who had helped Jarre since 'Metamorphoses', with special guest Laurie Anderson, who introduced The Dreams, plus an Arabic orchestra and choirs. The whole concept was intended to describe the 12 dreams of the sun, which is extremely important in Egyptian culture. Parts of the live concert were broadcast over the internet, and on various TV channels around the world, so the sound quality is excellent. For such a unique concept I wondered what it could have sounded like if a studio recording had been made for posterity, and so to hear my imaginary version I've removed all the crowd noise from the concert and then tidied up the tracks so that we now have a studio quality version of 'The 12 Dreams Of The Sun'. I've omitted the introduction and the countdown to the New Year that separated the Main Concert and the Sunrise Concert, so that 'Dream 8' flows into 'Dream 9', but apart from that all the music is from the original concert.  

Track listing

01 Bells
02 Je Me Souviens
03 Dream 1: The Rock
04 Metamorphose (Miss Moon)
05 Oxygene 2
06 Dream 2: The House
07 Chronologie 6
08 Dream 3: The Tree
09 Equinoxe 7
10 Chants Magnetiques 2
11 Dream 4: The Boat

12 Millions Of Stars
13 Dream 5: The Flesh

14 Souvenir De Chine
15 Oxygene 10
16 Dream 6: The Voice
17 Um Kalthoum Tune
18 Tribute To Um Kalthoum
19 Dream 7: The Sky
20 Hey Gagarin / Dream 8: The Child
21 C'est La Vie
22 Salma Ya Salama
23 Dream 9: The Bell
24 Equinoxe 4
25 Dream 10: The Snow
26 Oxygene 4
27 Tout Est Bleu
28 Dream 11: The Blood
29 (R)evolution
30 Oxygene 12
31 Dream 12: The Gate
32 Give Me A Sign
33 Oxygene 8
34 L'Orchestre Sous La Pluie
35 Second Rendez-Vous 

The Auteurs - Underground Movies (1999)

When guitarist/pianist Luke Haines left The Servants in 1991, he teamed up with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman, who played bass guitar, and former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and formed The Auteurs. The trio benefited from a positive NME review of their third show, and their demo tape made its way to Suede, who were then on the cusp of being the hottest band around. They liked it enough to hire the Auteurs as support for a 1992 tour, which led to more and more industry interest. Rather than signing with one of the labels who were pursuing them, the trio decided to record their debut album first, and funded by money fronted by their manager, they hit the studio with producer Phil Vinall and emerged with 'New Wave'. The record's lyrically pointed, sharply melodic songs and sound captured the shabby underbelly of the Brit-pop scene, and after signing with Virgin off-shoot Hut, they released their first single 'Show Girl' in 1992, followed swiftly by the album in early 1993, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Although they provided a sharply sardonic, uncompromising counterpoint to the sunny optimism of the Brit-pop scene, they band were often lumped in with that movement, and Haines never liked this association, frequently making derogatory remarks about his peers. 

After 'New Wave', the band remained on the fringes of the music scene, and drummer Collins was replaced by Barny C. Rockford, after being headhunted from Out Of My Hair by producer Phil Vinall, and cellist James Banbury was promoted to full band member. Their next album, 'Now I'm A Cowboy', was released in 1994, and built on the themes of the previous record, and contained Haines' best known song, 'Lenny Valentino', which was also released as a single. Demonstrating, again, their difference from their musical peers, the band's next release was 'The Auteurs vs. μ-Ziq', which comprised Auteurs songs remixed by producer μ-Ziq (aka Michael Paradinas). In interviews at the time Haines claimed he found contemporary techno and house music more interesting than most Britpop bands. In 1996 The Auteurs released 'After Murder Park', produced by Steve Albini, and including 'Land Lovers', 'Unsolved Child Murder', and 'Buddha'. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios following a year during which Haines had spent most of his time in a wheelchair after jumping off a wall and breaking both ankles, and more of these darker songs were included on the 'Back With The Killer' EP, which preceded the album. 

At the same time, Haines made the 'Baader Meinhof' album as a solo artist under the name Baader Meinhof, and the Auteurs even supported Baader Meinhof at a London show in Camden's Dingwalls. The last Auteurs album was 'How I Learned To Love The Bootboys', which was released in 1999, and included the single 'The Rubettes', a gleaming confection that honoured the '70s group of the same name. The rest of the record was typically inventive and spiky, only with more fleshed-out arrangements and synthesizers. Around this time Alice Readman left the band, being replaced by various other musicians for live/touring purposes, and shortly afterwards the band broke up. Haines worked as one third of the art-pop band Black Box Recorder, and in 2001 he released the soundtrack album to the film 'Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry', rapidly followed by his first solo album proper, 'The Oliver Twist Manifesto'. 2003 saw him release 'Das Capital', a collection of re-recorded Auteurs era songs, with a couple of new tracks, apparently intended as closure for that band. Currently Haines pens a monthly column for Record Collector magazine. However, during their decade-long career they often released stand-alone singles, and added non-album tracks to their b-sides, and as Haines is now rightly regarded as one of the UK's best song-writers of the 90's, then all of these rare tracks are well worth hearing.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1992-1994
01 Glad To Be Gone (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
02 Staying Power (b-side of 'Showgirl' 1992)
03 She Might Take A Train (single 1992)
04 Subculture (They Can't Find Him) (b-side of 'She Might Take A Train')
05 Car Crazy (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
06 Vacant Lot (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
07 Disney World (b-side of 'Lenny Valentino' 1993)
08 How Could I Be Wrong (single 1993)
09 High Diving Horses (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
10 Wedding Day (b-side of 'How Could I Be Wrong')
11 Chinese Bakery (single 1994)
12 Government Bookstore (b-side of 'Chinese Bakery')

Disc II - 1994-1999
01 New French Girlfriend (single 1994)
02 Underground Movies (single 1994) 
03 Brainchild (b-side of 'Underground Movies')
04 Back With The Killer Again (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
05 Former Fan (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
06 Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream (from the 'Back With The Killer' EP 1995)
07 Kids Issue (single 1996)
08 A New Life A New Family (b-side of 'Kids Issue')
09 Light Aircraft On Fire (single 1996)
10 Car Crash (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
11 X-Boogie Man (b-side of 'Light Aircraft On Fire')
12 Breaking Up (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)
13 Get Wrecked At Home (b-side of 'The Rubettes' 1999)

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

The Dodos - Up Close With The Dodos (1963)

The Dodos second LP, 'Up Close With The Dodos' saw many changes from their previous debut album. For one, Joseph Lemmon led the writing and sang more leads than on 'The World Wants To Know'. The album also went from recording on a two-track machine as they did on their debut to a four-track. This allowed for more texture in the recordings, and led to a leap in their song-writing. Johnny had much less lead singing on this album, but his lead guitar really made a jump in quality and in experimentation. Bippo's drumming also improved, and was recorded with a delay which gave it a much deeper and full sound. While this LP is still mainly full of "boy loves girl" type songs, there are definitely some more complex writing techniques involved. For example, 'He Told Me To Tell You' is written from the perspective of a guy telling his mate's girlfriend that their romance is over, and 'Do That Thing For You' is written from the perspective of the entire band talking to their fans (presumably the female ones). All in all, The Dodos second LP is both a step forward sonically and lyrically.

Track listing

01 Every Bit Of My Heart

02 Hold Me Close

03 Little One 

04 We Could Be So Good

05 He Told Me To Tell You

06 I Think I'm Losing You

07 I'm Gonna Be Your Guy

08 Caught In Your Web

09 Letters Of Love

10 Don't Give Up

11 Twice Before Today

12 Do That Thing For You

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

Bonnie McKee - Dance Or Die (2008)

While tidying up my archive of unreleased tracks from Bonnie McKee, I found a number from 2008, which were recorded around the same time as the ones which made up the original 'Love Spell' post. As usual, they are too good just to ignore, so it's time for another album from this massively under-rated singer/songwriter, using songs which were originally intended for the follow-up album to her 2004 release 'Trouble'.

Track listing

01 Future Ex-Boyfriend 
02 Once Is Not Enough 
03 Trash Television
04 What He Did To Me 
05 Broken Record 
06 Dance Or Die
07 Gold Dust (Baby Love)
08 Surrender 
09 Without You 
10 It Is What It Is 
11 There Will Be Tears 
12 Sayonora 
13 Light Up The Night
14 DNA
15 You Won't Have Me

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum (1970)

'Pendulum' is the sixth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on 9 December 1970, arriving five months after 'Cosmo's Factory'. During 1969 and 1970, CCR was dismissed by hipsters as a bubblegum pop band, and the sniping had grown intolerable, at least to John Fogerty, who designed 'Pendulum' as a rebuke to critics. He spent time polishing the production, bringing in keyboards, horns, even a vocal choir, and his songs became self-consciously serious and tighter, working with the aesthetic of the rock underground. 'Pendulum' was constructed as a proper album, contrasting dramatically with CCR's previous records, and it's the only one by the band not to contain any cover songs, with all of the tracks being written by John Fogerty. It's also the last album the band recorded while Tom Fogerty was still a member, as he left the group in early 1971 to start a solo career. To some fans of classic CCR, this approach may feel a little odd, since only the single 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain' and maybe its b-side 'Hey Tonight' sound undeniably like prime Creedence, for which they were rewarded with a number eight position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Given time, the album is a real grower, revealing many overlooked Fogerty gems, and while it isn't transcendent like the albums they made from 'Bayou Country' through to 'Cosmo's Factory', 'Pendulum' finds a first-class songwriter and craftsman pushing himself and his band to try new sounds, styles, and textures. This does result in one stumble, with 'Rude Awakening #2' portentously teetering on the verge of prog-rock, but the rest of the record is excellent, with such great numbers as the bluesy groove 'Pagan Baby', the soulful vamp 'Chameleon', the moody 'It's Just A Thought' and the raver 'Molina'. While this record is slightly different to previous posts, in that the extra instrumentation was added entirely at Fogerty's request, it's the fans who have clamoured to hear the songs shorn of their horn arrangements, and so this stripped down version of the album gives them a chance to hear the raw CCR on this unjustly overlooked record. 

Track listing

01 Pagan Baby
02 Sailor's Lament
03 Chameleon
04 Have You Ever Seen The Rain
05 (Wish I Could) Hideaway
06 Born to Move
07 Hey Tonight
08 It's Just A Thought
09 Molina
10 Rude Awakening #2