Mephistopheles - In Frustration I Hear Singing 1969

Taking its name from 16th century Faustian legend—Mephistopheles was the devil to whom Faust sold his soul—this six-piece outfit emerged from the psychedelic underground and recorded one album, the strangely titled In Frustration I Hear Singing. This 12-song lp, lost and found from the vaults of Reprise Records, is prototypical late ‘60s psychedelia, a musical exercise in odd song titles (“The Cricket Song,” “The Girl Who Self-Destroyed”), bizarre lyrical content (“Listen to the crickets/listen everyday/listen to the crickets/tell me what they say”) and awkward rock instrumentation (“Do Not Expect a Garden” features a trumpet; “Vagabond Queen” is saddled with a flute). 

Mephistopheles features an expert ensemble of skilled musicians with a strong sense of melody. The guitar work, especially on songs like “Dead Ringer” and the title track, is particularly impressive. Guitarist Fred Tackett has been a member of Little Feat since 1988. Rockasteria.

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Spooky Tooth - It's All About 1968

 

This full-length debut from British blues-rockers Spooky Tooth has a tone similar to Traffic with its psychedelic take on the influential pop and soul music of the '60s. A few cover tunes including Janis Ian's "Society's Child" and the Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road" are included, but original songs like the soulful ballad "It Hurts You So" and "Bubbles" (with its Beach Boys sensibility) are the real standouts. The cheery, psychedelic "It's All About a Roundabout" is the catchiest number by far. On this dreamy cut, vocalist/keyboardist Gary Wright demonstrates some sharp melodic and compositional instincts. Although Spooky Tooth eventually became better-known for their straightforward blues-rock, the trippy pop of It's All About counts as a career highlight for the group. Fans of late-'60s British rock are definitely advised to check out this impressive release. AMG.

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Joachim Kuhn - Sound of Feelings 1969

 

Although not a free jazz musician, per se, Kuhn has been an avant-gardist; he began attempting a fusion of contemporary classical elements with jazz very early in his career. Kuhn's intense virtuosity is a reflection of his training. He studied classical composition and piano for 12 years, beginning when he was a small child. He performed as a classical pianist up until 1961, at which point he began playing in a Prague-based jazz quintet. He led a trio from 1962-1966, and in 1964 began playing with his much-older brother Rolf Kuhn, an accomplished clarinetist. In the '70s, Joachim Kuhn led his own groups, and played with the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Kuhn had a measure of commercial success in the '70s. His star faded a bit in the '80s, but Kuhn kept active, playing challenging forms of jazz and recording occasionally. A 1997 release, Colors: Live From Leipzig, a duo with Ornette Coleman, helped fuel new interest in Kuhn; both men were in top form and the album received excellent reviews. AMG.

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Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - If Music Be the Food of Love... Then Prepare for Indigestion 1966

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich followed up their self-titled debut LP with the tongue-in-cheek If Music Be the Food of Love...Then Prepare for Indigestion (1968). The quintet of Dave "Dee" Harman (guitar/vocals), Trevor "Dozy" Davies (bass), John "Beaky" Diamond (rhythm guitar), Michael "Mick" Wilson (drums), and Ian "Tich" Amey (lead guitar) return with another batch of strong Brit-pop compositions, including a pair of their most prolific sides, "Bend It" and "Hideaway." While all but unknown stateside, the combo became hugely popular throughout Europe -- which may well account for the distinctly conspicuous Mediterranean flavor on the former. Their left-of-center sense of humor surfaces on the Noel Coward-esque potty platter "Loos of England." Matching their obvious wit was an equally sharp musicality, effortlessly transcending concurrent pop music styles. Their range at once incorporated the full-throttled backbeat of "Bang" and the decidedly hip "Hideaway" and "Hands Off!" "Shame" is an edgier tune, with a mod progressive slant that would not be out of place from the likes of the Yardbirds. This is contrasted by the emotive "All I Want" or the cover of Robert "Bumps" Blackwell's "Hair on My Chinny-Chin-Chin," which is perhaps best known via the Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs version. While the prospect might sound odd, it seems no more out of place than the Who's reading of "Heat Wave," for instance. Interested parties should note that the 2003 reissue of If Music Be the Food of Love... contains 14 supplementary mono and stereo bonus track mixes, including "Touch Me, Touch Me," "Zabadak," the proto-punk "He's a Raver," and others. AMG

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Freedom - Freedom at Last 1969

Freedom's first album after drummer/singer Bobby Harrison totally revamped the lineup was typical lumpy British hard rock circa 1969, with nothing in the way of interesting songwriting or instrumental innovation to grab one's attention. In a way, they made for an ideal support act for an emerging and insecure headliner; they weren't going to upstage anyone. Sometimes they would leave off the generic blues-flavored hard rock for poppier or folkier material with harmonies, but melody and originality were not present in abundance. And it's playing a losing game to record covers of the Beatles' "Cry Baby Cry" and the Zombies' "Time of the Season," both of which had just been released, in much better and more popular versions of course, by the original artists; the Howlin' Wolf covers don't do the master much credit, either. The record has been reissued as half of a double CD that also includes their 1971 album Through the Years. AMG.

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Leigh Stephens - Red Weather 1969

Red Weather was the first solo project from the lead guitarist of Blue Cheer. Originally released on the Phillips/Mercury label in 1969, the album immediately became a favorite on the underground music scene and established Stevens as a solo act. The music on Red Weather was dramatically different than that of Blue Cheer, with a well structured psychedelic sound like Quicksilver or the Grateful Dead rather than the sledgehammer hard rock sound of his former band. Recorded in England at the Trident Studios with the help of Nicky Hopkins on keyboards, drummer Mick Waller from the Jeff Beck Group, and Kevin Westlake from Blossom Toes, the album was hailed as a masterpiece by many British rock fans but was equally dismissed by Blue Cheer fans. The album contained eight songs that highlighted Stevens songwriting ability rather than his guitar prowess. After nearly 30 years the album was rereleased complete with the original psychedelic artwork cover. AMG.

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The Temptations - Puzzle People 1969

Both The Temptations and producer Norman Whitfield were at the top of their form with 1969's Puzzle People, which captures the group in the midst of their rock-influenced "socially conscious" period. While the lead-off cut, "I Can't Get Next To You", was a potent R&B dance-floor filler, elsewhere the album was dotted with "relevant" tunes such as "Message From A Black Man" (not nearly as militant as it sounds), "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down", and the "life-in-prison" epic "Slave", complete with plenty of fuzztone and wah-wah and enough panning to make George Clinton dizzy. But while the material and the production is a bit dated, Whitfield and his crew certainly caught The Funk Brothers on a great run when they cut these sessions, with the musicians blending the swagger and confidence of rock with a soundly funky undertow and chops to spare. And as for the Temptations themselves, if new lead vocalist Dennis Edwards lacked the elan of David Ruffin, he had power to spare, and the group's harmonies and shared vocals found room for both smooth precision and streetwise grit. While short on hits past the opening track (and padded with well-executed but hardly essential covers of "Hey Jude" and "Little Green Apples", Puzzle People is still the work of a great vocal group firing on all cylinders and getting inspired support in the studio, and it's one of the group's strongest late-60's efforts. AMG.
 

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The Triangle - Now How Blue Cow 1969

From El Paso, Texas, they fused good music. One only album with a sound like a fusion of blue-collar Cream, pop, western blues. Deserves a listen.

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Silver Metre - Silver Metre 1969 @ 320

Silver Metre was a short-lived, San Francisco-based outfit formed by Leigh Stevens, previously with Blue Cheer, and Mick Waller from the Jeff Beck Group. Together with Tom Cowan and Pete Sears, the band released one album in 1970. The album, recorded in England, is basic heavy rock with a spattering of psychedelia. A mix of originals and covers songs, it includes three Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions: "Country Comforts," "Now They've Found Me," and "Sixty Years On." While the album did not make much impact upon its original release on the small National General label in the U.S., it is of interest to collectors because of the early Waller-Stevens connection. Stephens and Waller would later move on to the British-based band Pilot, a short-lived early-'70s outfit, while Pete Sears was later in Stoneground and Jefferson Starship. AMG.
 

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Three Dog Night - Suitable for Framing 1969

Suitable for Framing followed Three Dog Night's debut disc by only a few months, sharing the charts with its predecessor for a while. This second release contained two Top Ten chart makers: "Easy to Be Hard" from the rock musical Hair, and "Eli's Coming," written by quirky songwriter Laura Nyro (who also wrote "And When I Die," a hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears the same year). It also introduced the songwriting team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin to American audiences with a version of "Lady Samantha," from John's British-only first album release, which provided a hit single for Three Dog Night. Another popular song from this album was the classic "Celebrate," with its blaring horn lines and easily sung "Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music" chorus and coda. Suitable for Framing also included a soulful take on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," and provided the first popular cover version of Dave Mason's soon-to-be-oft-recorded "Feeling Alright." Although the hit singles were plentiful, the album only reached number 16, showing the gap between the singles-buying audience and those who purchased albums. Nonetheless, Suitable for Framing confirmed the group's musical strength with the AM radio audience while appealing to more "hip" listeners as well. AMG.

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The John Dummer Blues Band - The John Dummer Band 1969

This UK band came into being in 1965, evolving from the Muskrats and the Grebbells, and lasted until the early 70s, surviving numerous personnel changes. The line-up included prominent British blues artists such as pianist Bob Hall, guitarist Dave Kelly and his sister Jo Ann Kelly, Mike Cooper, and Tony McPhee. The band backed touring American artists John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf, and recorded albums for Mercury and Vertigo between 1969 and 1973. Drummer John Dummer went on to work with English pop vocal group Darts in the mid-70s. In recent years all Dummer’s albums have become much sought after items in the collectors’ market and currently carry very high prices. AMG.

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The Friends of Distinction - Highly Distinct 1969

It opens with "Impressions," which is not a song, but two minutes of Harry Elston, Floyd Butler, Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Love -- the Friends of Distinction, tripping. Highly Distinct is close to their debut album but lacked the obvious hit; it's more jazzy and less R&B. They're mesmerizing on "We Got a Good Thing Going," where their four-part harmonies riding the bubbling arrangement is simply delicious. I've yet to hear a bad rendition of Neil Sedaka's lilting "Working on a Groovy Thing," and the Friends version, with their impeccable harmonies, is one of the best; it should have made their Best Of CD. A harmony-filled "It's Wonderful" is merely a vehicle to display their amazing blending skills, melody and lyrics buried in a sea of harmony. The Doors' rocker "Light My Fire" works well all jazzed up; it seems like a live recording but could have been manufactured in the studio. Nothing is blatantly commercial, and the uplifting "Let Yourself Go" stirred some chart action but strayed too far from the mainstream to seriously compete. AMG.

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Blonde On Blonde - Contrasts 1969

Blonde on Blonde's 1969 album is from the period when progressive rock, or more so pop, was new and fresh. Years before the likes of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, and Genesis made the genre a dirty word and punk evolved in order to destroy it, Blonde on Blonde were taking their pop and psychedelic roots that little bit further. Progressive, in the sense that the term was originally conceived: a new catchall name to describe the emerging form of music that arose from Sgt. Pepper, filled the Middle Earth Club, and by 1969, was increasingly getting more diverse than the quaint psychedelic form from which it was spurned. Blonde on Blonde had the then contemporary match of folky vocals (which could easily turn it up a gear into rock territory), fuzz guitar leads galore, and some interesting material, which veered from an almost cinematic version of "Eleanor Rigby" to the post-mod (think U.S. garage meets the Small Faces) snotty strut of "Conversationally Making the Grade," the archetypal heavy rock jam "Ride With Captain Max," and the slightly old-styled ballad "Goodbye." Of course, more dynamic musical interplay crept into the fold: classical-intoned aspirations, acoustic folk, ornate pop, and full-on rock. Contrasts is indeed an album that is characteristic of the music that was being bandied around the music press in 1969 as progressive, not the preposterous entity that it became. AMG.

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Hapshash And The Coloured Coat - Western Flier 1969

Hapshash & the Coloured Coat's second and final album was a much more conventional and organized affair than the relatively anarchic, free-form (read songless) structure of their debut. Because of that, some listeners might be inclined to dismiss it as a sellout of sorts. Most listeners, however, will find it far easier to bear than its predecessor, even if it does sound more like a collection of tracks by a few different bands rather than a unified work. That doesn't mean, however, that it's a psychedelic album of note. In fact, it's kind of second-rate and boring, handicapped by rambling, repetitive songs in a mild hard rock British psychedelic end-of-the-'60s style, often handicapped by artlessly strained vocals. Much of the record's filled with stormily discordant blends of rock with Cajun, old-time folk, and ragtime music that sound as if they were arranged and recorded on the spot. In better news, "Chicken Run" isn't bad doom-clouded psychedelia (other than those terrible lead vocals), with some really weird haunting female chants in the background. And you should try to get that on a compilation tape instead of laying out full dollar for this cacophonous, messy relic of the psychedelic age. AMG.

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Bunky And Jake - L.A.M.F. 1969

Andrea "Bunky" Skinner and Allan "Jake" Jacobs met in 1962 at the school of Visual Arts in New York and became part of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the era. In 1965 Jake joined the folk-rock band the Magicians, with Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon, and John Townley. When that band broke up in 1967, he resumed his association with Bunky, signed with Mercury Records, and released the duo's 1968 debut album, Bunky & Jake, followed a year later by the cult classic LAMF. In 2004, the duo returned to recording with a children's album, Oo-Wee Little Children, released on their own B&J Music. AMG.

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