Elizabeth - Elizabeth (1968 us, brilliant folk baroque psych rock, Vinyl edition)

Elizabeth was an American psychedelic rock/progressive rock band that were active from 1967 to 1970. They were based out of Philadelphia and known for their unique musical and sonic blend of Baroque Music,Classical Music, Folk Music, American Rock, British Rock, Country Music, and Ragtime. Elizabeth's members were: Steve Weingarten (lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), who died in 2012; Bob Patterson (rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals); Jim Dahme (flute, lead and backing vocals); Steve Paul Bruno (bass, organ, backing vocals); and, Hank Ransome (drums).

In 1968, the band recorded and released their self-titled album on Vanguard Records (produced by Sam Charters). Vanguard's artist roster at the time included Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Country Joe and the Fish. Elizabeth performed with Cream, Blue Cheer, Joni Mitchell, Ritchie Havens, The Chambers Brothers and many other musical luminaries of that era. Some of the bands' many Philadelphia area performances included concerts and sets at: The Main Point, The Second Fret, The Electric Factory, and most Be-INs at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.

As the band was starting to come together (nameless at that point), Steve and Robert "Stewkey" Antoni, band mates from Newport, RI, made an unexpected stop in Philadelphia on their way to Florida. After a week in the City of brotherly love, they decided to forgo Florida and help form Elizabeth. Some interesting guitarists auditioned for the band, including future rock star Todd Rundgren who was with Woody's Truck Stop at the time; and, Nick Jameson, soon to be a founder and guitarist of The American Dream (both were Philly bands).

Within a month or so of landing in Philadelphia, Stewkey left Elizabeth to join Todd's new band, The Nazz. Of note, Linda Cohen, a Philadelphia classical guitarist, was Elizabeth's first drummer (briefly). During the spring and summer of 1969, she teamed up with Michael Kac from Mandrake Memorial and, together, performed as a classical-pop fusion guitar-harpsichord duo. Linda died in 2009 of lung cancer. Mandrake Memorial and Elizabeth shared the stage many times.

Retro Revolution

Tracks
1. Not That Kind Of A Guy (Steve Weingarten) - 3:09
2. Mary Anne (Bob Patterson) - 2:38
3. Dissimilitude (Steve Weingarten) - 2:11
4. Similitude (Steve Weingarten) - 4:06
5. You Should Be More Careful (Bob Patterson) - 4:03
6. The World's For Free (Steve Weingarten, Steve Weingarten) - 3:00
7. Fields Of Home (Jim Dahmne) - 3:16
8. Alarm Rings Five (Bob Patterson) - 4:53
9. Lady L (Jim Dahmne) - 3:24
10.When All Else Fails (Bob Patterson) - 4:16

Elizabeth
*Steve Weingarten - Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
*Bob Patterson - Rhythm Guitar (6, 12-String), Vocals
*Jim Dahmne - Flute, Vocals
*Steve Paul Bruno - Bass Guitar, Hammond B-3 Organ, Backing Vocals
*Hank Ransome - Drums, Percussion

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Bubble Puppy - Hot Smoke (1969/84 us, incredible heavy garage psych)

Bubble Puppy was the second-most-famous '60s rock band named after writings by Aldous Huxley. Which isn't to diminish what the Texas psychedelic rock band accomplished during its four-year run, only to say that Bubble Puppy made one album with one formidable hit before bad business sunk the group. 

Bubble Puppy didn't last long enough but discerning '60s psychedelic rock enthusiasts still remember the band's hit "Hot Smoke and Sasafrass," a No. 14 single (more for its sound than spelling) in 1969. The band's sole album, "A Gathering of Promises," still sounds vibrant today; less trippy than much psychedelia, and more like a blueprint for '70s hard rock.

Bubble Puppy hit with "Hot Smoke" before it had an album, "another IA oversight," Fore says. Eventually, "A Gathering of Promises" was assembled, and the band had a record to promote. The cover is a brilliant relic of its era, with the four members dressed by a theatrical costume designer.

The band's trajectory at that point should've been upward. But International Artists was unable to capitalize on the success of "Hot Smoke," putting the group on strange tour routes that didn't maximize potential audiences. Bubble Puppy was on the same stage as the 1910 Fruitgum Company, a quintessential '60s bubble-gum band. Despite the differences in sound, the association was difficult to shake.

Bubble Puppy eventually shook free of International Artists, which was on the brink of collapse. The band moved to Los Angeles hoping to start anew, though it left things behind, including some recordings. Andy Bradley, chief engineer at SugarHill Studios, says a majestic 15-minute jam is in the studio's vaults.

The four men of Bubble Puppy didn't find fame out West. They made a terrific album in 1970 that documented the band making a transition from psychedelia into a more direct, powerful style of what would eventually become hard rock. "Demian" yielded no hits, but it remains a collector's item, with sellers seeking $50-$100 on eBay for a copy these days.

It was a self-titled recording because the band also left the name Bubble Puppy in Houston. When the group's members settled on "Demian," they became the second-most-famous band to pull a name from the writings of Herman Hesse, author of "Steppenwolf."

By the numbers, Bubble Puppy was a one-hit wonder. But that shouldn't be read as a pejorative. The band's output is rich and deeper than one song.

"A Gathering of Promises" and "Demian" boast a sound ahead of its time. Both deserve reappraisal and new discovery.

by Andrew Dansby

Tracks
1. Hot Smoke And Sassafras - 2:37
2. Lonely - 3:00
3. Grand Illusion - 4:25
4. Methedrine Blues - 4:44
5. Hard Livin' - 4:33
6. Bound To Pain - 3:59
7. The Puppy Jam-1984 - 13:49
All songs by Rod Prince, Roy Cox except track #6 written by Todd Potter

The Bubble Puppy
*Rod Prince ‒ Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Roy Cox ‒ Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Todd Potter ‒ Lead Guitar, Vocals
*David Fore ‒ Drums, Vocals

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The Crazy People - Bedlam (1968 canada, intense experimental theatrical multi psychedelia, 2011 remaster)

Little is known about this late-'60s band other than they were Canadian, recorded their sole album Bedlam on the Burnaby, British Columbia-based Condor exploit label (home to a wide diversity of bands, among them Latin Holiday, Blues Train, the Surf Riders, and the Jimmy Cole Unlimited), and were intensely weird even for the era. From there, perhaps appropriately enough, everything gets a bit fuzzy.

Much of the Crazy People legend is couched in mystery and subject to various rumors and speculation. It is thought, because of the label it is on, that the band was actually an exploitation studio project rather than a proper combo. The most plausible theory is that it is the brainchild of Johnny Kitchen, whose name may seem terribly arcane to the casual music fan but is well-known among '60s collectors despite the fact that his identity remains a complete enigma. What is known about Kitchen is that he was something of a poor-man's Kim Fowley. He had a hand in literally dozens of crazed and experimental underground records in America during the latter years of the decade. Ending up in Los Angeles in late 1968 or early 1969, he began making records on the Crestview label beginning with the self-titled Victims of Chance debut. He was also involved that year with the bizarre first album from certified schizophrenic and acid freakazoid Larry 'Wild Man' Fischer, Evening with Wild Man Fischer, which was released on Frank Zappa's Bizarre label.

This is where a connection turns up that is both veiled in conjecture and seemingly more than coincidental. Fischer's album shares not a few similarities with the Crazy People album. In fact, the two contain a couple identical elements, including an entire chorus and vocal on one song. Some attribute the shared moments to pure happenstance or perhaps musical borrowings. Others (among them Gear Fab head Roger Maglio in the CD reissue liner notes) have suggested that the two albums are possibly the work of a single man: Wild Man Fischer himself, who perhaps also used the pseudonym Johnny Kitchen for outside projects. Crazy People's Bedlam precedes Fischer's debut by nearly a year, and, in fact, it is known that Kitchen was in Canada during 1968, involved in another Condor release, The World With the Trio of Tyme. He has two songwriting credits on Bedlam as well. From there the guessing game gets muddier and more inexact, and other plausible names have been tossed around, including a local Vancouver personality, television weatherman Jack Millman, who also has several songs on the album. More than likely, however, the truth of the matter has lived and died with the 1960s themselves.

Inside the grooves of Bedlam lies some dramatically unhinged stuff, a schizophrenic, psychedelic mutation unlike any other from the era. From the opening few bars of "Parade at the Funny Farm," the direction of the album is evident -- that is, that there is no direction per se. If you borrowed all the weirder sound-collage stuff, satirical performance-art, and politico-comedic humor from the early work of the Mothers of Invention or the Firesign Theatre and superimposed it over some oddball, calliopic melodies and eclectic stylistic jump-cutting, you would begin to approach the mayhem of the sole effort by Crazy People.

For example, "After Six" is a really beautiful, swaying kaleidoscopic pop tune. Or it could have been pretty. Over top of the music, however, a stoned philosopher narrates an involved story (an amusing amalgam of fairy tale, cartoon, Bible epic, and Greek tragedy delivered, nevertheless, with an absolutely stony-faced tone) in a manner similar to Cream's kooky "Pressed Rat and Warthog." "Head Games and Other Assorted Crap" is a partly a sound collage a la the Beatles' "Revolution No. 9," but the collage arises out of a lovely sunshine-pop tune that ultimately gives way to bits of jazz and tribal music, and even a choir at one point. The album is very much a product of its times, and the humor very much endemic to the era, rendering Bedlam as a perfect, encapsulized historical record of the times: part bollocks, part inspiration, and all intriguing, even when it falls on its face. 

by Stanton Swihart

Tracks
1. Parade At The Funny Farm (Johnny Kitchen) - 8:24
2. Head Amusement (Ludie Priessman) - 0:35
3. Raunchy Boog-A-Loo (Jack Millman) - 3:04
4. After Six (Phillip Werber) - 2:33
5. The Truth (Jack Millman) - 3:14
6. Head Games And Other Assorted Crap (Jack Millman) - 6:13
7. Head Job (Ralph Morris) - 3:04
8. Happy Academy (Frank Morris) - 3:48
9. Trans Luv Airlines (Ludie Priessman) - 3:53
10.Let's Split (Johnny Kitchen) - 2:53

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Thee Image - Thee Image / Inside The Triange (1974-75 us, sparkling light prog rock with funky affects, 2014 remaster edition)

Thee Image were formed in 1973 by former Blues Image, Iron Butterfly and Cactus guitarist Mike Pinera and keyboard player Duane Hitchings, formerly with Buddy Miles. Pinera's first band, Blues Image scored a US hit with the single "Ride Captain Ride" and had begun life as the house band of a Miami rock club called Thee Image. Pinera's skill as a guitarist meant he was a much in demand musician. After a spell in a reformed line-up of the hard rock group Cactus in 1973 Pinera formed Thee Image with Duane Hitchings on keyboards and talented drummer Donny Vosburgh (who had also played with Blues Image). The band was signed to Manticore  in 1974 by Mario Medius who had known Mike Pinera from his time at Atlantic Records in New York whilst Pinera was a member of Iron Butterfly.

Thee Image recorded their self-titled debut album at Criteria studios in Miami, producing a work of polished and sophisticated rock. The album enjoyed a release both in the USA and Europe (where Manticore was distributed by WEA Records).

Although "Thee Image" failed to chart, sales were encouraging enough for Manticore to continue to support the band with the recording of their next album, "Inside the Triangle" in 1975. Once again recorded at Criteria studios in Miami, the band's second album was released in the USA only and arguably fell victim to ELP's waning interest in Manticore as an entity. In hindsight, Motown Records were perhaps not best suited to distribute and market rock music. 

As result, despite gaining positive notices as a live act, sales of "Inside the Triangle" failed to live up to expectation and by 1976 Thee Image had cense' to exist. Mike Pinera soon embarked on a solo, career and would later work with Alice Cooper among others and remains a much respected and in demand session guitarist.

The demise of Thee Image seemed to pre-empt the demise of Manticore itself. Although the label was releasing some remarkable music by the middle of 1976 it was apparent that the label that had begun as a worthy outlet for the music of Emerson Lake & Palmer and other fine acts was swiftly becoming a burden. The harsh light of day revealed that aside from Emerson Lake and Palmer, few, if any of the other acts signed to Manticore had the commercial success hoped for them (with the possible exception of PFM). Greg Lake would later reflect; "At the beginning it was all very exciting having your own label, but quite soon we realized that it was a huge task running Manticore and also recording and touring as ELP in our own right. It was also unfair on the other acts we had signed as we simply didn't have the time to devote to the proper promotion of their albums. As a result, Manticore lasted only a few years, but in that time some wonderful music was released by the label". 

The final album released on the Manticore imprint was the album "Jet Lag" by PFM, issued in the early months of 1977. By now, the Punk rock explosion had begun and groups such as Emerson Lake and Palmer were the target of Punk's protagonists. Although lasting a little over three years. Manticore Records released a body of music that now bears much worthy reappraisal. The passage of time has been kinder to the music of the acts signed to the label.

This compilation gathers together the tracks from both albums Thee Image recorded for Manticore and is a fine collection of sophisticated rock music by three talented musicians.

by Mark Powell

Tracks
Thee Image 1974
1. Good Things (Mike Pinera) - 2:53
2. For Another Day (Mike Pinera) - 4:05
3. Drift Off Endlessly (Duane Hitchings) - 4:22
4. Love is Here (Mike Pinera, Duane Hitchings, Buddy Miles) - 4:05
5. So Hard to Say (Mike Pinera) - 3:45
6. It Happens All the Time (Mike Pinera, Ted Webb) - 3:07
7. Come to You (Duane Hitchings) - 3:02
8. Temptation (Donny Vosburgh, Mike Pinera) - 5:13
9. Show Your Love (Duane Hitchings, Mike Pinera, Donny Vosburgh) - 6:43
Inside The Triangle 1975
10.Fly Away (Mike Pinera) - 6:41
11.Far Away Places (Mike Pinera, Tommy Curtiss) - 3:03
12.High Time Feeling (Mike Pinera, Duane Hitchings) - 3:39
I3.I.O.U.'s (Mike Pinera) - 2:35
14.All Night Long (Mike Pinera, Donny Vosburgh, Duane Hitchings) - 4:19
15.Good To You (Mike Pinera) - 6:09
16.Alone With You (Mike Pinera) - 5:08
17.Rapture Of The Deep (Mike Pinera, Duane Hitchings) - 1:44
18.Nobody Wins 'Til the Game is Over (Mac Rice, B. Crutcher) - 4:14

Thee Image
*Mike Pinera - Guitars, Vocals
*Duane Hitchings - Keyboards, Moog, Keyboard Bass, Univox Synthesizers, Univox Stringman, Vocals
*Donny Vosburgh - Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Related Acts
1969-70  Blues Image - Blues Image / Red White and Blues Image 
1970  Iron Butterfly - Metamorphosis (Japan SHM edition)
1972  Ramatam - Ramatam  

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