Various Artists - Fading Yellow Vol.7 (1968-72 us, pop sike and other delights)

Fading Yellow Vol. 7 brings things back to these shores after a number of cds spent in the UK and I have to say that this is my favorite volume yet. It helps having some favorites of mine like The Gordian Knot, The Glitterhouse, The Peppermint Trolley Co., The New Wave, The Smoke, and Alzo. All of these are groups that put out albums that still remain unissued on cd (or in some cases obscure and expensive Japanese imports on cd - or internet bootleg cds)

All in all, I have to say that Fading Yellow Vol. 7 is my favorite of the bunch thanks to a sampling of obscure album tracks. The fact that this volume emphasizes bands that went so far as to make albums (rather than the 45s like many of the other groups compiled on previous Vols) ratchets the quality up on this volume.

Fading Yellow Vol. 7 starts out with The Eight Day's Building With A Steeple which is from an album co-produced and co-written by Ronnie Dante and arranged by Artie Butler in 1967 on Kapp. I'd always been curious to hear The Eight Day and they have that awesome sound that combines The Mamas and Papas vocals with a spiritual sound about going to church (sort of like in California Dreamin').

Del Shannon produced and co-wrote the wonder that is On The East Side by the pop teen idol Brian Hyland in 1970 on Uni which sounds a lot like Del Shannon's work from 1968's The Further Adventures of Charles Westover.

The Gordian Knot's Carraway Stream is a vastly under-rated piece of Beach Boys inspired pop with delicate harpsichord and Arbors' meets Simon and Garfunkel like harmonies from this album track. The group were featured on the album cover for their album Tones all tied up in rope. Somehow this group has been overlooked through the years. The Year Of The Sun by The Gordian Knot is also included here and is a gorgeus sun-soaked pop nugget with soaring flutes and harmony vocals.

Federal Duck's Peace In My Mind has a similar sound to that found on Freeborne's Peak Impressions album which has been reissued on the Distortions label. The group's name was derived from the Federal Duck Stamp Program which was enacted in 1934 by conservationist Jay "Ding" Darling and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. George Stavis (who also had an album on Vanguard) from Federal Duck later formed the Santa Cruz blue-grass rock jam band cicra 1970-73.

I wrote about the Glitterhouse extensively in my gullbuy Barbarella review. The liner notes here are misinformed stating that this group were probably a studio group for Bob Crewe. This Bob Crewe website has a lot of information (and a cd you can buy) which sets the record straight. Along with helping record the Barbarella soundtrack the boys in the Glitterhouse also released one lp (along with various singles under other names) with side one veering more towards the psychedelic arena of bands like Procol Harum or Quicksilver Messenger Service, with songs like Tinkerbell's Mind (the track included here) and its crazy psych lyrics

Tinkerbell's mind is a crazy machine at the best, and her headset's a flame, all the things her body loves the best...a pronounced organ and fuzz guitar sound, and harmony vocals galore.

The Peppermint Trolley Co.'s Pat's Song is one of the more mellow and introspective tracks from an excellent album riddled with some other goodies like their version of the Paul Williams/Roger Nichols Trust. This track reminds me of work on Paul Parrish's The Forest of My Mind album.

3's A Crowd album Christopher's Movie Matinee was produced by Mama Cass and Steve Barri for Dunhill in 1968. I Don/t Wanna Drive You Away has that Mamas and Papas styled harmony and cool Beatlesque strummed guitar lines.

Lee Michaels' My Friends is a druggy inspired pop nugget which was recorded for his A&M solo album Carnival of Life in 1968. This tune can also be found on the cd Best of Lee Michaels on One Way Records from 1997 which compiled tracks from his 6 A&M albums from 1968-72. This track (and the album it's from) was produced by Larry Marks (producer for Tape From California by Phil Ochs, American Dream by Emitt Rhodes, Cowboy in Sweden by Lee Hazlewood, Painted Dayglow Smile and Distant Shores by Chad & Jeremy, and work by the Flying Burrito Brothers and Dillard & Clark) features the excellent guitarist Hamilton W. Watt but is predominately filled with psyhedelic keyboard and eletric piano work. Sadly, Lee Michaels suffered from tinnitus so he left the music business and now lives in Hawaii.

Alzo released a handful of wonderful gems from the late 1960s and early 1970s including work with Jeff Barry as The Keepers of Light, as the singing duo Alzo & Udine and solo for Bell in the early 1970s. You/re Gone is a mystical tune from Alzo's solo album Looking For You which is all the more haunting since Alzo's passing in Feburary, 2004. Alzo had a knack for writing songs that seem to read your mind with a contemporary soul rhythm style that makes is melodies dance in your mind. He will be sorely missed by me. Vastly underated at the time and disenchanted with the music industry in the mid-1970s, Alzo disappeared before his rediscovery in recent years by a huge Japanese fanbase and the few faithful stateside.

The Cowsills were the real-life inspiration behind The Partridge Family, but their story has never really been told. It was awesome to see them sing the national anthem at a Red Sox playoff game this past fall and it remains a mystery of life why their work is still so hard to find. Mystery Of Life is from their On My Side album from 1971.

Produced by David Brigg's (the producer who worked with Neil Young on many albums, on Spirit's Twelve Dream of Dr. Sardonicus, as well as with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Royal Trux before his death in 1995) for Bill Cosby's Tetragrammaton Records in 1968, Friday Morning Paper from Summerhill's sole lp is that mix of psychedelia and the Neil Young sound that I think Buffalo Springfield never really reached for but should have tried.

Bob Ray sounds just like Donovan on (Girl With The) Cameo Ring, a track taken from his Initiation of a Mystic which was released on Johnny River's Soul City label in 1969.

The New Wave were really a couple of kids named Tommy Andre and Reid King who released a wonderful bossa inspired folk rock album on the Canterbury label (the label that also put out the Yellow Balloon album) and Little Dream is one of the highlights from this album. Little is known about these two guys.

The North Wind Blew South is the title track from Philamore Lincoln's (from the UK) solo album released in the US on Epic in 1970 which featured a post Jeff Beck Yardbirds for backing. Not sure how much they appear on this soft Paul Simon inspired dreamer which wofts by in a orchestrated haze.

National Gallery's Diana In The Autumn Wind is from a concept album oddity called The Interpretions Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee. Featuring one female solo vocalist and some male vocalists. This oddity involved Charles Mangione who later recorded jazz versions of some of the tunes from this album on his own Diana In The Autumn Wind album. You can hear samplings from the National Gallery album (as well as see the sleeve art) at Frank's Vinyl Museum - it's farout and pretensious - sort of like a folk/psych version of Stereolab and it reminds me of the early 70s group Design.

The Smoke released an incredible Beatles' inspired album here in the US that was co-produced by Michael Lloyd and Kim Fowley. Similar to Michael Lloyd's other production for October Country, Gold Is The Colour Of Love is a Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sound-a-like. It's a crime this awesome album is still not available on cd.
by Patrick  (Gullbuy)

 Artists - Tracks - Composer
1. The Eighth Day - Building With A Steeple (Gene Allan, Ron Dante) - 2:36
2. John Randolph Marr - Raggedy Ann - 2:27
3. Brian Hyland - On The East Side (Brian Hyland, Del Shannon) - 2:27
4. Gordian Knot - Carraway Stream - 2:49
5. Fargo - Talks We Used To Have - 2:29
6. Federal Duck - Peace In My Mind - 3:00
7. Glitterhouse - Tinkerbell's Mind - (Michael Gayle) - 4:42
8. The Peppermint Trolley Co. - Pat's Song - 2:26
9. 3's A Crowd - I Don't Wanna Drive You Away - 2:41
10.Lee Michaels - My Friends - 2:42
11.Richard Twice - If I Knew You Were The One - 4:45
12.Alzo - You're Gone - 2:40
13 Cherry People - Imagination - 1:56
14.Cowsills - Mystery Of Life - 3:55
15.Summerhill - Friday Morning's Paper - 2:35
16.Bob Ray - (Girl With The) Cameo Ring - 3:53
17.New Wave, The - Little Dreams - 2:30
18.Philamore Lincoln - The North Wind Blew South - 3:15
19.National Gallery - Diana In The Autumn Wind (Charles Mangione, Roger Karshner) - 2:43
20.Condello - The Other Side Of You - 4:17
21.The Smoke - Gold Is The Color Of Thoughts - 3:06
22.Gordian Knot, The - The Year Of The Sun - 3:03
23.Ellie Pop - Oh My Friend - 2:25
24.Bert Sommer - And When It's Over (Bert Sommer) - 3:10

Fading Yellow series..
1965-69 Vol.1 - Timeless Pop-Sike And Other Delights
1965-69 Fading Yellow Vol. 2 US Pop Sikes
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 3
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 4
1970-73 Fading Yellow - Vol. 5
1966-70 Fading Yellow - Vol. 6 

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Think Dog - Dog Days (1969-70 us, brilliant art progressive rock with jazz, blues and folk shades, Shadoks remaster)

In 1966, the whole world was drunk on the music of the Beatles and the social and cultural changes of the era. Students everywhere were dropping out of school and joining bands or becoming hippies or both. In that year, as a graduate student of music composition at the University of Illinois in Urbana, I, too, became infatuated with the notion of forming a rock and roll band. 

As a lifelong lover of chamber music, I believed then, as I still believe in the magic and power that can be summoned by a small group of fine musical minds working closely together over a period of years. I also believe that the optimum number of musicians in an ensemble is four. In my mind the Beatles were just another embodiment of the ideal represented in the model of the classical chamber music quartet - four creative souls working together to produce something immensely greater than the sum of its parts I theorized that the right combination of musicians, having deep classical background, appreciation for and experience with so-called "new music." and love for the best rock and popular music of the time, might create the chemistry necessary to produce music that was genuinely different and memorable. 

Whether that hope was naive is a moot question three decades later. The tale that follows is a greatly simplified and sanitized version of  the basic facts concerning the band finally known as Think Dog!, reconstructed to the best of my ability from memory. Some of the details, particularly regarding the sequence of events, and dates of the recording sessions, ma, be slightly jumbled. 

The band had problems throughout its existence - problems with getting enough money to live, problems with thieves stealing our means of living problems with playing well together, problems with keeping the personnel stable, problems with personality conflicts, problems with the draft, problems with drugs, problems with health, problems with our love lives - you name it. The environment we lived and worked in was not conducive to intelligent disciplined, artistic growth. 

That some took place despite it is a miracle For me the three-year history of Think Dog! is partly a story of personal failure. Suffice it to say that I bet the farm on this venture, as did at least one other member, but we were unable to make it work. Some of the blame can be put upon me, though by no means all of it. The times were hard. The year 1968 was one of the worst of the century for almost everyone. That I just happened to pick that inauspicious year to make a start in my professional life in New York City did not make it any easier. 

New York City, September 1968—Winter 1969

It was in this time frame that we changed our name from Time to Think Dog! We always had to explain that the name includes the exclamation point; it's an imperative. We struggled for months trying to create a good name. One night, while gathered at Richard's apartment, I told an anecdote about how a friend was told to write Spanish-flavored music by telling himself: "Think Spanish!" which everyone thought was hysterical. Later, for reasons I have long forgotten, someone asked: "How do you act like a dog?" I replied: "Think dog!" We thought it was funny and relevant at the time. The rest is history. 

A friend says that Think Dog! sounds like a dyslexic way of saying Thank God! While doing research for these notes I discovered on the Internet that there is now a book in print called Think Dog! - yes, with the exclamation point. Appropriately, the subject is dog training. I considered buying it just for the fun of having the title on my shelf. Something else we needed was a stronger guitarist. Richard did a fine job of learning his parts, but he was neither a rocker nor a soloist. 

It was the era of guitar bands; every group had to have a strong lead player, preferably an Eric Clapton or a Jimi Hendrix. We decided to look for a fifth person, though we did not know where we might find one. One afternoon I was working alone in the loft, when Ron Renninger, then an eighteen-year-old kid from the Bronx, walked in with his Fender Telecaster. We talked, and soon he took out his instrument and started to play. I was astonished by his spectacular talent. He wasn't just good—he was a genuine original, and he was available. I had him come back, and immediately told the others about him. 

After one session together, we invited him to join the band. We learned quickly that Ron was also a prolific songwriter, and an undisciplined but passionate singer. For the first time we started to sound like a real rock and roll band. Ron and I began playing as a duo at a small coffee house in the West Village where we would get up and do nothing but jam for a half hour or more at a time, and then pass a basket. Whatever customers saw fit to throw in would be our pay. Sometimes it barely covered subway, but it gave us a great opportunity to get to know each other's playing very well. I played mostly bass on those jobs, though I think I must have played some guitar, too.

by Lynn David Newton

Tracks
1. No Julia No - 2:29
2. Good Time Jimbo (Tom McFaul) - 2:32
3. Can't Begin To Be Happy (Ron Renninger) - 4:06
4. Very Natural - 2:28
5. For Peace (Tom McFaul) - 2:17
6. Sunday Brings Another Day (Tom McFaul) - 2:09
7. For A Dime Or So (Tom McFaul) - 1:01
8. Lovely Lady - 3:48
9. How Shall I Speak To You? - 2:30
10.Untitled - 3:18
11.We Waited For Nothing - 3:38
12.Maybe In December - 2:58
13.Let's Take It Home (Tom McFaul) - 3:09
14.The Perfect Believer - 4:30
15.I Wish I Could Cry For You - 3:56
16.Let The Sun Shine Through (Bonus Track) (Ron Renninger) - 3:44
17.Green Fields (Bonus Track) - 2:10
18.My Toy Soldiers (Bonus Track)  (Ron Renninger) - 2:45
19.I Wanna Be Free (Bonus Track) - 2:49
20.Tell Me A Story (Bonus Track) - 3:34
21.Sitting (Bonus Track)  (Bob Stuhler) - 1:49
All songs by Lynn David Newton except where indicated.

Musicians
*Tom McFaul - Lead Vocal, Wah-Wah Piano,  Organ, Guitar, Harpsichord
*Lynn David Newton – Guitar, Bass, Backup Vocal, Bass Trombone
*Richard Stanley - Guitar
*Bob Stuhler - Drums, Backup Vocal, Piano
*Ron Renninger - Lead Vocal, Guitar
*David Rosenboom - Drums, Chimes, Trumpet

Related Act
1968  Time - Before There Was

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The Organgrinders - Out Of The Egg (1968 us, bright psychedelic sunshine flower pop with experimental mood, 2008 Bull's Eye digi pack issue)

Up until this recording was completed, the Organgrinders were spending almost all the time in their hometown, Baltimore. But they came to the realization that if their message was to get to the people and that message is that there must be truth...honesty...peace -then they must meet as many people as possible.

So the Organgrinders have decided to become messengers, to travel the country in a brightly-painted 1954 Ford school bus, performing whenever and wherever possible. "We just want to offer our help the best we can in opening people's heads up to the truth.  Right now, what we know is to play music, so that's how we'll communicate - with our music”

A flower-pop quintet from Baltimore. Their to date unheralded album is a fine example of this genre. There are very few week cuts on it, but mostly bright and breezy pop with some delightful woodwind, like Shady Tree.  Most of the finer moments are the tracks: Halls Of Hours, New Day Holiday, Reach For The Sky and 8th Day In Heaven, although Smile For The Sun is also a gem.

Frank Eventoff had earlier been in The Seventh Sons. Nisan Eventoff, “With my four brothers, Richard, Franklin, Paul, and Maury, and with my parents, Joseph and Ethel Eventoff, we had a music and magic show.  We called ourselves The Seven Evens and our theme song was called The Magic Genie. We all studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and had scholarships". “I am the youngest, then Richard (he played stand up bass), Frank (woodwinds), Paul (drums) and Masiry (piano). Mom still plays piano at 93 years ofel. Dad played piano, violin, mandolin and danced. He passed away when I was 14”.

On The Organgrinders Nisan tells us, “Frank played woodwinds, flute, sax, and he also invented several instruments that were used. Frank and I did most of the lead vocals, however the whole band sang. Henry also sings Honey Bee on the album. After the Organ Grinders we formed a “gypsy rock” band called Romany. We sent demos out and Mercury was interested as were a few others including Decca. Maury, my oldest brother called Bob Reno who was head of A & R at Mercury and convinced him we were the next Beatles. They signed us and we ended up as opening act for many name groups. We played at colleges, clubs, arenas, Strawberry Fields Festival and did some T.V. and movie work. We stayed together for 15 years. At my moms 90th birthday, we all played together, it was great! Nowadays Nisan is a professional magician, balloon sculptor and musician.

Tracks
1. Halls of Hours - 3:33
2. New Day Holiday - 3:44
3. Freedom Song - 3:02
4. Pleasant Song - 2:22
5. Reach for the Sky - 2:37
6. New Beginning - 0:43
7. 8th Day in Heaven - 2:48
8. Smile for the Sun - 3:00
9. And I Know What Love Is - 2:00
10.Shady Tree - 2:36
11.Honey Bee - 2:37
12.William - 3:40
13.Kama Kazie Woman - 2:02

The Organgrinders
*Frank Eventoff - Woodwinds, Flute, Sax, Lead Vocals
*Nisan Eventoff - Lead Vocals, Guitar
*Richard Eventoff - Bass
*Paul Eventoff - Drums
*Masiry Eventoff - Piano

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Various Artists - Fading Yellow, Vol. 6 (1966-70 us / canada, another rich smorgasbord of timeless pop-sike and other delights)

Fading Yellow returns to the US (and Canada) for Volume 6 after visiting the UK for a couple of volumes (Fading Yellow Volume 4 Timeless UK Popsike & Other Delights and Fading Yellow Volume 5 - Gone Are The Days). Like the companion compilations, Volumes 2 and 3, Fading Yellow Volume 6 combines together some obscure 1960s sike-pop, and while this volume doesn't seem as consistent as the previous two, there's still plenty of obscure gems to keep us interested.

Things start out shaky with two tracks from Canada (The Five Shy's Try To Be Happy and The Unforscene's These Are The Words) which didn't do much for me.

It's not until the third track and Lynn Castle's pensive Rose Colored Corner where she gets help from Last Friday/s Fire that things get going. Lynn Castle was a songwriter who co-wrote (with Wayne Erwin) Teeny Tiny Gnome for The Monkees. This song as produced by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart was left off of The Monkees' second album, 1967's More of The Monkees and was not issued until The Monkees' Missing Links Vol. 1 came out in the 80s. Rose Colored Corner was her own release in 1966 on the LHI Records label along with a tune called The Lady Barber, both produced by Lee Hazlewood. This single is a lost hazy gem of femme fuzzed sike-pop.

Tucked away on the b-side of a Buddah 45, the Nebraska band The Smoke Ring give us Waiting for Love to Come My Way. Portait of My Love, the a-side was featured on the Buddah compilation lp Dial-A-Hit, while the subdued magic of Waiting for Love to Come My Way has wallowed in obscurity.

Hank Shifter's Saturday Noontime was a Jeff Barry production for his Steed label. It was amongst a bevy of sides Jeff Barry worked on all released on Steed inspired by Neil Diamond's success along with the likes of The Rich Kids (with Danny Belline), Keepers Of The Light (featuring Alzo Fronte), and even the Alzo & Udine album. Saturday Noontime typifies that great sound Jeff Barry was evoking from his artists.

The Scene's Scenes From Another World was released on a BT Puppy single and has recently appeared on Rev-Ola's Night Time Music: The BT Puppy Story, as well as Hen's Teeth Vol. 3 Catherine on the Wheel Psychedelia Memories Vs. the Great Ramses in His Egyptian Temple of Mysteries. This track has a group out of Montreal working with The Tokens on a whirling sike-pop number that has definitely earned its compilation rights.

Friends Of The Family's Can't Get Home has a really fresh harmony pop sound with sweet harpsichord orchestration and a really unique fuzz sound and rhythm thanks to it being a Joe Renzetti production (arranger on Bobby Hebb's Sunny, Jay and The Techniques' Apple-Peaches-Pumpkin Pie, The Intruders' Cowboys to Girls, and with Spanky & Our Gang and Tiny Tim). Friends Of The Family featured Ted Mundy of The Enfields and Get Hip has reissued both Friends Of The Family and The Enfields' music.

Bob Dileo recorded some interesting records under his own name and as The Giant Jellybean Copout. Here we hear Bob Dileo's Band in Boston which has a Mark Eric / Fifth Dimension / Jan & Dean kind of groove to it that is fantastic.

Geoffrey Stevens's Grape Jelly Love has a great Harold Battiste arrangement and a sound that reminds me of Paul Parrish's Forests of My Mind - too bad it was relegated to a b-side (to Geoffrey Stevens' Do That Again, not included here). The tune was a York Pala Production (Brian Stone & Charles Greene), the same company Cher recorded 60 songs for, who also worked with arranger Harold Battiste. Harold Battiste had moved to LA from New Orleans where he became musical director for the Sonny & Cher Show later in the 1970s.

Mark Radice was featured on a previous Fading Yellow (Vol. 3), but here is his true masterpiece, Three Cheers (For The Sadman). Mark's father was Gene Radice, the recording engineer who worked with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Lovin' Spoonful, the Cowsills, Mamas and Papas, The Tokens and Vanilla Fudge) and Mark eventually ended up joining Aerosmith in the 1970s. Three Cheers (For The Sadman) was recorded and released in 1967 on Decca Records along with 10,000 Year Old Blues (which featured Steven Tyler then wit the last name Tallerico - who was 20 years old at the time) when Mark was only 10 years old. Three Cheers (For The Sadman) is a twee beauty with an orchestrated Brian Wilson feel to it.

Other New Yorkers tunes have appeared on the Northwest Battle of the Bands compilations, but here we hear the wonderfully cheerful Land of Ur which isn't nearly as hard rocking as this future Hudson Brothers group probably would like to be remembered. In fact, it's almost like a lost Kinks' tune.

The Whether Bureau's Why Can't You And I was the a-side to a Laurie 45 from 1968 that was arranged by Al Gorgoni and has a dancing melody line that veers in and out of the harmonies and broken rhythms.

The Highly Successful Young Rupert White by the Chocolate Tunnel was a Gary Paxton production which was later used by Eternity's Children on their tune Rupert White by simply adding new vocals to this backing track. This kind of thing happened a lot in the 1960s (like for instance the two versions of Me About You by Gary Lewis and the version by original songwriter Garry Bonner which both had the same music but different vocals too).

The Sunshine Trolley's Cover Me Baby is an obscurity featuring David Gates from Bread, music by Fred Karlin, and lyrics by Randy Newman from an obscure late 60s movie called Cover Me Babe (aka Run Shadow Run). This 45 version of the theme song came out on the Trump label in 1970 and it definitely has that sweet soundtrack vibe.

The Don Meehan Project featured actor Don Meehan who gives us My Silent Symphony which has an urgent sound like it so easily could've been a hit like the best of The Peppermint Rainbow.

The song Don't Take The Night Away was released by Pleasure featuring Billy Elder and it has this echoey lead vocal which reminds me of British 60s pop and a lovely piano and orchestated backing.

The Rainy Daze release Fe Fi Fo Fum (aka Blood Of Oblivion) was a release by the same group who released That Acapulco Gold (which later appeared on their Uni LP). The Rainy Daze were signed by Phil Spector to a management deal and Fe Fi Fo Fum sounds like it could've been a lost Monkees' track (and it was not featured on the Uni LP).

by Patrick, (Gull-buy)  December 28, 2004 

Artists - Tracks
1. Five Shy - Try to Be Happy - 2:26
2. Unforscene - These Are the Words - 1:57
3. Lynn Castle with Last Friday's Fire - Rose Colored Corner - 2:32
4. Smoke Ring - Waitin' for Love to Come My Way - 2:01
5. Hank Shifter - Saturday Noontime - 2:47
6. Tyme & a Half - Magic Island - 2:45
7. The Scene - Scenes - from Another World - 2:26
8. Friends of the Family - Can't Go Home - 2:37
9. Bob Dileo - Band in Boston - 2:57
10.Fargo - Sunny Day Blue - 2:32
11.Mid Day Rain - Friday Mourning - 2:29
12.Geoffrey Stevens - Grape Jelly Love - 2:35
13.Mark Radice - Three Cheers - for the Sad Man - 2:40
14.New Yorkers - Land of Ur - 2:23
15.Whether Bureau - Why Can't You and I - 2:17
16.Chocolate Tunnel - The Highly Successful Young Rupert White - 2:18
17.Carnival - Four Seasons - 2:41
18.Bill Soden - My Mermaid and Me - 2:29
19.Sunshine Trolley - Cover Me Babe - 3:10
20.Don Meehan Project - My Silent Symphony - 2:37
21.Click - Girl with a Mind - 2:57
22.Billy Elder - Don't Take the Night Away - 2:53
23.Rainy Daze - Fe Fi Fo Fum - 2:40
24.Stephen Hartley - Have You Seen Her - 2:27
25.Stephen Hartley - The Other Side - 2:25

Fading Yellow series..
1965-69 Vol.1 - Timeless Pop-Sike And Other Delights
1965-69 Fading Yellow Vol. 2 US Pop Sikes
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 3
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 4
1970-73 Fading Yellow - Vol. 5

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The Gestures - The Gestures (1964-65 us, splendid garage beat, roots 'n' roll, Sundazed release)

The Gestures were absorbed by the madness of the sixties just as they began having fun. The world teas falling apart when the energetic, brilliant youth of this fine group was just taking shape. Their music was infectious. Their live appearances a sight to behold. 

Their young drummer bad to stand in order to pump that big bass drum. Their music was inspired. And they were so young. The world passed them by on the way to Vietnam, assassinations, political treachery and Purple Haze, The world had no time far fun. The Gestures were fun. I smile just thinking about them.

by Lou Waters

The following newspaper editorial introduction, originally appeared in the Mankato Free Press, and best summarized the feelings of local Mankatoians toward their number one Musical acclamation - the Gestures: "Growing up teen in Mankato, Minnesota in the early 1960s gave us three indelible memories: Charlie Poliquin's ark, the flood, and the Gestures. 

Poliquin was the eccentric who beached a homemade houseboat on the riverbank near the Century Club and stocked up on notoriety, 25 cent tour fees and provisions for a float down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of New Orleans." 'The flood of 1965 got all the high school kids out of class to pass sandbags hand to hand in a real adventure - kids united against the elements - and in the 11th hour, the town was saved." 'The Gestures were the local Rock & Roll band that for a few shinning moments made us if not proud at least tolerant of being from Mankato. 

Minneapolis could keep the Trashmen, the Castaways, and the Underbeats... we had the Gestures and 'Run, Run, Run’.

by Tim DeMarce

Tracks
1. Hi-Heel Sneakers (T. Tucker) - 3:14
2. I'm Not Mad (D. Menten) - 2:35
3. Don't Ness Around (D. Menten) - 2:20
4. Run. Run Run (D. Menten) - 1:17
5. Things We Said Today (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:29
6. Can I Get A Witness (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - 2:58
7. Long Tall Texan (H. Strezlechi) - 2:32
8. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (G.Marsden) - 3:21
9. It Seems To Me (D. Menten) - 2:29
10.She Cried (G. Richards, T. Daryll) - 2:17
11.When Does Linda Cry (D. Menten) - 2:19
12.Savage World (Instrumental) (D. Menten) - 2:52
13.Candlelight (D. Menten) - 2:25
14.Things We Said Today (alternate backing track) (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:32
15.I'm Not Nad  (alternate version) (D. Menten) - 2:18
16.Stand By Ne (D. Menten) - 3:21

The Gestures
*Dale Menten - Guitar, Vocals
*Gus Dewey - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Klugherz - Bass
*Bruce Waterston - Drums

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Various Artists - Fading Yellow Vol.5 Gone Are The Days (1970-73 uk, timeless pop-sike and other delights)

Fading Yellow delves into the softer, underbelly of early 1970s British pop from 1970-1973 on Volume 5, Gone Are The Days. Vol. 5 picks up right where Vol. 4 left off with more "Timeless UK Popsike & Other Delights". If you've ever wondered what happened with the harmony and sike-pop artists like Billy Nicholls or Micky Jones And Tommy Brown (aka The State Of Micky And Tommy) between the hazy days of the 1960s and the glam and punk rock era, then Vol. 5 of Fading Yellow is a great place to dig. This is the world half way between brittle 1960s harmony pop like Harmony Grass, the early 70s singer/songwriter music of Nick Drake and the glam power of David Bowie. If bands like Almond Marzipan, Angel Pavement, or Design or singers like Abel Fletcher or Richard Barnes sound interesting, then the days gone by have returned.

Because Fading Yellow Vol. 5 delves into the 1970s, it's the most unique of the Fading Yellows that I've reviewed. And because the 1970s sound is a new beast for me to like, being only a dabbler into the British early 70s sound, I have found myself enjoying this volume quite a bit. I'm not sure how well this would stand up though for the 60s collectors or the modern rockers.

The first track by High Society called Tell Me How was written by Tony Hazzard. Tony Hazzard also wrote Ha! Ha! Said The Clown and Fox On The Run for Manfred Mann (check out The Ascent Of Mann 2-cd set for these goodies), Hello World for The Tremeloes, Listen To Me for The Hollies, and Me, The Peaceful Heart for Lulu, as well as recording his own sought after album Tony Hazzard Sings in 1969 which includes his own versions of these songs. The High Society track Tell Me How definitely has that turn of the 70s decade sound found on Tremeloes recordings from that period - sort of that hard rock meets the singer songwriter sound.

Angel Pavement have a great name - they took it from a J.B Priestly novel from 1930. Their song When Will I See June Again has a great late 60s baroque and Brit sound that was produced by Geoff Gill from the UK band The Smoke. It looks like an unreleased album called Socialising by Angel Pavement has been issued on Tenth Planet in 2003 that includes this song as well as covers of the Iveys' Maybe Tomorrow and Spirits' Water Woman. From these two songs, I'm now highly curious to hear the unearthed gems of Angel Pavement.

Mike Batt wrote the song that this whole series is named after (Fading Yellow) whch was included in Vol. 1. Well, here he is again with a Wombling like song called Wendy which has a sweet sound to it.

Summer Of Miranda by Toast has a Bryan Ferry styled warbling lead vocalist which is fitting since they later became Sailor who sound a lot like Roxy Music. This song was the b-side to the Paul Simon cover of Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall and was released in 1969. It was produced by Tony Cox but sank without a trace, so Toast changed their name to Gringo before forming Sailor.

Forever Autumn by Vigrass And Osborne (Paul Vigrass and Gary Osborne) is the original version of a tune found on the Queues album (now out of print) that featured Jeff Wayne on synthesizer. The tune later was included on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War of the Worlds on Columbia Records where it became a hit with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues singing. Gary Osborne had previously sang lead vocals on No Way Out by The Chocolate Watchband while Paul Vigrass was later part of Quasar. This tune sounds like a theme song to some dreamy space opera.

Design released some great harmony folk pop albums including their self titled debut from 1971 and Tomorrow Is So Far Away in 1972. Minstrels Theme is from their debut and is a great example of this 1970s harmony group. They got help from the likes of Clem Cattini and Chris Spedding on backing - but it's their farout harmony vocals which help them on their originals (like this one) and their covers like their version of Strawberry Fields Forver (not included here).

I See Her Everywhere is a pensive track by The Majority One, who also appear on Vol. 4 as Majority. I See Her Everywhere combines light orchestration and thoughtful harmony vocals.

Almond Marzipan's (another great band name!) Summer Love has a Stormy groove going and was a tune also recorded by Thomas & Richard Frost.

Abel Fletcher's You Wont See Me Go sounds just like The Beatles' Blackbird. His Esmeralda track sounds like a good song but is kind of distorted here.

Come Away Melinda by Cats Eyes (a version of the Tim Rose song which was covered by the likes of Harry Belafonte, Judy Collins, The Big 3, Bobbie Gentry, Mamas & The Papas, Kenny Rankin, Barry St-John, Uriah Heep, UFO and The Weavers) is one of many songs by this prolific group from Evesham in Worcestershire.

Marvin Welsh And Farrar (Hank B. Marvin and Bruce Welch from The Shadows) released the moody Tiny Robin in the early 1970s as a b-side and album track from their second album called Second Opinion.

Having nothing to do with The Cowsills tune The Rain, The Park & Other Things - The Rain The Wind And Other Things by The Playground (who also had The Girl Behind The Smile on Vol. 4) is a soft pop delight. Trees And Things by Maxwell And Nicholson sounds a lot like Jefferson Airplane with electric keyboards. Alice by Micky Jones And Tommy Brown (aka The State Of Micky And Tommy) is an Alice in Wonderland themed song which rounds this compilation out.

by Patrick, (Gull-buy) December 28, 2004

Artists - Tracks
1. High Society - Tell Me Now - 2:46
2. Garry Benson - Holly - 3:47
3. Angel Pavement - When Will I See June Again - 4:49
4. Mike Batt - Wendy - 2:55
5. Tuesday - Sewing Machine - 3:15
6. Toast - Summer Of Miranda - 2:56
7. Sunchariot - You're Lovely - 4:01
8. Vigrass And Osborne - Forever Autumn - 2:55
9. Rock Candy - Magic Horse - 2:56
10. Gracious! - Once On A Windy Day - 4:05
11. Design - The Minstrel's Theme - 3:15
12. Majority Of One - I See Her Everywhere - 2:32
13. Almond Marzipan - Summer Love - 3:23
14. Billy Nicholls - This Song Is Green - 2:55
15. Abel Fletcher - You Won't See Me Go - 2:29
16. Cat's Eyes - Come Away Melinda - 4:14
17. Marvin, Welsh And Farrar - Tiny Robin - 2:38
18.The Playground - The Rain, The Wind And Other Things - 2:43
19.Maxwell And Nicholson - Trees And Things - 3:36
20. Micky Jones And Tommy Brown - Alice - 2:50
21. Richard Barnes - High Flyin' Electric Bird - 3:26
22. Abel Fletcher - Esmeralda - 3:04

Fading Yellow series..
1965-69  Vol.1 - Timeless Pop-Sike And Other Delights
1965-69  Fading Yellow Vol.2 US Pop Sikes
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 3
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 4

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Terry Brooks And Strange - Translucent World (1973 us, superb acid space rock, Akarma bonus track limited edition)

I yield to no man in my admiration of the music of Terry Brooks. Probably best known for his first two albums, Translucent World from 1973 and Raw Power from ’76, Brooks’ style is a maddeningly manic brand of space-psych adorned with some of the fastest, most thrilling solos in rock history. 

His unique career has taken in rock stardom, The Vietnam War, teaching, treasure hunting, painting and writing. After a difficult upbringing, Terry got his start on the blues circuit. “I started out playing blues on the black circuit all over the US – the chitlin’ circuit as it was known. I played all over the US with a black band, travelling around with 18 people on a bus – at that time there were no white people in these clubs. I was the only white guy there. This gig started in ’61. 

It was a rough time because of the racial tensions. I’d seen a lot of abuse of the band members that were with me, and many bad situations, but playing and travelling around Texas, Mexico, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana – man you are talking about having a ball. That was the least money I ever made in music and the most fun I ever had! All we lived for was the note, the sound – and man we could really kick.” In the late ’60s Terry had to take a serious detour away from music. “I ended up in the army in ’nam which we won’t go into. This was the mid-60s and I got drafted. 

When I came back I had a pretty tough time for a long while after that with depression and everything and I started playing blues again. It started with the album Translucent World when I was still in a kind of daze. I was just kind of a lost person with all that stuff that had happened to me. All I had was my music and the feeling in my music and I wrote about what I felt.” Translucent World is credited to “Strange” (later releases were credited to Terry Brooks & Strange, and then just to Terry Brooks) and was released on Terry’s own label in ’73. 

Fans of heavy-psych guitar should need no introduction to this masterwork that takes the ghost of Hendrix and blasts it into the outer solar system. “Translucent World – you could tell where I was when you listen to it – I was way out there. There was a PO Box that was open for Translucent World that I never checked. When I finally did, there were hundreds of letters from record companies trying to get a hold of me from all over Europe, all the record companies. 

I missed a shot there.” At this time Terry also rejected an offer from RCA, “They wanted to change my band and for certain people to go, so I turned them down.” Any fan of heavy psychedelic guitar has not got a complete record collection until they’ve checked out Terry’s music, which they can do at his new website TerryBrooksandStrange.com. 

Asked to describe his guitar playing he replies, “It’s a cosmically energised style. I was very careful not to play other people’s music. I was also careful not to look at any other mathematical extrapolations. I didn’t want to be influenced by anything else.”

by Austin Matthews, Shindig Magazine

Tracks
1. Jimi - 4:31
2. Ruler Of The Universe - 11:05
3. The Kiss Of A Butterfly - 6:04
4. Hey Mr. Lonely Man - 4:42
5. Lost - 5:50
6. Spoonful (Live) (Willy Dixon) - 9:41
7. Preacher Of Rock'N'Roll - 6:35
All songs written by Terry Brookes unless otherwise written.

*Terry Brooks - Vocals, Guitar

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The Loading Zone - The Loading Zone (1968 us, fascinating west coast psych with blues jazz and soul feeling)

It was the Spring of 1968, and San Francisco was the place to be if you loved "the new rock 'n' roll." What differentiated the new rockers from the original forefathers of the genre— Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, the Dominoes, the Drifters, and so many others—was that the focus, as well as the presentation of the music, had shifted dramatically. Since the advent of The Beatles a few years before, the emphasis now was far less on the "roll" and much more on the "rock." 

With so many middle-class white kids having discovered the joys of rock 'n' roll in their adolescence, it was a natural evolution of musical and cultural values that took rock 'n' roll down its inevitable path 10 or 12 years later. The kids who loved the authentic, unadulterated, R&B-infused rock 'n' roll of the 1950s, and then grew up with intentions of being musicians themselves, had to interpret that music a certain way. And that, more or less, explains how The Loading Zone came to be. 

This particular San Francisco band was a horndriven septet led by writer/arranger Paul Fauerso, who also sang and played keyboards in the group. The Loading Zone had been given a chance to record a single for Columbia Records in 1966 but nothing had happened with it, and there was to be no album made for that company. But the next year a small label, Umbrella Records, did get behind an album project for The Loading Zone. 

On the strength of this first full effort, RCA Records—whose most successful group signing at this time was San Francisco's own Jefferson Airplane, with their bigselling 1967 LP, Surrealistic Pillow—decided to give The Loading Zone a shot. After all, they were making a lot of money right then with the Airplane, and all the labels were hungry to cash in on this "San Francisco Sound" phenomenon. RCA no doubt was hoping that lightning would  strike twice in as many years. 

If this Loading Zone band (whose music was described as something called "psychedelic soul") had a Surrealistic Pillow up its sleeve, the business people reasoned, there was lots more money to be made off of this Bay Area music explosion that was taking place. Around the same time that RCA was about to invite The Loading Zone to make an album for them, the band made a choice that a number of San Francisco bands had already made. 

That change was noted on stage at the Winterland Ballroom in mid April of '68 by none other than Janis Joplin. "The Loading Zone's going on next," Janis told the audience, as she got ready to do the last song of her set with Big Brother & The Holding Company. "Okay...Wow! You gotta stay and see that chick, man. She's outta sight!" Janis was talking about Linda Tillery, a young black woman recently asked to join and front The Loading Zone as lead vocalist. It didn't take long for Tillery to make an impression on her fellow musicians, and RCA was banking on that appeal translating to rock music fans everywhere. 

Big Brother had Janis, the Airplane had Grace Slick. Why not the talented, charismatic Linda Tillery taking The Loading Zone all the way to the top? Well, as history shows, that's not what happened. The Loading Zone, undeniably a good group who earned the respect of many other musicians and were well-received by the people who heard them, never really made it out of their native San Francisco. 

They made a good album for RCA, but it did not sell in large quantities, and they were not given the chance to do another one. Columbia Records never regretted its earlier decision to not put its money on The Loading Zone, because by the time RCA signed them Columbia had its own psychedelic soul band taking off (on a subsidiary, Epic Records), another horn-driven San Francisco group called Sly & The Family Stone. Sixty-eight was the year Sly Stone and his integrated band of family and friends began its run of hit singles (with "Dance To The Music"), big-selling albums and influential, boundary-crossing music that ultimately earned them a place in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. 

The Loading Zone was handled by an organization called World Funk Management out of Berkeley, California. But in the newly-burgeoning world of funk music, Sly & The Family Stone was pretty formidable competition, locally and everywhere else. It was Sly who became the "King of Funk" in the late Sixties, and it was Sly & The Family Stone that was featured at Woodstock, and in the movie and album that followed. 

The Loading Zone, meanwhile, had its brief moment in 1968, then faded out of the picture. Which is not to say, by any means, that their RCA album doesn't deserve its due, especially in view of what was going on in The Loading Zone's musical midst. Let's take, for instance, one of the songs that was on side 2: the re-make of jazz singer Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child." It is virtually without question that Blood, Sweat & Tears cut this song for its self-titled second LP on Columbia (the album that insured that band's success) because The Loading Zone showed them how it could be done. Al Kooper, an original member of Blood, Sweat & Tears who was ousted from the group after its first LP, referred in his autobiography to B,S&T's version of "God Bless The Child" as a "Las Vegas desecration"—something that would never be said of The Loading Zone's treatment of this classic number.

Maybe that was the problem—The Loading Zone was too respectful of a great song to glitz it up for "crass" commerical purposes. (Kooper also produced a solo album for Tillery, "Sweet Linda Divine," that came out later on Columbia.) The other nine tracks on "The Loading Zone" were a mixture of other song revivals and Paul Fauerso originals. 

Perhaps where the group miscalculated was in reaching back several years or more for previously-recorded tunes, instead of trying to come up with mostly (or entirely) original material. (Tillery did no writing at all for the RCA album, suggesting that the record had been all planned-out before she even joined The Loading Zone.) Obviously fans of Detroit music, the band chose three songs associated with Motown Records to put on the album. "Shop Around," which closed side 1, was of course originally done by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, one of Motown's earliest smash hits. "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead" had been a single release for The Marvelettes in 1965 on Motown's Tamla label. (Bonnie Raitt also cut this song, a few years after The Loading Zone did, and it ended up on her debut album.). 

The album also featured "Love Feels Like Fire," written by Lamont Dozier and the brother duo of Brian and Eddie Holland, the songwriting team that came up with a bunch of hits for The Supremes. The retro feel of the album may have dashed hopes for a hit on the charts in 1968, but does not at all detract from our enjoyment of the tracks decades later. 

The Loading Zone, perhaps, didn't have the knack for hitting the crest of the wave and riding it for fame and riches in the music business, but its members did have a good feel for the music they liked, and they knew how to play it well. Unfortunately, Paul Fauerso and his bandmates drifted into obscurity after 1968, while groups with similar ideas (B,S&T, Chicago, Tower Of Power) went on to enjoy success in the 1970s. Like The Electric Flag, another good Bay Area band from that era, The Loading Zone were also-rans, with a lot of "what if's" to ponder later in life about a career cut short. 

Linda Tillery, however, went on to a still-vital career in music. Although hers is not a household name, she has earned the admiration of many music lovers over the years, proving the legitimacy of Janis Joplin's estimation that her talent was "outtasight." Tillery has worked with such recording artists as Oleta Adams, Linda Ronstadt, Boz Scaggs, Santana and the Turtle Island String Quartet. She is also founder of The Cultural Heritage Choir, as well as a member of that ensemble. 

by Steve Roeser, June 2001

Tracks
1. No More Tears (Peter Shapiro, Paul Fauerso) - 3.12
2. Love Feels Like Fire (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier) - 4.42
3. Don't Loose Control (Of Your Soul) (Paul Fauerso)- 3.21
4. I Can't Please You (Jimmy Robins) - 4.07
5. Shop Around (Berry Gordy Jr., Smokey Robinson) -  3.50
6. The Bells (Billy Ward) - 3.55
7. Kalui Yuga-Loo (Paul Fauerso) - 3.23
8. God Bless The Child (Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr.) - 4.45
9. Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead (Clarence Paul, William Stevenson, Ivy Joe Hunter) - 3.34
10.Can I Dedicate (Paul Fauerso) - 9.37

The Loading Zone
*Linda Tillery - Vocal
*Paul Fauerso - Organ, Piano, Vocal
*Peter Shapiro - Lead Guitar
*Steve Dowler - Rhythm Guitar
*Bob Kridle - Bass
*George Newcom - Drums,
*Todd Anderson - Tenor Sax
*Patrick O'hara - Trombone
with
*Frank Davis - Drums on "Can I Dedicate"

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Various Artists - Fading Yellow Vol.4 Light, Smack Dab (1967-69 uk, timeless psych pop-sike and other delights)

"Timeless UK 60's Popsike and Other Delights" is the apt subtitle of this 25-track collection, which spotlights obscurities from the lighter side of slightly psychedelic-influenced British pop/rock of the late '60s. There are a few artists here who had commercial success, like Wayne Fontana, Dave Berry, future Foreigner member Mick Jones (as part of the J. & B.), and future 10cc members Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley (as part of the awkwardly named Frabjoy & Runcible Spoon). 

But basically this is a pretty deep archival dig through material that hasn't often seen the light of day since its original release, in a genre that's never been the most heavily mined of 1960s styles. It's one of the best such digs, too, even though as a 1,000-copy limited edition, it didn't get the exposure of some of CD reissues with a similar concentration. While some of the elements of pop-sike that drive earthier listeners up the wall -- fruity orchestration, florid lyrics, twee preciousness -- are here to varying degrees, their quotient is considerably lighter than usual on this anthology. 

It's true you still might want to be in the mood for something on the light side before hearing all of it at once, but the focus is more on decent pop songs with imaginative arrangements and an occasionally (admittedly mild) touch of freakiness than the airy-fairy stuff. Some of the tracks are outstanding, like the J. & B.'s unaccountably seldom-anthologized "There She Goes," which is like a cinematic look at the melancholic underbelly of Swinging London, the Candlelight's quite fine makeover of the Merseybeat-era relic "That's What I Want" into staunch baroque pop with stirring vocal harmonies; Piccadilly Line's "At the Third Stroke," which is as much melodic folk-rock as pop-sike; Toyshop's "Send My Love to Lucy," whose singer sounds uncannily like Stephen Stills; and Fontana's "In My World," perhaps his best solo effort sans the Mindbenders. Even some of the less distinguished and more ornate cuts remain listenable as they pass by, without getting overly sickly sweet. 

by Richie Unterberger

Artists - Tracks
1. Thoughts And Words - Morning Sky - 3:36
2. Piccadilly Line - Atthe Third Stroke - 3:03
3. Majority - Charlotte Rose - 2:59
4. J And B - There She Goes - 2:46
5. Playground - The Girl Behind The Smile - 3:02
6. Frabjoy And Runcible Spoon - Animal Song - 2:22
7. Pipes Of Pan - Monday Morning Rain - 3:02
8. Toy Shop - Send My Love To Lucy - 4:20
9. Candlelight Trio - That's What I Want - 2:17
10.Epics - Henry Long - 2:46
11.Finders Keepers - Light - 3:12
12.Martin Martin - Imagine - 2:24
13.Young Brothers - Mirror, Mirror - 3:25
14.Robbie Curtice - The Soul Of Man - 2:32
15.Alan Bown - All I Can - 2:46
16.Jason Paul - Shinea Little Light In To My Room - 2:48
17.Californians - Can't Get You Out Of My Mind - 2:05
18.Wayne Fontana - The Impossible Years - 2:31
19.Wayne Fontana - In My World - 3:04
20.John Bromley - If You Were There With Me - 3:14
21.Ian Gibsons - You Know I Need Your Loving - 3:02
22.Dave Berry - And I Have Learned To Dream - 3:11
23.Majority - Wait By The Fire - 3:14
24.David McNeil - Linda - 2:50
25.Robbie Curtice With Tom Payne - Gospel Lane - 2:38

Fading Yellow series..
1965-69  Vol.1 - Timeless Pop-Sike And Other Delights
1965-69  Fading Yellow Vol.2 US Pop Sikes
1965-69 Fading Yellow - Vol. 3

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Paul Adolphus – The Dawn Wind (1973 aussie, wondrous folk rock, Shadoks release)

Australian born Paul Adolphus had lived before in Sweden, India and Sri Lanka. He also had a special relationship with Kyoto, Japan. Both of his first children were born there at different visits. He also came with the right feelings to the right place, which, between 1968 and when he recorded his album, in 1973, was a vibrant creative place. It was there where he met Mitsu Harada. 

She contributed piano, organ, koto on his first, privately released album (only 200 were printed) and she did also the production. Recorded in a kind of living room atmosphere, some friends attending, with nature around them and an old Buddhist temple nearby, there was used a very peaceful and meditative, special atmosphere to record the album. The album luckily was recorded well.

The album starts very meditatively with sakuhachi flute, an organ drone, flute, a kind of tabla, electric piano, bass, before a voice, in colour a bit like early John Martyn or like David Thomas Broughton, most of it in English, but also with small parts in Japanese with piano and acoustic guitar, and hand percussion. The quietness swelling into the songs, sounds pretty unique to me. 

Further on we hear splendid guitar work (on “It’s Raining” slightly Bert Jansch-like), nice flute improvisations, vibes, and some koto. But sometimes Paul Adolphus also falls back on more recognisable blues standards, in a lets say, Wizz Jones way of song music, less special but acceptable. This blues standard can also come back a bit more vaguely, which is more rewarding. Considering the few different variations in directions, this remains a very special album with many unique moments and a perfect starting point to make this so.

Psychedelic-Folk

Tracks
1. A Day Is Born - 6:05
2. Good Morning - 4:02
3. She Might Love Me - 2:55
4. Butterfly - 2:03
5. It's Raining - 2:48
6. The New Year - 7:46
7. Looking at the World - 2:53
8. Golden Shore - 4:27
9. Evening Wind - 3:29
10.Forest Lore - 2:44
11.Zandala - 5:05
12.At Days End - 3:24
13.Untitled Hidden Track - 1:57
Words and Music by Paul Adolphus.

Artists
*Mitsu Harada - Piano, Organ, Koto
*Paul Adolphus - Vocals, Guitar, Flutes, Sakuhachi

to Anon, who's one of my oldest net friends.

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The Cleves - Cleves Plus Rare E.P And Single (1970 new zealand, spanking sunshine psychedelic rock)

The core members of The Cleves were New Zealand born Gaye Brown and her brothers Ron and Graham. All three studied music and formed their own group while in their teens. After adding local lad Milton Lane (rhythm guitar) they became The Clevedonaires ca. 1964. The band's name was taken from their home town of Clevedon, just south of Auckland. According to Bruce Sergent, Lane was replaced by Rob Aicken a few months later, although Vernon Joyson's listing for the group suggests that he came in later.

The Clevedonaires originally played "lightweight folksy music", covering acts like The Seekers, Donovan and the Byrds, and playing church halls and school dances around the South Auckland area. By 1965 they had toughened up their style and were covering tracks by The Who, The Small Faces and The Beatles. Gaye had now started playing organ, allowing Rob Aicken to switch to bass, and they started working the Auckland club circuit. 

In 1966 Auckland promoter Benny Levin signed them to his Impact label. "How You Lied" / "Rooftops And Chimneys" came out in 1966, and "He's Ready" / "Lost Women" and "Funny How Love Can Be" / "Don't Ask Me What To Say" in 1967. To promote the singles, the band appeared on local TV shows The We Three Show and C'Mon. Their final Impact single, a cover of Donovan's "Sunny Goodge Street", backed by the Small Faces' "Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire" was released in 1968, just before they relocated to Australia.

Now renamed The Cleves, they were one of several polished Sydney pop bands of the period (e.g. The Executives, The Affair, Aesop's Fables, The Clik) who featured tight harmonies, sophisticated arrangements and relatively light, pop-oriented repertoire. The Cleves' first Australian single appears to have been a promotional recording made for the Marionette Theatre of Australia's long-running children's production of The Tintookies. This enduringly popular children's show was based on Peter Scriven's 1946 book Little Fella Bindi and The Tintookies. (Scriven also created and performed the puppets for the Sixties TV series Sebastian The Fox and the 1968 short film The Painter). The single was issued on the Marionette label in 1968.

In 1969 the group signed with Festival and issued two singles, "Sticks and Stones" / "Don't Turn Your Back" (September 1969) and "You and Me" / "Cassie" (May 1970), plus two EPs, A Taste of Energy and Music from Michael on Festival's newly formed 'prog' subsidiary Infinity in 1970. Music From Michael  was a sixteen-minute, ten-part suite recorded for the soundtrack of the "Michael" episode of the three-part Australian film Three to Go. "Michael", directed by Peter Weir, won the Grand Prix at the 1970 AFI Awards and it has recently been included on the DVD release of four short films by Peter Weir. (Another segment, "Toula" featured music by Graheme Bond and Rory O'Donohue). Along with the Bee Gees-like track "Don't Turn Your Back", the EP featured songs recorded for the soundtrack, segued together to form a thematic whole, which "combined certain elements of the British music hall tradition (as espoused by The Beatles) with a more esoteric pop flavour a la The Move".

By this time the band was heading in a more progressive musical direction, and they recorded their highly regarded LP, produced by Richard Batchens, in late 1970. Just before it was released (as part of Infinity's first batch of releases in January 1971) The Cleves backed Sydney DJ Donnie Sutherland on a bubblegum pop single with the outlandish title "Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie Na Na Kiss Him Goodbye" (b/w "I Don't Mind") which came out on Martin Erdman's Violet's Holiday label.

The LP, the highly collectable Cleves has been described by Ian McFarlane as "a prime example of where psychedelic pop gave way to a more progressive aesthetic". The album is dominated by "longer tracks, atmospheric organ/fuzzed guitar interplay and tight vocal harmonies (similar to UK bands on the Vertigo label like Cressida and Affinity)". The highlight was their impressive reading of the George Gershwin classic "Summertime". The album has since become one of the most collectible artefacts of Australia's progressive rock era.

"Gaye Brown's spirited vocals are in the manner of Dutch band Earth & Fire, highly regarded songstress Julie Driscoll and Affinity's Linda Hoyle. Tracks like 'Work Out' and 'Time Has Come' are based on a pop framework but are swelled by soaring fuzzed out leads, and Cressida-like keyboard passages. The highlights include an impressive rendering of the George Gershwin chestnut 'Summertime' (shades of Janis Joplin), then the dynamic 'There is a Place' and the more reflective 'For A Time'." -- Ian McFarlane

After the album came out The Cleves were joined for a short time by guitarist Vince Meloney (guitar; ex-Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Bee Gees, Fanny Adams). Not long after, Ace Follington (ex-Chain, Country Radio) subsequently replaced Graham Brown on drums. In October 1971, The Cleves moved to the UK (minus Meloney who had by then formed Flite with Leo De Castro) where they became known as Bitch. Before breaking up the band issued three singles, "Laughing", "Good Time Coming" and "Wildcat". These were apparently released  on the Anchor label, distributed by Warner Brothers in the USA. What became of the group members after this time is not known.

Vicious Sloth Collectibles has re-released the Cleves album on CD. Re-mastered from the original tapes, it also includes the songs from the Music From Michael EP as bonus tracks, plus original artwork and liner notes.

Miles-ago

Tracks
1. Work Out - 7:05
2. There Is A Place - 5:00
3. Keep Trying - 5:04
4. Time Has Come - 5:00
5. Summertime - 7:35
6. Wait For A Moment - 3:20
7. For A Time - 6:00
8. Waterfall - 4:58
9. You And Me - 3:17
10.Music From Michael - 16:39

The Cleves
*Rob Aicken - Bass
*Gaye Brown - Vocals, Organ
*Graham Brown - Drums (1964-1971)
*Ron Brown - Guitar
*Ace Follington - Drums (1971-)
*Milton Lane - Rhythm Guitar
*Vince Meloney - Guitar

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Various Artists - Fading Yellow - Vol. 3 (1965-69 us, 22 Shiny Jewels Of Pop-Sike And Other Delights)

Third volume of this great series focuses on US-released pop-sike covering the period 1965 to 1969. Includes many buried treasures including Robbie Curtice's "When Diana Paints The Picture", Eddie Hodges' "Shadows & Reflexions" (later covered by The Action), The Chicago Loop (including Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg pre-Electric Flag) and both sides of the rare single by 10 year old Mark Radice! Fantastic compilation that no 60's collection is complete without. Similarly limited to 1000 copies only.

Artists - Tracks

1. Eddie Hodges - Shadows And Reflexions - 2:57

2. Michael And The Trees - Show You Love Me - 2:25

3. Wiggs Of 1666 - It Will Never Be The Same - 2:17

4. Giant Jellybean Copout - Look At The Girls - 2:35

5. Network - The Boys And The Girls - 2:56

6. Saturday's Photograph - Gentle Lovin' San Francisco Man - 2:57

7. Mark Radice - Save Your Money - 2:39

8. Mark Radice - Wooden Girl - 2:59

9. Voyage - One Day - 2:35

10. River Deep - Shelley Tell Me Why - 2:12

11. Springfield Rifle - Left Of Nowhere - 3:17

12. Lamp Of Childhood - First Time, Last Time - 2:53

13. Trolley - Toy Shop - 2:32

14. East Side Kids - Take A Look In The Mirror - 2:05

15. London Phogg - The Times To Come - 2:59

16. Carnival - I'm Going Home Tomorrow - 2:05

17. Gaitley And Fitzgerald - Seance Day - 2:20

18. Scandal - Girl, You're Goin' Out A My Mind - 2:32

19. Robbie Curtice - When Diana Paints The Picture - 2:47

20. Chicago Loop - This Must Be The Place - 2:31

21. Saturday's Photograph - Summer Never Go Away - 2:08

22. Cadaver - Haven't Got The Time - 2:22

Fading Yellow series..
1965-69  Vol.1 - Timeless Pop-Sike And Other Delights
1965-69  Fading Yellow Vol.2 US Pop Sikes

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Bit A Sweet - Hypnotic 1 (1968 us, stylish psychedelic rock, 2012 Kismet bonus tracks edition)

Bit 'A Sweet promises to be a chart regular with the bright and creative spark branded into 2086, If 1 Needed Someone and How Can 1 Make You See?. They blend all the pop ingredients - strong vocals, rich production and instrumentation, and a special trick with a tune. This LP may well serve as the group's musical calling card, and with their fresh originality and breezy psychedelics, Bit 'A Sweet will top the charts.

Billboard, 29/6/68

Formerly known as The Satisfactions, this hard-hitting Long Island club act were veterans of the local scene when producer-arranger Steve Duboff (who also worked with The Cowsills, The Monkees, The Insect Trust and others) signed to MGM, the band debuted with the 1967 single 'Out of Sight Out of Mind' b/w 'Is It On - Is It Off?' (MGM catalog number K-13695). 

Their sole album was released that May. A likeable blend of psychedelic pop and early synthesizer sounds, it’s presented complete with both sides of their rare 1967 debut 45 (as performed in the movie Blonde On A Bum Trip).

Tracks

1. Speak Softly (Steve Duboff) - 5:10

2. 2086 (Steve Duboff, Art Kornfeld) - 2:50

3. If I Needed Someone (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:36

4. With Love (Mitch London, Steve Duboff) - 3:50

5. Monday - Tuesday (Steve Duboff) - 1:50  

6. Diamonds Studded Eyes (Russell Leslie, Steve Duboff, Dennis Derespino, Mitch London) - 4:02

7. How Can I Make You See (Art Kornfeld, Bill Cowsill, Bob Cowsill) - 2:40

8. Travel (Instrumental)  (Steve Duboff) - 5:00

9. A Second Time (Steve Duboff) - 8:30

10.Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind  (Doug Morris, Steve Duboff) - 2:36

11.Is It On - Is It Off?  (S. Duboff) - 2:53

Bit A Sweet
*Dennis DeRespino - Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion,  Guitar
*Russell Leslie - Vocals, Drums, Percussion
*Mitch London - Vocals, Bass, Percussion
*Jack Mieczkowski - Vocals, Guitar, Sitar
with
*Steve Duboff - Keybords, Percussion, Production
*Vince Bell - Guitars
*Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner - Strings Arrangements

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