Psychedelia / Prog / Kraut / Space / Psychedelic Folk (60s-70s)

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/please/1968_69/ wrote:Please was the predecessor to the heavy psych/prog band T2 and they recorded these songs in 1968 and 1969 like the album title says. The earlier version of Please was Neon Pearl who recorded some songs in Germany in 1967. Their archival album is also worth checking out by the way. Neon Pearl relocated to the UK and changed their name to Please after some line-up changes.

http://wrirrvamusichistory.tumblr.com/post/98405699248/the-classics-morning-disaster-black-leather wrote:

“Black Leather Books” by the Colonial Heights-based Morning Disaster is both a shimmering sonic jewel of a song — all mysterious Byrds-y chord changes and apocalyptic Doors-like lyrics — and a fascinating local music history lesson. In Morning Disaster, led by songwriter and organist Stanley Rose and longtime area drummer Bob Antonelli, we hear the first flowering of the Virginia Commonwealth University (then RPI) art school influence that so colors the music of Richmond today. “Nobody wanted to do original music around here. There was no demand for it at all,” Rose says about that period in the late ‘60s when the edgy Morning Disaster was opening for the likes of Iron Butterfly. The band held court at an adventurous Fan club at the corner of Laurel and Broad called the Asparagus Farm, toured the North Carolina college circuit and played packed shows at Dogwood Dell. Not long after the group recorded a demo tape in 1968 that went nowhere, it disbanded. Stanley Rose quit playing music and the group’s recordings — including the sublime “Black Leather Books” — survived only on a homemade eight-track tape, which was rediscovered by archivist Brent Hosier and released on “Aliens Psychos & Wild Things Vol. 3 (Virginia & Outer Space 1965-70).” Clearly, judging from the evidence, the Morning Disaster was the one that both led the way and got away.

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/02/14/forgotten-series-food-forever-is-a-dream-1969/ wrote:Chicago, Illinois was the address of this enigmatic band that cut one album before dissolving into the depths of even further obscurity. Initially distributed by the Capitol label in 1969, Forever Is A Dream bleeds with ambition and adventure, implying Food was not exactly aspiring to be mainstream pop stars.

Although the triple influences of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced and Love’s Forever Changes are imbued throughout the disc, there’s enough novel curves and ideas going on here that make Food sound quite original.

Presenting an intriguing union of classical music and acid rock, Forever Is A Dream (Ascension Records) obviously dispenses an array of multiple moods. At times, a sleepy, spaced out vibe helms the proceedings, while other moments capture Food cranking the volume up as high as it can go and urgently wailing away. In print, such descriptions may seem too disjointed and extreme, but Food manages to bring it all together in a singular collection that keeps the listener interested.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3479 wrote:Hanuman (Lied des Teufels) biography
Early 70's krautrock band from Berlin, Hanuman was formed by Peter Barth (flute, sax, vocals), Jörg Hahnfeld (bass), Thomas Holm (drums) and Wolf-Rüdiger Uhlig (organ, piano, vocals). In 1972 the band will change the name to Lied des Teufels. Rüdiger Uhlig will join the legendary heavy progressive rock band Murphy Blend. The band released an unique album in 1971, largely made of extravagant, colourful, tastefull hybrid rockin' compositions with discreet influences from Van Der Graaf Generator

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-five-day-week-straw-people-mn0000796993/biography wrote: The Five Day Week Straw People were a one-off, studio-only British psychedelic band that did one rare album in late 1967 (actually released in 1968) for the budget Saga label. Its ten songs were loosely centered around the concept of a typical weekend in the life of typical working British people. For a fee of 25 pounds per musician, the Five Day Week Straw People -- comprised of singer/guitarist John Du Cann (of the obscure psychedelic pop group the Attack, who did four singles for Decca), bassist Mick Hawksworth, and drummer Jack Collins -- were assembled. The album was recorded in about four hours in a London schoolroom, a remarkable achievement given that Collins had not heard any of the songs prior to the session.

The Five Day Week Straw People
While the album (simply titled The Five Day Week Straw People) has attracted some fanatical praise among collectors, it's average-period British psychedelia. It leans a little more toward heavy rock than toward mod, although there are some strong pop elements in the vocal harmonies and the British storytelling lyricism. At times, it's reminiscent of the most pop-oriented material that Cream recorded. The same could be said of some of the stuff done by Andromeda, the group that Du Cann, Hawksworth, and Collins decided to found after cutting The Five Day Week Straw People, although Andromeda was definitely in a heavier, hard rock vein. A two-fer featuring The Five Day Week Straw People and The Attack was reissued on CD by Angel Air in 2000, with nine unreleased songs by the Attack added as bonus tracks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Christie wrote:Susan Christie is an American singer-songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She had a minor hit with the novelty song "I Love Onions" (written by Donald Cochrane and John Hill).[1] The track, which peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966, is described as having a sound reminiscent of the 1930s, with Christie's "breathy" vocal backed by a chorus of kazoo players and male backup singers.[2]

The song featured a spoken recitation from a male speaker, a harmonica player, and it ens with the Elmer Fudd type of voice, Saying "How very, very good".

In Canada, however, the single fared much better, reaching #19 on the RPM 100 national singles chart on August 1, 1966.[3] The tune was adapted as "I Love Funyuns" for a late 60's TV commercial for an onion-flavored snack food. The tune was later adapted for a Canadian television commercial as "I Love Turtles" in 1980.[4][5]

Signed to Columbia Records, Christie recorded an album in 1970, Paint a Lady. Described as "psychedelic folk music", the album went unreleased by Columbia, which considered it to be non-commercial, and Christie was dropped from the label. The album, of which only three vinyl copies were ever pressed,[6] languished in obscurity until 2006, when Manchester-based DJ Andy Votel received a copy and brought the album renewed attention and a CD release. SPIN magazine described the album as "funky free folk" filled with "[b]rilliantly original songs" and Christie as a "dark, strange songbird".[7]

Christie participated in the 2008 "Lost Ladies of Folk" project spearheaded by Votel and his spouse, recording artist Jane Weaver, performing in concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and appearing on the compilation album Bearded Ladies.[6] In 2010, Christie appeared as a guest artist on Weaver's album The Fallen By Watch Bird.[8]

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/front-page-review-mn0000739481 wrote:One of the lesser lights of the late-'60s Bosstown Sound, Front Page Review recorded one unissued album in 1968 that was planned for release on MGM, but wouldn't surface until 30 years later. Guitarist and singer Steve Cataldo wrote all of the material for the group, which played minor-league, minor-keyed brooding psychedelia. Like many Boston groups, they were heavy on the weedy electric keyboards, and like most of the Bosstown acts, they didn't offer much in the way of imagination or idiosyncrasy to make them stand out from the psychedelic crowd. After Front Page Review broke up, Cataldo did a solo album for ABC, and then hitched onto the new wave by forming the Nervous Eaters, who made a couple of LPs. Front Page Review's album was finally unearthed for CD release in 1997.

http://fantasy0807.blogspot.gr/2008/08/fantasy-paint-picture-excellent-uk-prog.html wrote:Before writing my own review of this album, I have to admit being a bit biased. I really love this style of early English progressive rock, that’s why I named my blog Fantasy. Fantasy's "Paint a Picture" is an example of prototypical progressive rock that appears to be as influenced by The Moody Blues as by King Crimson. In this way, Fantasy compares to Spring, Gracious and Cressida.

The band's original guitarist had died accidentally before this was made and subsequently the lyrics reflect issues of loss, madness and an overall questioning of existence. The songs are mostly short (2 -5 minutes) and at their best feel like that wonderful combination of sunshine with a breeze. The sound is generally fairly mellow, but much like the album's beautiful cover it is painted with a diverse and colourful palette. In other words, while most of tempos are relaxed and there aren't that many time changes, there is a lot going on: acoustic guitars, electric guitars, organ, mellotron, bass, and drums all combine to form the main melody, and then, at times, separate to present variations. The exception to this is the seven minute long "Circus." This is generally considered the most progressive song in this set, and it is the most uptempo and varied. However, my favourite is the title track which has a very dream-like feel to it.

Their second record "Beyond the Beyond" which was rejected by Polydor in the 70s was released on CD in 1992.

This is truly a very great album that I would recommend heartily !!!

http://www.allmusic.com/album/far-cry-mw0000783293 wrote:Sometimes hypes and supposed scenes turn up random work that gets lost in the flow of its time but which a later generation rediscovers and celebrates deservedly for qualities obscured at the time. Sometimes. Far Cry, though, won't get that nod, though it's not for lack of trying on the part of the Fallout label, who make a specialty of digging up random oddities. This one's just a bit too random, though: a late-'60s Boston band caught up in the monumental PR flop of the "Bosstown Sound," Far Cry made a debut and, in the end, what would be their sole album, which is exactly what one would expect from a group at that time and place operating on a limited budget. To the septet's credit, their songs are all originals as compared to so many of the covers that would pad out many albums at the time, while snagging a piece of classic Persian art for the cover made for a vivid visual impact. But the seven-song album sounds flat and distant even after a CD remaster, not bootleg-murky but not striking, either, while the band is simultaneously reasonably talented in a workmanlike way without bringing anything new to the table. Lead vocalist Jere Whiting's white blues wails are serviceable without being remarkable, while the group's jams and breakdowns totter between noodling and making something out of it all, not always successfully. Bassist Sean Hutchinson more often than not is trying to lay in at least a bit of funk, in a steady-as-she-goes way, but otherwise long songs like "Dream?" and "Sweet Little Angel" in particular just fill up the space or build to OK but not remarkable finishes. A little psych, a little blues, a little funk -- a little album, in the end.

http://www.last.fm/music/Fresh+Maggots/+wiki wrote:

Fresh Maggots were just two people, Mick Burgoyne and Leigh Dolphin, (they came from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England) and they played melodic acid folk-rock with electric (heavy on the fuzz side) and acoustic guitar mixed with glockenspiel, tambourine, violin, tin whistles and harmony vocals. If there was such a genre as garage folk then this it. The original vinyl is very much sought-after today and almost impossible to find.

Mick Burgoyne and Leigh Dolphin’s sole album is long established as a cult classic and collector’s grail. Recorded in 1971 when they were just 19 years old and fresh to the studio, "Fresh Maggots" is one of the best distillations of folk and psychedelia ever recorded. Varying in tone from heavy rock (‘Frustration’) to protest (‘Everybody’s Gone To War’), social commentary (‘Dole Song’) and pastoral (‘Rosemary Hill’), it’s a highly unusual and powerful record that enjoyed extravagant acclaim on release but sold poorly and has never been officially issued since. Original pressings are notoriously badly pressed, so this reissue is sure to be rapturously welcomed by all lovers of acid folk.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=368 wrote:The progressive sound of this group - full of rhythm changes and rich melodic treatments - was based on the virtuosity of Caló, Borda and Sainz. The second album of wild Argentine progressive gem. Long tracks, very wild keyboards/guitar based with constant rhythm changes not unlike the best Italian bands. More influenced by bands like YES, FLASH, or GREENSLADE, "Espacios" - featuring only three long compositions ("4:30 en el universo", "Surcos en el aire" and "Pausa en espacios") - was still a good record, though not as good as the first one.

http://psychedelicized.com/playlist/c/crome-syrcus-the/ wrote:The Crome Syrcus originally formed in Seattle, but moved to San Francisco soon after to start their career. Members of the band included Lee Graham (vocals, bass, flute), John Garborit (guitar), Dick Powell (harmonica, keyboards), Ted Shreffler (keyboards), and Rod Pilloud (drums). Jim Plano visited the band and played drums, and Richard Ward was their manager.

The band released the vast majority of their music in 1968, releasing most of their singles and their sole album, Love Cycle. The album was influenced by the early psychedelic pop/rock sound, while also including elements that show their artistic expression beyond the boundaries of a standard pop song. The Crome Syrcus loved confusing arrangements, classical references, orchestrations and pastoral flute sequences, and wild guitar solos. One of the songs on the album, “The Love Cycle,” lasts for over 17 minutes where the band experiments with a wide variety of sounds and styles. The Crome Syrcus disbanded in 1973, however, they had not released any records post-1969.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3312634-Influenza-4 wrote:
Influenza was a dutch band from Amsterdam, that lived for a year in Paris (1968).
The members of the band were (from left to right on the cover): Peng Øffe - drums, Clovis (he is French) - percussion (not on the record), Frans Lammerts - guitar, Dop Nansink - bassguitar and vocals (vocals on the B side), Dwight ... (forgot his last name) - guitar and vocals (only on Astral Plane).
The songs are recorded in 1968.
The song is written by Dwight ... and not by Nansink/Lammerts.
The B side (Trick) was supposed to be the A side but Dwight (who was the roady at that time!) was playing a bit just for fun on acoustic guitar, a song he just wrote, and the producer and everybody else liked it so much that it was decided to make it the A side. That song was Astral Plane. Another funny thing is, on the record you hear a peep and then "can you hear anything?". That was not supposed to be on the record, it was the technician that opend the studio door (peep) and asked if the headphones were working (can you hear anything?). But, again, everybody liked it, so .....