Stack was formed in Los Angeles in 1967 from a Surf act called "The Vandells" ("Rick Gould", lead guitar) and another local act called "Wabash Spencer Band" aka "The Fabs" ("Bill Sheppard" - vocals, "Bob Ellis" - drums, "Buddy Clark" - bass guitar, "Kurt Feierabend" - rhythm guitar). They rehearsed and played at Long Beach's "Marina Palace", and its owner, Bill Robertson, became their manager. While playing one night at the "Marina Palace", Stack was offered a recording contract with "Mike Curb"'s "Sidewalk Productions". They signed and 8-year deal with the company that gave them virtually nothing besides the opportunity to record their music. It did, however, enable the band to record "Above All" at several Los Angeles studios in 1969; unfortunately for the band, the album was shelved, and Stack became a tax write-off for "Sidewalk Productions", with no recourse other than to call it quits since they were still under contract. 01 - Poison Ivy 02 - Only Forever 03 - Da Blues 04 - Cars 05 - Everyday 06 - Valleys 07 - Time Seller 08 - Hot Days 09 - Do It LINK
The Hook was a late sixties So. Cal. band that had a minor cult hit, "Son of Fantasy", that has to be one of the great neglected "heavy" rock tunes of the late sixties underground/garage band/psychedelica pop music movement. If you didn't live in So.Cal. at that time then you probably haven't heard of the band, but if you appreciate the stylings of such bands as The Standells, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Blues Magoos, The Seeds, The Leaves, etc., then you will eat this up with a spoon. They were a power trio, and the names of some of the tunes on this CD will tell you a lot about their musical philosophy ("Everything's Groovy", "Turn Your Head", "Plug Your Head In"). Their lead guitarist had a style very similar to Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer, and while they can be compared to that band in some respects, they really did have their own style, fuzz tone/reverb and all. (Lawrence A. Strid)
01 - Homes 02 - Lookin? For You 03 - You Know I Do 04 - Turn Your Head 05 - Son Of Fantasy 06 - Dr. B. & His Friends 07 - Plug Your Head In 08 - Everything?s Groovy 09 - Garbage Man 10 - Dimples
Poco is an American country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up The Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of the Springfield. Throughout the years Poco has performed in various groupings, with the latest version still active today. The Forgotten Trail (1969–74) is a 2-CD collection of the greatest hits of Poco recorded during the group's work for Epic Records, which included their first eight albums (through Cantamos). Although this collection does not include most of Poco's biggest hits, which came after the group's move to ABC Records, it also contains both sides of a non-LP single, three remixes, three alternate takes and six unreleased tracks, all of which came from Richie Furay's original time in the band. In particular, the album includes an alternate acoustic version of Poco's first hit, Jim Messina's "You Better Think Twice", and four previously-unreleased songs from the Crazy Eyes sessions, including Furay's "Believe Me", which later became a hit for the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.
Disc 1
01 - Pickin' Up The Pieces 02 - Grand Junction 03 - Consequently, So Long 04 - First Love 05 - Calico Lady 06 - My Kind Of Love 07 - Hard Luck 08 - Last Call (Cold Enchilada #3) 09 - Honky Tonk Downstairs 10 - Hurry Up 11 - You Better Think Twice 12 - Anyway Bye Bye 13 - I Guess You Made It 14 - C'mon 15 - Hear That Music 16 - Kind Woman 17 - Just For Me And You 18 - Bad Weather 19 - You Better Think Twice 20 - Lullaby In September
Disc 2
01 - You Are The One 02 - From The Inside 03 - A Good Feelin' To Know 04 - I Can See Everything 05 - And Settlin' Down 06 - Blue Water 07 - Fool's Gold 08 - Nothin's Still The Same 09 - Skunk Creek 10 - Here We Go Again 11 - Crazy Eyes 12 - Get In The Wind 13 - Believe Me 14 - Rocky Mountain Breakdown 15 - Faith In The Families 16 - Western Waterloo 17 - Whatever Happened To Your Smile 18 - Sagebrush Serenade
British prog rock act Skin Alley were a farsighted collaboration between Thomas Crimble (keyboards/bass/vocals), Alvin Pope (drums), Krzysztof Henryk Justkiewicz (keyboards), and Bob James (sax/guitar). Formed in the late '60s, they made inroads quickly and found themselves signed to CBS for their self-titled debut in 1969. That album, and its 1970 follow-up, To Pagham & Beyond, saw the band in top prog form -- a pastiche of folk, jazz, and rock that, although well traveled by this time, managed to delight more than a few critics with its freshness and vitality. Crimble and Pope moved on later that year and were replaced by Nick Graham (formerly of The End, Tucky Buzzard, and Atomic Rooster) and Tony Knight (ex-Bronx Cheer), respectively. With new members in place, Skin Alley's sound took on a more polished, mainstream approach and began prominently featuring the complex string, woodwind, and brass arrangements of Graham. Their jazz-rock fusion sound was still there, but with decidedly more polish and sophistication.(AMG) 01 - Living In Sin 02 - Tell Me 03 - Mother Please Help Your Child 04 - Marsha 05 - Country Aire 06 - All Alone 07 - Night Time 08 - Concerto Grosso (Take Heed) 09 - (Going Down The) Highway LINK
This psychedelic album are among the most sought-after artefacts of British psychedelia. Only 99 copies of the album by this Blackpool-based band were pressed. Despite the fact the debut album was recorded in November 1970 it sounds like it's straight out of the Summer of love. Basically we're talking echo-laden organ-driven garage psychedelia which is marred only by poor sound quality. Eight of the eleven compositions were penned by Steve Coe and a guy called Mitchell, two were Steve Coe compositions and the finale, Live For The Minute, was the product of a Coe-Shakespeare songwriting collaboration. This has lots of fine guitar organ interplay. Other highlights are Witch's Spell and Storm On The Way, both notable for some punchy organ work and strong vocals and Self Declaration, which has lots of fuzzy guitar and cheesy organ. A couple of tracks, Josie and Madamoiselle Jackie veer more towards pop with a commercial edge.(CGR)
01 - Funny Feeling 02 - Message From The Year 2000 03 - Green-Eyed Lucy 04 - Josie 05 - Witch's Spell 06 - Norwegian Butterfly 07 - Self Declaration 08 - Images Blue 09 - Storm On Way 10 - Mademoiselle Jackie 11 - Live For The Minute 12 - Hush 13 - Images Blue (Alternate Version) 14 - Green-Eyed Lucy (Alternate Version) 15 - Norwegian Butterfly (Alternate Version)
"Jay and Gary Leavitt, along with Bobby Herne, made their first musical rumblings in 1966 as the Cobras, releasing the New England garage classic "I Wanna Be Your Lover"/"Instant Heartache". Fast-forward to 1970 and the brothers, joined by Ralph Mazotta (ex-Lazy Smoke) and Harold Perino Jr. (aka "Maris"), transformed into the hard psychedelic aggro Euclid, signed to Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman subsidiary Amsterdam and were one of the few (only?) "rock" releases on either label (a notable exception being the rare Minx soundtrack by The Cyrkle). Herne, manning the producer's chair (a role he would later repeat for The Shaggs' Philosophy Of The World LP), created a "bad trip" spiked with backwards tape effects, darkly-phased vocals, all instruments set to "pummel" and an album title certainly eligible for the "truth in advertising" award!" (Rockadrome) 01 - Shadows Of Life-On The Way-Bye Bye Baby 02 - Gimme Some Lovin' 03 - First Time Last Time 04 - Lazy Livin' 05 - 97 Days 06 - She's Gone 07 - It's All Over Now LINK
