UFO are an English rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. UFO were ranked #84 on VH1's '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'. Singer Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way, and drummer Andy Parker formed the band in August 1969. Originally taking the name Hocus Pocus, the group changed their name in October 1969 to UFO in honour of the London club where they were spotted by Noel Moore, who signed them to his Beacon Records label. Their eponymously titled first album debuted in 1970 and was a typical example of early hard rock including a heavy version of the Eddie Cochran's classic "C'mon Everybody". UFO 1 is the debut album.
01 - Unidentified Flying Object 02 - Boogie 03 - C'mon Everybody 04 - Shake It About 05 - (Come Away) Melinda 06 - Timothy 07 - Follow You Home 08 - Treacle People 09 - Who Do You Love 10 - Evil
The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969. During their career, the band released four LPs and seven 45s for the International Artists record label. The 13th Floor Elevators found some commercial and artistic success in 1966-67, before dissolving amid legal troubles and drug use in late 1968. As one of the first psychedelic bands, their contemporary influence has been acknowledged by 1960s musicians such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Chris Gerniottis of Zakary Thaks. The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is a 1966 debut album by 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of folk, garage, blues and, of course, psychedelia, is notable for its use of the electric jug, as featured on the band's only hit, "You're Gonna Miss Me", which reached #55 on the Billboard Charts with "Tried to Hide" as a B-side. Another single from the album, "Reverberation (Doubt)", reached #129 on the Billboard's Bubbling Under Chart. The November 1966 album title is purported to be the first use of the word "psychedelic" in reference to the music within. However, this is in dispute as two other bands also used the word in titles of LPs released in November of 1966: The Blues Magoos' Psychedelic Lollipop, and The Deep's Psychedelic Moods.
01 - You're Gonna Miss Me 02 - Roller Coster 03 - Splash 1 04 - Reverberation (Doubt) 05 - Don't Fall Down 06 - Fire Engine 07 - Thru The Rhytm 08 - You Don't Know 09 - Kingdom Of Heaven 10 - Monkey Island 11 - Tried To Hide
American Blues were a 1960s Texas-based garage band who played a psychedelic style of blues rock music influenced by the 13th Floor Elevators. They are most famous for including two future members of the band ZZ Top in their ranks, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. From 1966 to 1968, they played the Dallas-Fort Worth-Houston circuit and headlined in three clubs all called "The Cellar", in Dallas at clubs such as "The Walrus" on Mockingbird Lane, and in Houston at "Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine" on Allen's Landing, as late as 1968. Around 1968 the band (the two Hill brothers and Beard) decided to leave the Dallas–Fort Worth area, relocating to Houston. At this time, however, guitarist Rocky Hill wanted to focus on "straight blues", while his brother Dusty wanted the band to rock more. Rocky left the band, and was soon replaced by Billy Gibbons, of Houston psychedelic-rockers Moving Sidewalks, becoming the band ZZ Top. American Blues 'Is Here' is a 1968 studio album. The album is sometimes referred to as simply "American Blues" or "Is Here".
01 - If I Were A Carpenter 02 - All I saw was You 03 - She'll Be Mine 04 - Fugue For Lady Cheriff 05 - It's Gone 06 - Keep My Heart In A Rage 07 - Mercury Blues 08 - Melted Like Snow 09 - Mellow
Andromeda was a psychedelic-progressive rock trio formed by singer-guitarist John Cann, formerly of the psychedelic garage band the Attack, Mick Hawksworth (bass, vocals) and Ian McClane (drums, vocals). The group performed in various London venues including Middle Earth and the Marquee Club. Cann's guitar was the dominant instrument, leading listeners through classically- based psychedelic and progressive directions and creative dissonances, contributing to the trio's impressive live sets. Andromeda combined their own original writing with elements appropriated out of familiar classical material. They were signed to RCA in 1969. The group's first single, "Go Your Way" was released in 1969 and a self-titled album (which featured some impressive vocals) followed quickly. The group broke up late in the year, and Cann joined Vincent Crane in Atomic Rooster, while Hawksworth played with Alvin Lee and became a member of Ten Years After (and Ten Years Later), as well as playing with Matthew Fisher. (Bruce Eder, AMG) 01 - Too Old 02 - Day of The Change 03 - And Now the Sun Shines 04 - Turn to Dust 05 - Return to Sanity 06 - The Reason 07 - I Can Stop the Sun 08 - When to Stop 09 - Go Your Way (Bonus) 10 - Keep Out Cos I´m Dying (Bonus) 11 - The Garden of Happiness (Bonus) 12 - Return to Exodus (Bonus) 13 - Let´s All Watch the Sky Fall Down (Bonus) 14 - Darkness of Her Room (Bonus) 15 - See Into the Stars (Bonus) 16 - Search On (Bonus) LINK
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash (1970), Argus (1972), There's the Rub (1974), and New England (1976). They were one of the first of many bands to come who used twin lead guitars. Wishbone Ash are considered to be one of the major innovators of the harmony twin lead guitar format. Their contributions helped in Powell and Turner being voted "Two Of The Ten Most Important Guitarists In Rock History" (Traffic magazine 1989), and part of the "Top 20 Guitarists Of All Time" (Rolling Stone). Melody Maker (1972) described Ted Turner and Andy Powell as "the most interesting two guitar team since the days when Beck and Page graced The Yardbirds". Formed in Torquay, Devon, in 1969, out of the ashes of trio The Empty Vessels (originally known as The Torinoes, later briefly renamed Tanglewood in 1969), which had been formed by Wishbone Ash's founding member Martin Turner (bass/vocals) in 1963 and complemented by Steve Upton (drums and percussion) in 1966. The original Wishbone Ash line-up was completed by guitarists/vocalists Andy Powell and Ted Turner. In 1974, Ted Turner left the band, and was replaced by Laurie Wisefield. The band continued on with strong critical and commercial success until 1980. Pilgrimage is the second album by Wishbone Ash. The album focuses more on folk and acoustic music as opposed to the blues rock sound that dominated the first album. The album also contains an instrumental jazz workout ("Vas Dis") and a four-part harmony vocal track in the spirit of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young ("Valediction"). The album sold well, reaching no.14 in the UK charts.
01 - Vas Dis 02 - The Pilgrim 03 - Jail Bait 04 - Alone 05 - Lullaby 06 - Valediction 07 - Where Were You Tomorrow 08 - Jail Bait
The band was formed in Connecticut in 1966 as a garage rock band. This Italian CD reissues the sole album by this obscure group who recorded this one LP and a classic psychedelic garage punk single which appears on the Psychedelic Unknowns compilation. While the debut single was classic beat garage of the period 1966, by the 1969 album the group expanded into more hard rock and progressive styles and this album is drenched in the lead guitar blitz of Reggie Wright. The group was led by brothers Denis Croce on guitar and Richard Croce on vocals, and Chuck Maher and Ralph Muscatelli on bass and drums. The group is not to be confused with a Chicago-area group of the same name and era who appeared on the Pebbles box set. Recorded at Associated Recording Studios, New York. Produced by Warren Schatz and Stephen Schlaks 01 - Paranoia 02 - Sad Born Loser 03 - What Of I 04 - She's Easy 05 - Sailing 06 - Providence Bumme 07 - Evil Woman 08 - Hunter's Moon LINK
Zakarrias (vocals, guitar, bass, kazoo), Geoff Leigh (flute, saxophone), Pete Robinson (keyboards), Don Gould (keyboards, string arrangements), Martin Harrison (drums). The only album by the British band Zakarrias is an overlooked treasure of the early 70s UK rock scene. Almost no information about the bands history is available, but their lone LP is now considered one of the rarest releases on the Deram label. Released in 1971, the eponymous LP by Zakarrias presented their highly unusual blend of psych, folk, hard rock and blues, which benefited from diverse arrangements and clever, romantic lyrics. Zakarrias himself was an exceptionally talented songwriter and arranger, and with the quick demise of his band, the UK rock scene lost a representative of utmost potential. As for the other members once and future activities: Pete Robinson played with Quatermass and Chris Farlowe, whilst Geoff Leigh joined Henry Cow for their 1973 debut Leg-end, before embarking on a career as an avant garde journeyman, which included fronting his own ensemble the Black Sheep. 01 - Country Out Of Reach 02 - Who Gave You Love 03 - Never Reachin? 04 - The Unknown Years 05 - Sunny Side 06 - Spring Of Fate 07 - Let Us Change 08 - Don?t Cry 09 - Cosmic Bridge LINK
Canadian beat/mod group formed in St Catharines, Ontario in 1963 (as The Lintels). Fraser Loveman (vocals), Joe Colonna (bass), Robbie Jeffrey (drums), Greig Foster (guitar) and Mike Gorgichuk (guitar). The band only performed cover tunes, but the fans didn't care. They couldn't get enough and so, to fill the demand, the British Modbeats released the Doris Troy song "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" in 1966 followed by their debut album 'Mod Is The British Modbeats' in 1967. The album spawned a hit single in "Somebody Help Me" followed by two others. The group would rise to the occasion with opening slots for The Rascals, The Byrds, The McCoys and play Expo '67 plus a pit stop at The Scene in New York City. Disbanded in 1968. 01 - Watcha Gonna Do About It.mp3 02 - Love's Just A Broken Heart.mp3 03 - The Price Of Love.mp3 04 - Ain't Nobody Home But Me.mp3 05 - Lsd.mp3 06 - Land Of A 1000 Dances.mp3 07 - Somebody Help Me.mp3 08 - Sorrow.mp3 09 - More Love.mp3 10 - Try To Understand.mp3 11 - Don't Answer Me.mp3 LINK
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, "Venus", went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974. The initial line-up consisted of Robbie van Leeuwen (guitar, sitar and backing vocals), Fred de Wilde (vocals), later replaced by Mariska Veres in 1968, Klaasje van der Wal (bass guitar) and Cor van der Beek (drums).At Home is the second album by Shocking Blue, released in 1969. American listeners tend to remember Shocking Blue as the one-hit wonder behind the chart-topper "Venus," a melting pot of rock rhythms, country guitar licks, organ riffs, and Mariska Veres' heavily accented vocals. Sounding something like a cross between "96 Tears" and "Sugar, Sugar," "Venus" was not entirely representative of the group's second album. Shocking Blue purveyed a mild strain of psychedelic rock, but leaned more toward country and folk music than bubblegum. 01 - Boll Weevil 02 - I ll Write Your Name Through The Fire 03 - Acka Raga 04 - Love Machine 05 - I m A Woman 06 - Venus 07 - California Here I Come 08 - Poor Boy 09 - Long And Lonesome Road 10 - Love Buzz 11 - The Butterfly And I 12 - Harley Davidson 13 - Fireball Of Love 14 - Hot Sand 15 - Wild Wind LINK
Wigwam is a Finnish progressive rock band formed in 1968. Wigwam was founded after the split of the seminal Blues Section, with whom drummer Ronnie Österberg had played before. He formed the band as a trio, but soon brought in British expatriate singer/songwriter Jim Pembroke (also in BS) and organist Jukka Gustavson. A year later, Pekka Pohjola joined on bass. Kim Fowley produced Wigwam's second album Tombstone Valentine (1970). This album also featured an excerpt of Erkki Kurenniemi's electronic composition 'Dance of the Anthropoids'. Tombstone Valentine was released by Wigwam in 1970. While the previous album Hard 'n' Horny was more of a jazz influenced album, Tombstone Valentine in one of their more pop-ish albums. The album sounds more like the records of the "Deep Pop" era than the records of the progressive rock era. Unlike the other Wigwam albums, this was produced by "non-Finnish" producer, the American Kim Fowley. 01 - Tombstone Valentine 02 - In Gratitude 03 - Dance Of The Anthropoids 04 - Frederick & Bill 05 - Wishful Thinker 06 - Autograph 07 - 1936 Lost In The Snow 08 - Let The World Ramble On 09 - For America 10 - Captain Supernatural 11 - End LINK
Sly and the Family Stone are an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music. Headed by singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and containing several of his family members and friends, the band was the first major American rock band to have an "integrated, multi-gender" lineup. A Whole New Thing is the debut album of Sly & the Family Stone, released in 1967 on Epic/CBS Records. The album was released to mixed criticism and failed to make an impact from a commercial standpoint and did not chart. CBS Records executive Clive Davis prevailed upon band leader Sly Stone to create a more commercial album; the result was the album Dance to the Music. Unlike later Sly and the Family Stone albums, A Whole New Thing was recorded live in the studio instead of being overdubbed and featured less of a pop feel than later releases such as Dance to the Music and Stand!. The lead vocals are shared between Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham; Rose Stone would not join the band until they began work on Dance to the Music. 01 - Underdog 02 - If This Room Could Talk 03 - Run Run Run 04 - Turn Me Loose 05 - Let Me Hear It From You 06 - Advice 07 - I Cannot Make It 08 - Trip To Your Heart 09 - I Hate To Love Her 10 - Bad Risk 11 - That Kind Of Person 12 - Dog 13 - What Would I Do LINK
Whether Big Brother & the Holding Company would have made any waves at all in the late-'60s San Francisco music scene sans Janis Joplin could be argued. Be A Brother is a good indicator of what they would have sounded like without her amazing voice. Recorded in 1970, guitarist David Schallock and singer/songwriter/producer Nick Gravenites were added to help fill the space created with the absence of Joplin. These ten original compositions include "Home on the Strange," "Mr. Natural," "Funkie Jim," and "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle" dedicated to Merle Haggard. This is a decent blues-based session similar to early Butterfield Blues Band records, which isn't a bad thing at all. 01 - Keep On 02 - Joseph´s Coast 03 - Home On Strange 04 - Someday 05 - Heartache People 06 - Sunshine Baby 07 - Mr Natural 08 - Funkie Jim 09 - I´ll Change Your Flat T Tire Merie 10 - Be A Brother LINK
Terry Winter (Thomas William Standen) was born in Brazil in 1947 from British parents. It was the first Brazilian artist to sing in English. His biggest hit, Summer Hollyday, 1972, was a huge success (at least in South America). 01 - Summer Holiday 02 - Ballony 03 - Look At Me 04 - Pretty Woman 05 - Our Love Dream 06 - Please Leave Me Alone 07 - Lovely Love 08 - I Know 09 - Tthe Whistler 10 - You´ll Notice Me 11 - Homesick 12 - Shadow Dark And Blue 13 - Something For Someone 14 - Nature LINK
Blossom Toes were an English psychedelic pop band active between 1967 and 1969. Initially known as The Ingoes, they were renamed and signed to manager Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label. The original line-up comprised Brian Godding (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jim Cregan, (guitar, vocals), Brian Belshaw (bass, vocals), and Kevin Westlake (drums). The band's debut album, We Are Ever So Clean, is a classic example of quintessentially English psychedelia. On release, it was presented in the UK music magazine Melody Maker as "Giorgio Gomelsky's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Although not a major commercial success, tracks such as "What On Earth" or "Look At Me, I'm You" have helped give the album something of a cult period status as it is unearthed by successive generations of 60s retro fans. It was recently voted Number 40 in Record Collector’s list of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Records". 01 - Look At Me I'm You 02 - I'll Be Late For Tea 03 - The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog 04 - Telegram Tuesday 05 - Love Is 06 - What's It For 07 - People Of The Royal Parks 08 - What On Earth 09 - Mrs. Murphy's Budgerigar 10 - I Will Bring You This And That 11 - Mister Watchmaker 12 - When The Alarm Clock Rings 13 - The Intrepid Balloonist's Handbook, Volume One 14 - You 15 - Track For Speedy Freaks (Or Instant Lp Digest) 16 - Everybody's Talking 17 - Look At Me I'm You (Instrumental) 18 - I'll Be Late For Tea (Live) 19 - Mister Watchmaker (Live) 20 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 21 - Jim Cregan Bbc Interview 22 - Love Is (Live) 23 - Collects Little Girls (Demo) 24 - Hometime (Demo) 25 - Looking Up I'm Looking Back (Demo) LINK
St. John Green consisted of Ed Bissot (bass-vocals), Vic Sabino (harmonica-vocals), Bill Kirkland (guitar), Mike Baxter (organ-vocals), and Shel Scott (drums). St John Green, as the back cover of this album explains, were part of the "Canyon scene," a loose association of musicians and hippies based in and around Topanga Canyon in California in the late 60s. Spirit, featuring Randy California and Ed Cassidy, were the best known Canyon group. Although too patchy to be considered a "classic", this album by St John Green is a genuinely interesting period piece nevertheless, and it does include a handful of good songs. 01 - 7Th Generation Mutation 02 - Canyon Women 03 - Devil And The Sea 04 - Do You Believe 05 - Help Me Close The Door 06 - Messages From The Dead 07 - Goddess Of Death 08 - St. John Green 09 - Spirit Of Now 10 - Love Of Hate 11 - One Room Cemetary 12 - Shivers Of Pleasure LINK
From Los Angeles/California, this group made a pretty good laid back Rock record at the end of the decade that was re-issued in the '90s. This is one of those superobscure collector-type albums, probably better known for having only one existing copy than for the music contained. Nothing is known about the band Jungle except that they recorded this album in 1969. It's definitely an accomplished studio effort, with excellent recording and production. There are lots of really great swirling acid organ, good strong singing (sometimes harmonized), and some truly great isolated fuzz guitar breaks with some of the other guitar work approaching a jazzy flavor. The tunes are all originals, and while the lyrics have dated, the band still sounds great. Not only was this originally an extremely rare artifact originally, but both the CD and LP reissues were limited to 500 as well.(Westergaard, AMG) 01 - House Of Rooms 02 - Somewhere Sweet Memories 03 - Gray Picnic 04 - Changes I'm Going Through 05 - Early Morning Rising 06 - Slave Ship LINK
Pretties for You was the debut album by Alice Cooper. At this time, the name Alice Cooper referred to the band, not its lead singer, though the lead singer was known as Alice Cooper. The music has a psychedelic flavor to it. The group had yet to develop the more concise hard rock sound that they would become known for. Most of the tracks from the album have a distinct loud and dynamic rock sound. However, very few songs have had some sort of hard rock quality. For example, the spacey hard rock song "Fields of Regret", the bluesy "Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio", and a song that sounds a lot like Alice Cooper's music later on with the band, a live version of "Levity Ball". Pretties For You was a critical and commercial failure. 01 - Titanic Overture 02 - 10 Minutes Before The Worm 03 - Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio 04 - Today Mueller 05 - Living 06 - Fields Of Regret 07 - No Longer Umpire 08 - Levity Ball (Live At The Cheetah) 09 - B. B. On Mars 10 - Reflected 11 - Apple Bush 12 - Earwigs To Eternity 13 - Changing Arranging LINK
Alexis Korner was a pioneering blues musician and broadcaster who has sometimes been referred to as "the Founding Father of British Blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in bringing together various English blues musicians. In 1961, Korner and harmonica player Cyril Davies formed Blues Incorporated, initially a loose-knit group of musicians with a shared love of electric blues and R&B music. The group included, at various times, such influential musicians as Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, Danny Thompson and Dick Heckstall-Smith. It also attracted a wider crowd of mostly younger fans, some of whom occasionally performed with the group, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Rod Stewart, John Mayall and Jimmy Page. 01 - Robert Johnson 02 - Honky Tonk Woman 03 - I Got My Mojo Working 04 - King BB 05 - Im Your Hoochie Coochie Man 06 - I Got A Woman 07 - Operator 08 - Louisiana 09 - She Fooled Me 10 - Corina, Corina LINK
ZZ Top is an American blues rock band, formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. Comprising Billy Gibbons (lead vocals and guitar), Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums and percussion), ZZ Top was ranked number 44 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The trio's original lineup has been intact for over 40 years; their longevity has placed them second only to the Four Tops, whose original band members remained intact from 1953 until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997. ZZ Top retained the services of the same manager, Bill Ham, until September, 2006. Rio Grande Mud is the second album by ZZ Top, released in 1972. 01 - Francine 02 - Just Got Paid 03 - Mushmouth Shoutin' 04 - Ko Ko Blue 05 - Chevrolet 06 - Apologies To Pearly 07 - Bar-B-Q 08 - Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell 09 - Whiskey'n Mama 10 - Down Brownie LINK
Growing Concern, was formed by Bonnie MacDonald and Mary Garstki, vocals, Dan Passaglia, organ, John Pedley, bass and Ralph Toms, guitar. Although little is known of Growing Concern, their only album (Mainstream, 1968) is an enjoyable piece of West Coast psychedelic pop. The opening track 'Hard, Hard Year' sets the tone for the album: it opens with melodic guitar work, which is joined first by bass, then by excellent keyboards; it also features beautiful female vocal harmonies from group members Bonnie MacDonald and Mary Garstki. 'Edge Of Time' features excellent lead guitar work, as does 'Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled'; 'A Boy I Once Knew Well' is a folky lament, which again features fine vocal harmonies, keyboards, and guitar work. Overall, quite a good blend of folk rock, pop, and psychedelia. The album is brilliantly recorded, and is of a consistently high musical quality. The band surely deserved a better fate than the obscurity to which they were consigned by the bizarre business practices of the Mainstream label. 01 - Hard Hard Year 02 - Edge Of Time 03 - Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled 04 - A Boy I Once Knew Well 05 - All I Really Want 06 - Mister You're A Better Man Than I 07 - What Kind Of Life 08 - Other Side Of Life 09 - I Knew A Girl 10 - Sit Down I Think I Love You LINK
