"Let's Go Down And Blow Our Minds" The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967 CD1

This box looks at British psychedelia (one tune "reported to be very weird") from the year 1967. Some of the bands are well known like Procol Harum, The Attack, The Pretty Things, The Move, and a few others. But the compilers have wisely excluded well known songs from these bands in favor of lesser known tracks. But fully half of these tracks are by lesser or totally unknown bands who recorded a slice of psychedelia from that time. But fans have no doubt heard "Granny Takes A Trip" by The Purple Gang and "Defecting Grey" by The Pretty Things and maybe a few other tracks before. Included are a number of previously unreleased tracks which add some pretty good interest to the set...

...Check out "Toyland" by The Alan Bown!, where this set gets it's title for an in-your-face set of lyrics. Mention has to be made of The Attack with their Who-like "Magic In The Air", a tough piece of psyche/rock. Or "Subway (Smokey Pokey World)" by The Tickle (before guitarist Mick Wayne formed Junior's Eyes--check out their compilation) for a burst of tough psychedelia. Or "Dogs In Baskets" by Geranium Pond, an unreleased gem. Plus there's "Double Sight" by One In A Million, a fried example of English psyche. This band was a favorite of Pete Townshend because one member was guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. Another example of what went on in 1967 is "Smokeytime Springtime" by The Doves, with some backwards effects. Or maybe the demo of "Family Tree" by The Late, sounding vaguely reminiscent of The Hollies in their psyche/pop period. And then there's "Lazy Man" by The Mirage sounding much like The Beatles' "Rain". And how about "Village Green" a Kinks-like tune from The Brood. There's also a relatively unknown song written by David Bowie, "Silver Tree Top For Boys", by The Slender Plenty. Throw in a menacing version of "Evil Woman" by Guy Darrell (before Spooky Tooth's awesome version) and you have some pretty interesting music. And so it goes throughout this collection.
The mastering has brought out the clarity in these tracks which sound clean and open. The 40 page booklet is the usual from this label--a track-by-track analysis with lots of photos and other ephemera. Each disc slips inside a cardboard sleeve decorated with a psyche image and a track list on the back side. Everything fits inside a thick cardboard clam shell box which lists all the tunes on the back. All in all a nice presentation of this music.
While this set can't include every band from this year that dabbled in psyche, it does give a good idea of just what was going on in Britain in 1967. But with some many lesser known groups and lesser known songs from more well known bands, this collection does a nice job focusing on British psyche from that pivotal year. Worth twenty bucks.

trax disc 1:
1. Toyland (mono single version) - The Alan Bown 2. Magic In The Air - The Attack 3. Subway (Smokey Pokey World) - Tickle 4. I Can See Through You - Episode Six 5. The Madman Running Through The Fields - Dantalian's Chariot 6. Dogs In Baskets - Geranium Pond 7. Eiderdown Clown - The Scots Of St. James 8. Dear Delilah - George Alexander 9. Pink Purple Yellow And Red - The Sorrows 10. Lazy Man (alternate version) - Mirage 11. Give Him A Flower - The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown 12. Tanya - Tintern Abbey 13. Prodigal Son - The Fleur De Lys 14. See The People - The Lomax Alliance 15. Time To Start Loving You - The Mickey Finn 16. I Hear The Sun - The Fingers 17. Nice - The Crocheted Doughnut Ring 18. My House Is Burning - The Good Thing Brigade 19. Ice Woman - The Motives 20. Look At The Sun - Louise 21. I Won't Hurt You - Neo Maya 22. Path Through The Forest - Cliff Ward 23. Sanity Inspector (mono single version) - The Spencer Davis Group 24. Cos It's Over - The Summer Set 25. Try Me On For Size - Those Fadin' Colours 26. Silver Tree Top School For Boys - The Slender Plenty 27. Evil Woman Guy Darrell
…served by Gyro1966...