A bit of a gem this one. Hailing from the archives of Deram, an offshoot of the mighty Decca record label, Psych! Gathers together an astonishing wealth of lost wonders from British prog, folk, and rock. Depending on the version for which you opt (more detail below), you’ll find either 24 or 64 tracks of patchouli-scented pieces arranged chronologically from 1966 – 1973. While there are plenty of big names to tempt you in – The Small Faces, Egg, Caravan, The Moody Blues, and Genesis (the last two oddly left off the vinyl, considering their comparative stature), it’s the lesser-known cuts that offer the greatest revelations, and the album has been perfectly sequenced to evoke the atmosphere of the era.
The Package
This lovingly curated set is available either as an exhaustive, 64-track, 3-CD box set, or a 24-track double vinyl (reviewed here). Gathering the very best of the box, the vinyl comes housed in a gatefold sleeve, with 12” pictures of Al Stewart and Timebox adorning the centre spread. The inner sleeves are printed, with liner notes from Mike Barnes, author of A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 1970s, as well as a regular contributor to Mojo, The Wire, and Prog. There’s also a 12” portrait of East of Eden, and sleeve shots (where possible, with disc shots when not) for each track. All in all, it’s a lovely collection, beautifully put together, with the only omission being a download card (sadly, becoming increasingly rare these days).
Side A
The honour of opening the compilation goes to Al Stewart, whose ethereal psyche pop Turn Into Earth is remarkably evocative of the mid-60s. With heavy reverb, a range of instrumentation, and a shuffling rhythm, it’s the perfect place to start your journey into a more colourful era. Next up, Denny Laine offers the whimsical Say You Don’t Mind, which nods to the Beatles, before Timebox’s Walking Through The Streets Of My Mindups the tempo, throwing driving bass and stirring strings into the mix – making for an opulent experience, especially considering that it’s sub-three-minutes in length.
Allowing a harder edge to creep in, the Small Faces’ That Man essentially lays the blueprint for the likes of Spacemen 3 with its fluid percussion and biting guitar, while the excellent Curiosity Shoppe deliver a Floyd-esque assault with Baby I Need You – all howling organ, gritty guitars, and ramshackle singalong vocals. It’s a full-on psyche whig-out in the vein of Syd Barrett and it stands as side one’s highlight. It’s followed by The Attack, whose excellent Lady Orange Peel is similarly Floyd-esque, complete with spiky solo and split vocals. In contrast, The Elastic Band Think Of You Baby is strangely anachronistic, even for its time, the band opting for a 50s vibe that sounds at odds with the airier sounds their peers had adopted. The first side concludes with the brilliantly named Crocheted Doughnut Ring, who neatly round things out with Get Our Your Rock N Roll Shoes.
Side B
Kickstarting side 2, and bringing us hurtling into 1969, Keef Hartley Band offer a horn-soaked blues rocker with a Rory Gallagher vibe titled Not Foolish, Not Wise. It’s a hell of an opener, but it hardly indicative, as it’s followed by the enigmatic Egg, who offer up the equally inscrutable Seven Is A Jolly Good Time. Heavy riffing is the order of the day for East Of Eden, who combine the grungy guitars of Cream with the layered vocals of the Beatles, even throwing in some lively fiddle on Northern Hemisphere. It’s a particularly strong track on the side and, with its distorted, spoken word passage, you’re reminded of Butthole Surfers’ impish alt rock. Things take a trippier turn as the Johnny Almond Music Machine draws us into the Voodoo Forest, all tribal drums, eerie vibraphone, and earthen sax. Not a million miles away from where Floyd would go with Atom Heart Mother, it’s a jazz-psyche treasure. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Jan Dukes De Grey, takes us to Texas with a folksy number, all picked acoustic and haunting flute. It’s interesting enough, paving the way for Bill Fay’s Garden Song, a strange mix of folk and music hall, that throws everything but the kitchen sink into the mix!
Side C
Opening the second disc, Black Cat Bones deliver an eccentric take on Anthony Newley and Lesley Bricusse’s classic Feeling Good, which veers from earthen blues to awkward prog, interpolating the melody from God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen into a mid-section that is a little too ramshackle to fully connect. It’s followed by Denny Gerrard’s Native Sun, a fast-paced rocker, which finds Denny piling everything from the Hammond organ to the harmonica onto an overburdened mix. Aardvark pop up next, with the slinky pop of Very Nice Of You To Call, which somehow takes that rather unconventional sentiment and turns it into an addictive chorus that pairs perfectly with the piano break that cruises through the track’s centre. It’s hugely enjoyable.
After the rumbunctious pop of Aardvark, the shimmering twelve-string and tightly wound harmonies of Pacific Drift’s Tomorrow Morning Brings carve out a very different view of the early 70s. Similarly, the wonderful Caravan offer up a typically whimsical and weird slab of psyche-pop in the form of Hello Hello. It may not have quite the addictive pop nous of Golf Girl (released the following year), but it otherwise has all the elements of classic Caravan, and it slots in beautifully here. The side wraps up with Gailliard’s I Wrapped Her In Ribbons. A folksy piece that feels like it escaped from the 60s, it seems simple enough, right up to the point that the band randomly throw in a brass section as they take the listener on a tour of various tempos and styles, before snapping back to the rambling folk with which the track opened, all as if nothing had happened.
Side D
Whoever programmed the set had some fun with side four. Where the other sides focused on short pieces, side four opens up with Room’s monumental Cemetery Junction Parts 1 & 2, an eight-minute instrumental composition from a band that only ever made one album – the under-rated Pre-Flight. Hailing, somewhat incongruously, from Blandford Forum, Room deserve far more recognition for their remarkably expansive sound, and it’s great to have them included here. Clark Hutchinson has the unenviable task of following Room’s epic, with Man’s Best Friend. However, the talented Clark takes the listener on another journey, with the track opening as a stunning flamenco piece, before plunging into the weathered blues rock of Rory Gallagher. Far from being eclipsed by its impressive forebear, Man’s Best Friend more than holds its own, thanks to solid musicianship and wide-eyed enthusiasm for exploring a range of genres.
Up next, we take a trip to the truly bizarre as Steve Hillage’s pre-Gong act Khan turn in Stargazers, a spacey piece that feels like a magic mushroom experience set to music. Typically multihued, much of the wide-eyed naivety of Gong can be found amidst the jazzy bass, soaring guitars, and odd shifts in tempo, and it’s another treasure to enjoy. The album concludes with one last psychedelic trip into the unknown, courtesy of Darryl Way’s Wolf, whose Wolf nods to a mix of Supertramp and Genesis. With a funky groove to it, it provides this two-LP set with a satisfying conclusion.
Conclusion
For those looking for a primer, introducing them to a range of gems from the 60s and 70s both well-known and gloriously obscure, this 24-track, two-LP set is the perfect option. While the 64-track CD set may prove more tempting for those who really want to dig into tthings, this gorgeous gatefold vinyl set provides a gateway to the whimsical past of British psych, folk, prog, and rock and there’s no doubting that almost anyone with an archaeologist’s delight in seeking out music from different eras, will uncover myriad gems here. 8/10
Track listing: 3 CD Set
Disc One
1. The Flies – (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone
2. Al Stewart – Turn Into Earth*
3. Paul & Barry Ryan – Keep It Out Of Sight
4. Keith Shields – Deep Inside Your Mind
5. The Wards Of Court – How Could You Say One Thing
6. The Fairytale – Run And Hide
7. Tintern Abbey – Vacuum Cleaner
8. The Moody Blues – Love & Beauty
9. Timebox – Walking Through The Streets Of My Mind
10. The Poets – In Your Tower
11. Felius Andromeda – Cheadle Heath’s Delusions
12. The Societie – Bird Has Flown
13. Denny Laine – Say You Don’t Mind*
14. The Accent – Red Sky At Night
15. The Syn – Grounded
16. 23rd Turnoff – Michaelangelo
17. Small Faces – That Man
18. Crocheted Doughnut Ring – Get Our Your Rock N Roll Shoes
19. The Fire – Treacle Toffee World
20. Curiosity Shoppe – Baby I Need You
21. The Attack – Lady Orange Peel
22. The Plague – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
23. The Ice – Ice Man
24. Savoy Brown – Train To Nowhere
25. The Elastic Band – Think Of You Baby
26. Ten Years After – The Sounds
Disc Two
1. Davy Graham – Both Sides Now
2. Christopher Colt – Virgin Sunrise
3. Turquoise – 53 Summer Street
4. Warm Sounds – Nite Is A Comin’
5. Virgin Sleep – Secret
6. World Of Oz – King Croesus
7. Tinkerbell’s Fairydust – Twenty Ten
8. East Of Eden – Northern Hemisphere
9. Keef Hartley Band – Not Foolish, Not Wise
10. Bulldog Breed – Halo In My Hair
11. Genesis – In The Beginning
12. Egg – Seven Is A Jolly Good Time
13. Garden Odyssey Enterprise – Sad & Lonely
14. Cherry Smash – Green Plant
15. Jan Dukes De Grey – Texas
16. Igginbottom – The Castle
17. Ashkan – Stop (Wait And Listen)
18. Johnny Almond Music Machine – Voodoo Forest
19. John Cameron Quartet – Troublemaker
20. Aardvark – Very Nice Of You To Call
21. Bill Fay – Garden Song
Disc Three
1. Room – Cemetery Junction Parts 1 & 2
2. Black Cat Bones – Feeling Good
3. Caravan – Hello Hello
4. Sunforest – Lady Next Door
5. Pacific Drift – Tomorrow Morning Brings
6. Gailliard – I Wrapped Her In Ribbons
7. Denny Gerrard – Native Sun
8. T2 – No More White Horses
9. Clark Hutchinson – Man’s Best Friend
10. Satisfaction – Love It Is
11. Stud – Turn Over The Pages
12. People – Glastonbury
13. Mellow Candle – Vile Excesses
14. Khan – Stargazers
15. Darryl Way’s Wolf – Wolf
16. Principal Edwards Magic Theatre – The Whizzmore Kid
17. Pete Brown – Sad Is The Man
Track Listing: 2 LP Set
LP 1, Side A
A1. Al Stewart – Turn Into Earth
A2. Denny Laine – Say You Don’t Mind
A3. Timebox – Walking Through The Streets Of My Mind
A4. Small Faces – That Man
A5. Curiosity Shoppe – Baby I Need You
A6. The Attack – Lady Orange Peel
A7. The Elastic Band – Think Of You Baby
A8. Crocheted Doughnut Ring – Get Our Your Rock N Roll Shoes
LP1, Side B
B1. Keef Hartley Band – Not Foolish, Not Wise
B2. Egg – Seven Is A Jolly Good Time
B3. East Of Eden – Northern Hemisphere
B4. Johnny Almond Music Machine – Voodoo Forest
B5. Jan Dukes De Grey – Texas
B6. Bill Fay – Garden Song
LP 2, Side C
C1. Black Cat Bones – Feeling Good
C2. Denny Gerrard – Native Sun
C3. Aardvark – Very Nice Of You To Call
C4. Pacific Drift – Tomorrow Morning Brings
C5. Caravan – Hello Hello
C6. Gailliard – I Wrapped Her In Ribbons
LP2, Side D
D1. Room – Cemetery Junction Parts 1 & 2
D2. Clark Hutchinson – Man’s Best Friend
D3. Khan – Stargazers
D4. Darryl Way’s Wolf – Wolf
