The American Revolution - 1968 US

Showcasing the talents of rhythm guitarist  Richard Barcellona, drummer Daniel Derda, singer/keyboardist Eddie Haddad and bassist John Keith, The American Revolution came off as an unsuccessful cross between bubblegum pop and more conventional rock.  Although managed by Casey Kasem and designated as American International Pictures (AIP) house band, The American Revolution never became the national group that perhaps their talent and ability should have warranted.  They did, however, appear in two films (and were cut from a third) and recorded an excellent album.
Signed in MGM's short-lived Flick Disc subsidiary, the band released their selftitled  album in 1968 (Flick-Disc FLS 45,002). From this album i chose three songs, "Show Me How To Cry", "Opus # 1" and "Cold Wisconsin Night".

-by dj fanis: here

St. John Green-1968 US

Kim Fowley to Mike Stax ("Ugly Things" magazine issue #19, 2001): "St. John Green is one of the great lost records…Somebody will reissue it someday and people will start crying and jacking off and smoking dope to it. It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great."
This Los Angeles area band release their sole and now rare album in 1968 on Flick-Disc label (FLS 45,001). Kim Fowley and Michael Lloyd co-produced this psychedelic opus with a "sanctified hippie vibe canyon music". This group has some strange songs about the fires of hell and spacemen from Venus alternate with some stoned sounding jams.
From this great album i chose three songs, "Canyon Women", "Devil And The Sea" and "Spirit Of Now". Enjoy!!!

Members:

Vic Sabino-harmonica,vocals
Ed Bissot- bass,vocals
Bill Kirkland- guitar
Mike Baxter- organ,vocals
Shel Scott- drums

-by dj fanis: here

The Wind In The Willows- 1968 US

The Wind in the Willows was a psychedelic folk rock band. This band of New York hippies is also known for the presence of a very young Deborah Harry on vocals, tamboura, tambourine & finger cymbals, years before she acheived fame in the new-wave group Blondie.
The band took its name from British writer Kenneth Grahame's, "The Wind in the Willows", a classic of children's literature. In one song, "There Is But One Truth, Daddy," there is a very extensive reading from Grahame's work.
Their sole album originally appeared in 1968 on Capitol Records (SKAO-2956). A dreamy collection of psychedelic folkpop that perfectly captures the innocence and whimsy of the 1960s flower-power dream. The Wind In The Willows have a sound that blends acoustic guitars, bits of strings, woodwinds, all together into a sweetly sunny blend that has the members of the group often singing with a bit of a harmony style.
The Wind in the Willows recorded a second album which was never released. The whereabouts of the tapes are unknown. According to Cathay Che's biography on Harry, it has never surfaced, but Harry was said to have contributed more vocals than on the first album, as well as writing lyrics for a tune called "Buried Treasure".
Three songs from this album, "Moments Spent", "Djini Judy" and "Little People".

Members:

Paul Klein- Vocals, Guitar
Deborah Harry- Vocals, Tambura, Tambourine, Finger Cymbals
Peter Brittain- Lead Guitar, Vocals
Steve "Marvello" DePhillips- Bass, Vocals
Anton Carysforth- Drums
Ida Andrews- Flute, Bassoon, Piccolo Flute, Chimes, Vocals
Wayne Kirby- Vocals, Double Bass, Piano, Harpsichord, Organ, Vibraphone

-by dj fanis: here

The National Gallery - Performing Musical Interpretations Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee -1968 US (Philips Promo Release)

This superbly melodic and strange distillation of Pop, Folk, Psych and Jazz was inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. A fusion of harmonious folk, pop and avant garde with some psychy touches, culminating in its most memorable track "Long Hair Soulful" with stoned vocals and acid-etched guitar. It was a studio recording overseen by the Cleveland-based team of jazz composer Chuck Mangione and local producer/arranger Roger Karshner, who called the songs "Electronic Paintings" and "Rock-Art".
The musicians themselves don't get a name-check, just a picture - three guys and a gal. Composers Roger Karshner and Charles Mangione were involved with several other Cleveland area acts and Karshner was manager of one of the city's more successful sixties bands, The Outsiders.
From this album i chose three songs, "Long Hair Soulful", "Diana In The Autumn Wind" and  "Pond With Swans". Enjoy!!!

-by dj fanis: here

Eugene McDaniels- Outlaw -1970 US

Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011), who recorded as Gene McDaniels early in his career, was an African-American singer and songwriter.(wiki)
From his 1970 album "Outlaw" i chose "Outlaw" and "Cherrystones".

-by dj fanis: here

Baby Huey - The Living Legend -1971 US

James Ramey (August 17, 1944 – October 28, 1970), better known as Baby Huey, was an American rock and soul singer. He was the frontman for the band Baby Huey & the Babysitters, whose sole LP for Curtom Records in 1971 was influential in the development of hip hop music.
"The Baby Huey Story- The Living Legend" is the only album of Baby Huey that has been released to date. It was put together and released 1971 after his death. Despite the title describing Huey as a "Living Legend," he was deceased before it was released.(wiki)
From this album i chose two songs, "Mama Get Yourself Together" and Curtis Mayfield's "Running". Enjoy!!!

-by dj fanis: here

O'Donel Levy- Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky -1974 US

O'Donel Levy (1945-2016) was a soul jazz guitarist to come out of the early 70's. "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky" was his fourth album released in 1974 by Groove Merchant label (GM-535).
From this album  i choce "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky" and "Will It Go Round In Circles". Enjoy!!!

-by dj fanis: here

Twentieth Century Zoo-Thunder On A Clear Day-1968 US

This is band's sole release stands as one of our favorite slices of '60s psychedelia. A late-sixties psychedelic group, Twentieth Century Zoo were the first such band from Phoenix to get an album released and nationally distributed, even if that LP was on a small L.A. label, and not many people would hear it.
The band evolved from The Bitter Sweets, which had a couple of local singles in 1966 and 1967.
In 1967 and 1968, Twentieth Century Zoo had a couple of singles on the small Caz label, the first of these, "You Don't Remember, " being respectable psych-punk in the mold of the Music Machine.
In late 1968, the group recorded their sole album in Los Angeles for Vault Records (SLP-122), "Thunder On A Clear Day", featuring elongated fuzz-sustain riffs and heavy organ. At times there was also a hard blues-rock feel, which could break into tedium on longer tracks, such as a ten-minute cover of Little Walter's "Blues With a Feeling."
Twentieth Century Zoo got to open for several bigger bands, such as Iron Butterfly and Blue Cheer, and did one more single for Vault before breaking up in 1970.
This is the 1983 German Reissue of the album by Line/Outline Records (OLLP-5320). From this album i chose two songs, "You Don't Remember" and " It's All In My Head".

Members:

Bob Sutko- vocals, harmonica
Skip Ladd- lead guitar
Allan Chitwood- bass
Greg Farley- guitar

-by dj fanis: here

The Ill Wind - Flashes- 1968 US

Originally known as The Prophets, with a singer called Judy Bradbury, this band were originally from Wellsley, Massachusettes but based themselves in Boston.
Clearly, a hippie band, their only album is a fine one, with their sound moulded by Connie Devanney's crystal clear vocals. On tracks like "In My Dark World", her voice is beautiful, while on others, notably the widely recorded "High Flying Bird",  "Hung Up Chick" and "Walkin' And Singin'", it blends in beautifully with that of her male counterpart, Richard Griggs.
Also of note is the unusual "People Of The Night" and the sleepy "Full Cycle". The band split up in December 1968 and Carey Mann went on to play with Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand.
Original released in 1968 by ABC Records(ABCS-641), this is the German Unofficial Release of the album by Flash Records (ABCS-641-A) from 1987.
Two songs from this great album, "People Of The Night" and "High Flying Bird". Enjoy!!!

Members:

Connie Devanney- vocals
Ken Frankel- lead guitar,banjo
Richard Griggs- guitar, vocals
Carey Mann- bass, vocals
David Kinsman- drums

-by dj fanis: here

Underground Sunshine - Let There Be Light -1969 US

The Underground Sunshine was an American psychedelic rock band from Montello, Wisconsin. The group scored a hit single in 1969 with their cover of The Beatles'"Birthday", which hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The group subsequently appeared on American Bandstand and released a full-length album, "Let There Be Light" in 1969 on Intrepid Records (IT- 74003).  Their sole  album hit #161 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, but their second single, "Don't Shut Me Out" (written by David Gates, later of Bread), just missed the charts.
In 1970, they released two singles, neither charted and the group broke up soon after.
The  album also contain covers of  Creedence Clearwater Revival, Spencer Davis Group and Beatles.
From this album i chose three songs,  "Birthday","Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Take Me, Break Me".

Members:

Chris Connors - vocals, guitar
Jane Little - keyboards,vocals
Berty Kohl - bass,vocals
Frank Kohl - drums,vocals

-by dj fanis: here

The Orient Express-1969 US

Originally from Europe this band moved to the States. Guy Duris was actually born on the Left Bank in Paris and later met Golesorkhi, who had been decorated by the Shah of Iran for his drumming and was interested in applying Eastern rhythms to Western music, in Iran. They met Bruno Giet, a Belgian pilot and guitarist, in Paris while travelling around Europe.
Soon the three members headed for America and settled in New York's East Village initially but ended up in California where their album was recorded. It's powerful Eastern-influenced psychedelia similar to Kaleidoscope.
Particularly fine examples of their marriage of Eastern and Western music are "Train To Bombay", "A Little Star" and "For A Moment". They did not release any singles on Mainstream.
This is the Unofficial Release of the album on Mainstream Records (S-6117).

Members:

Guy Duris- Electric Oud,Electric Sitar,Vocals
Bruno Giet- Electric Guitar,Vocals
Farshid Golesorkhi- Electric Melodica,Dumbek,Tympani,Vocals

-by dj fanis: here

Mint Tattoo-1969 US

The Mint Tattoo was born as an offshoot of the legendary 60's proto punk acid band Blue Cheer.
Bruce Stevens and Ralph (Burns) Kellogg had played together in Blue Cheer on band's self titled album in 1969, but after that one album, Stevens left the band to pursue other interests. Kellogg stayed on with Blue Cheer until the demise of the band in 1971, but during his tenure with Blue Cheer he reunited with Stevens along with drummer Gregg Thomas to form the band Mint Tattoo.
The Mint Tattoo sole album released in 1969 by Dot Records (DLP- 25918), it's a blues - influenced offering with occasionally good guitar work.
From this album i chose two songs, "With Love" and "I Hear The Spirits".

Members:

Bruce Stevens- lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals, kazoo
Ralph (Burns) Kellogg- bass, keyboards
Gregg Thomas- drums

-by dj fanis: here

Ruby Jones- 1971 US

Ruby Starr, born Constance Henrietta Mierzwiak in Toledo, Ohio (November 30, 1949 - January 14, 1995), was a rock singer and recording artist who attained national prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.
She joined the band Ruby Jones in 1969.This is the debut album for female fronted rock outfit Ruby Jones, originally released in 1971 on Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records (CRS- 8011). The album sounds like Janis Joplin crossed with Blood Sweat and Tears, fusing soul, funk and rock to great effect.  Tracks "Looking Out At Tomorrow" and "Tightrope" are worth the price for fans of early soul based rock and Ruby Starr deserved more fame than she got before passing away in the mid 90s from cancer.

-by dj fanis: here

Lighthouse -One Fine Morning-1971 Canada

This was one of the most significant groups to come out of Canada in this era and was put together by drummer Skip Prokop in 1968. A horn rock band, they are often considered to be Canada's answer to Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Lighthouse recorded in Toronto their fourth album "One Fine Morning", which was much better than the previous albums, and at last they had a hit with the eponymous song.
"One Fine Morning" has strident guitar chords, a horn section which blends in perfectly, catchy melody, strong vocals by their new singer Bob McBride, jazzy piano and guitar solos. A gem of the horn rock genre!
This along with "Love Of A Woman", a soulful jazz-rocker featuring great solo sax work, are the best tracks of the album.
The album released in 1971 by GRT Records (9230-1002) in Canada and by Evolution Records (ST-93843) in US.

-by dj fanis: here