The Purple Hearts: Benzedrine Beat! (AUS, 1964/70)

Originally formed in Brisbane in 1963, where they established a strong cult following with their wild brand of uncompromising heavy rock and R'n'B. An example, Here 'Tis can also be found on the Devil's Children CD.
They relocated to Melbourne in 1966 and when Redmond left to open a disco Tony Cahill was recruited as his replacement.
Lobby Loyde (aka Barry Lyde) was in their band prior to joining The Wild Cherries. Bob Dames went on to Black Cat Circle and then with Mick Hadley joined Coloured Balls. Tony Cahill later went on to The Easybeats.

ALBUM REVIEW

All ten songs the Purple Hearts released during their brief lifetime (on 1965-67 singles) are on this meticulously thorough reissue. It also adds four songs they recorded on acetates in early 1965 prior to their recording deal, as well as seven tracks by the Coloured Balls, the band in which singer/harmonica player Mick Hadley and bassist Bob Dames played in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Purple Hearts tracks are the ones the collectors who seek this CD out will be most interested in, as they're solid punky R&B, very much in the mold of the British bands springing up in the wake of the Rolling Stones circa 1964-65. The cuts are tough and hard-boiled, and will no doubt recall similar, though superior, British acts such as the Pretty Things and the Graham Bond Organization. What makes the Purple Hearts inferior to such acts is that they recorded absolutely no original material, devoting most of their studio performances to covers of songs by the likes of Bond, Paul Butterfield, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. They do, however, pull off a superbly menacing R&B/punk makeover of the spiritual "Early in the Morning," with searing fuzz guitar and voodoo-ish ensemble chanting. Too, their sole 45 to feature cover tunes that weren't well known ("Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones"/"I'm Gonna Try") is pretty respectable, though Mick Hadley's vocals aren't quite up to the level of belters like the Pretty Things' Phil May. The Coloured Balls tracks (in quite variable sound quality), which are much more in a hard rock/blues-rock/psychedelic/progressive rock vein, are apparently taken from "rehearsals, gigs and local TV appearances" -- the liner notes aren't wholly clear on this point. These songs aren't nearly as interesting as the Purple Hearts' material, and are likewise all covers, this time around of songs by Jethro Tull, Steve Miller, and Fleetwood Mac, as well as blues tunes by Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon. The 36-page booklet is exemplary, with liner notes featuring vintage photos and first-hand quotes from original band members, properly honoring the Purple Hearts' status as one of the more notable Australian rock acts of the 1960s.

PURPLE HEARTS
remember also
their ep
here

The Mark Leeman 5: Rhythm & Blues Plus! (UK, 60s Comp)

Rare as hell, this amazing rare compilation from this band from the British Invation style. Pay attention to this extremely rare lost beauty.

You may wonder when you read the title of this lp, "R&B Plus" - plus what ? Plus the Mark Leeman Five of course, but also a little bit of jazz - a lot of feeling and the distinctive sound that can be only produced by true musicians. Personally I am unable to select a favourite track from the eleven. This is just a small sample of the very wide range the boys are capable of. From the belting rhythm of "got my mojo working" to the gentle phrasing in "Frenzy" -
THIS is the Mark Leeman Five.

Jim Goff

If you're a fan of British R&B and haven't heard the tracks you'll be blown away - listen to the incisive guitar and Mark Leeman's stunningly sublime vocals on the barnstorming opener, and then realise that this was recorded in 1963 - it makes bands like the Stones and Yardbirds recordings from the time sound like that of pissant wannabees, and even my beloved Downliners Sect and Pretty Things don't come close. Even if you're not a fan of the era and style, then you have to be impressed by the musicianship and the sheer balls of a British band daring to take on a jazz classic like "Moanin'" or the arrangement and vocals on "Work Song". I guess that as an unsigned band using Pye's studios they were limited by time, and most of the tracks were one or two takes. It's an understatement to say they must have been absolutely awesome live...

MARK LEEMAN 5
...review and original link by Stuart...
original lp: 11 tracks
+
8 bonus

The Monks: Five Upstart Americans (GER, 1965)

One of the strangest stories in rock history, the Monks were formed in the early '60s by American G.I.s stationed in Germany. After their discharge, the group stayed on in Germany as the Torquays, a fairly standard beat band. After changing their name to the Monks in the mid-'60s, they also changed their music, attitude, and appearance radically. Gone were standard oldie covers, replaced by furious, minimalist original material that anticipated the blunt, harsh commentary of the punk era. Their insistent rhythms recalled martial beats and polkas as much as garage rock, and the weirdness quotient was heightened by electric banjo, berserk organ runs, and occasional bursts of feedback guitar. To prove that they meant business, the Monks shaved the top of their heads and performed their songs -- crude diatribes about the Vietnam war, dehumanized society, and love/hate affairs with girls -- in actual monks' clothing.

ALBUM REVIEW

Rawer than their primordial opus, Black Monk Time, Five Upstart Americans is a collection of demos by proto-punks the Monks (recorded when they were still known as the Torquays). While most demonstration recordings are, by nature, more primitive than the finished product, these sessions could be seen as even more representative of the Monks primal vision. Here their "over-beat" songs of love/hate, confusion, and frustration are stripped to their bare essentials, with minimal lyrics and overdubs. Taped in a single day in 1965, most of these performances remained unreleased for 34 years ("I Hate You" and "Oh, How to Do Now" were included as bonus tracks on Infinite Zero's reissue of Black Monk Time in 1997). Though essential listening for Monk converts, the uninitiated should bless themselves with Black Monk Time before proceeding further. Five Upstart Americans also includes their first 45 (as Five Torquays), which only hints at what was to come.

THE MONKS
...served by germt...

The Sonics: Very Rare Live Comp (US, 1966/72)

Lead singer Gerry Roslie was no less than a white Little Richard, whose harrowing soul-screams were startling even to the Northwest teen audience, who liked their music powerful and driving with little regard to commercial subtleties. With hit after hit on the local charts (and influencing every local band that ever took the stage), the band inexplicably was never able to break out nationally, leaving its sound largely undiluted for mass consumption. Breaking up in the late '60s (after one ill-fated album attempt to water down their style for national attention), the Sonics continue today to be revered by '60s collectors the world over for their unique brand of rock & roll raunch.

THE SONICS LIVE 66/72
brutally/raw live recordings!!!yeah! thats what you like ah?

The Spotnicks: Live In Tokyo (SWE, 1964)

In 1969 the Spotnicks disbanded, but Winberg continued to record using the name until the group reunited in 1972 upon the request of a Japanese record company. The same year, "If You Could Read My Mind" from the album Something Like Country became a big hit in Germany. The Spotnicks would retain their popularity there for a long time, even as it faded elsewhere. Only the Japanese audience proved more faithful and, accordingly, the Spotnicks devoted most of their touring during the '70s to these two countries. After the release of 1972's Something Like Country (the Spotnicks' best album according to many fans), they had practically ended being a band, consisting mainly of Winberg and various session musicians.

* LIVE IN TOKYO *

The Spotnicks: Live In Paris (SWE, 1961/63)

If remembered at all today, it is probably thanks to their silly astronaut costumes, but in the '60s the Spotnicks were one of the most successful instrumental rock groups, alongside the Shadows and the Ventures. Their very specific sound had more in common with the Shadows, being clean and intentionally gentle. It originated from their first primitive demo recordings, but the record company liked it and, being plastic and twangy, it was promoted as a space sound. Already in the late '60s it was outdated, but that didn't stop the group from having big successes throughout the decade. In the '70s the sound was definitely antiquated, but like the Ventures, the Spotnicks found reliable audiences in Japan and Germany, as well as a cult and nostalgia following around the world. The Spotnicks have sold over 20 million albums, making them among the most successful Swedish groups ever, surpassed perhaps only by ABBA and Roxette. By the late '90s they had released 39 studio albums, recorded roughly 700 songs, and had more than 100 members in the different constellations of the band.

"Hava Nagila" became a hit in England in 1963, and the same year Johansson left and was replaced by Derek Skinner. The rest of the '60s led to increasing success in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, and the band even managed to compete with itself on the Japanese charts when the Spotnicks' song "Karelia" took the first position from the Feenades' "Ajomies." The song was the same, just recorded under different titles. The Feenades were a Finland-based side project to the Spotnicks, built upon Winberg and Peter Winsnes, who had joined the Spotnicks in 1965. Winberg also released less successful recordings under the name the Shy Ones. Compared to the following decades, the '60s were a relative stable period for the Spotnicks in terms of the group's lineup. Some new members were recruited, though, like drummer Jimmy Nicol, bassist Magnus Hellsberg, and drummer Tommy Tausis, who had earlier played with Tages.

* THE SPOTNICKS LIVE IN PARIS! *

Ronny & The Daytonas: G.T.O. (US, 1964/66)

Nashville's greatest contribution to the hot-rod and surfing craze of the early '60s came in the form of Ronny & the Daytonas.

Produced by Bill Justis and based in Nashville, Ronny and The Daytonas were fronted by John "Buck" Wilkin (aka Ronnie) and Buzz Cason. Although based very far from California, the group released several songs which can be compared to the best sides of the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean. Benefiting from the excellent songriting skills of Wilkin, they got a national hit in 1964 with G.T.O., still a hot rod classic. Their subsequent singles sold quite well too and they became so popular that several fake "Ronny and the Daytonas" were touring in the Southwest.

Although their most successful period was 1964/65, when they were signed to the local Mala/Amy label (also in charge of The Box Tops), they kept on recording for RCA until 1968. Their line-up was not very stable and, in 1967, some of The Daytonas became The Hombres.

In 1969, when the group finally broke up, John Buck Wilkin formed the short-lived American Eagles. He would also release two interesting solo albums and do a lot of session work with rock and country acts. Buzz Cason became a well-known producer and worked with The Hangmen, Us Four, White Duck and Jay Bentley.

After years of suffering from numerous bootleg compilations direct from noisy 45s of dubious legality and dodgy fidelity, Sundazed puts together simply the best collection now available on everybody's favorite Nashville hot-rod group. John Buck Wilkins -- aka Ronny Dayton -- was the nominal group's focus as songwriter, singer, and lead guitarist, doing most of his hot pickin' on a nylon-string classical model. As a songwriter, his principal inspirations were Brian Wilson and Chuck Berry. His producer was Sun Records' alumni Bill Justis ("Raunchy"), a supposed rock hater, who nonetheless knew how to cut 'em and cut 'em good. As a result, the handful of singles and two albums from Ronny & the Daytonas' Mala Records period (1964 to 1966) stand as not only some fine Beach Boys-influenced music but some great rock & roll that's not merely imitative, something that's actually going somewhere, and you can hear it going right on this nicely sequenced disc. This 20-song compilation is split almost evenly between the styles of their biggest hits, with the first 11 tracks echoing the rocking, gas'n'go call to arms of "G.T.O." while the balance features the lush harmonies and BB ballad style of "Sandy." The big news here is that for the first time ever, first generation master tapes have been used for everything and even an original, multi-layered, mono on mono (i.e.; noisy and hissy) recording like "Sandy" sounds better than it ever has. These vintage recordings should quite easily find an audience beyond surf, hot rod, and Beach Boys music fans. Good stuff, sounding great and well-packaged.

G.T.O.

The Spotnicks: In Stockholm (SWE, 1964)

The Spotnicks were formed in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1957, by guitarist and undisputed bandleader Bo Winberg. The other members were guitarist and singer Bob Lander, drummer Ove Johansson, and bassist Björn Thelin, several of whom had already played together in local rock & roll bands like the Blue Caps, Rock Teddy, and the Rebels. The first year they performed under the name the Frazers, but soon changed it to the Spotnicks. In 1961 they were signed by Karusell and released their first singles containing mostly instrumental covers of famous songs. The selection of songs was as varied as the performances were homogenous, including titles like "Hava Nagila" and "Johnny Guitar." Later the same year, the Spotnicks toured Germany, France, and Spain, and in 1962 they released their debut album, The Spotnicks in London, recorded on their first trip to England. Featured on this tour were the space suits that the band would wear on-stage until 1969.

Great instrumental classic rock, great live recordings from this swedish band! Check it out! Ah yes, you wont find here raw or fast garage songs. Still great!.

¡ THE SPOTNICKS LIVE IN STOCKHOLM 1964 !

Love: Live in London (US, 1970)

Love
The Blue Thumb Recordings
(Hip-O-Select/Universal, 2007)

Much-maligned late line-up’s two LPs from ’69 and ’71 plus previously unreleased Live In London 1970 set.

Here you have the live set, recorded in London.
I know... more classic rock and psych than garage... but still a great document that includes "my little red book" !.

Forever Changes purists look away now. The line-up that Arthur Lee put together in 1968 after disbanding the original band in a fit of pique when their orchestral masterpiece failed to sell in the US, are not an inferior version of Love. And so productive were the new band’s studio sessions for 1969’s Four Sail (Love’s final album for Elektra) that they also gleaned the double LP Out There, released by new label Blue Thumb just three months later. Doggone’s canine subject matter and epic drum solo may have dated, but the romantic Willow Willow is ravishing, while the closing Gather ‘Round features an Arthur lyric as unfathomable and deceptively beautiful as Andmoreagain’s one about the snot caked against his pants. The live set from 1970 shows the new line-up tackle all five albums with aplomb (an achingly tragic Signed DC especially). Clearly at home to the smog and dissolute London vibe, Love stayed in the UK to record the uncharacteristically good-natured False Start, featuring a certain Jimi Hendrix on explosive opener The Everlasting First. But the good vibes were short lived and Love broke up a few weeks after False Start came out. Shame! (Jenny Bulley)

¡ LOVE LIVE IN LONDON 1970 !
...served by germt...

The Yardbirds: Cumular Limit (UK, Unreleased Recordings 67/68)

Yeah...more live stuff.

Cumular Limit is an album of previously unreleased live and studio recordings by English blues rock band The Yardbirds released in 2000. It features alternate versions of recordings from Little Games (#1, 6-9), live-recordings from Offenbach, 16 March 1967 (#2-5) and France TV ("Bouton Rouge", 9 March 1968^[1], #14) and previously unreleased material from New York (#10-13).

This is an uneven but generally pleasing compilation of Yardbirds material. The highlight is a series of four-tracks off German television from March of 1967, a point when the band, with Jimmy Page on lead guitar, was immersed in psychedelia. Among the tracks played live is "Happenings Ten Years' Time Ago," perhaps the culmination of the group's psychedelic period and otherwise under-represented in their concert output; Page does a good job of replicating the single's double lead guitar sound, including the stripped-down break. "Over Under Sideways Down," "Shapes of Things," and "I'm a Man," all of which are represented on the group's official live album, are all well recorded, and "I'm a Man" (perhaps the most ubiquitous song in the group's output, with three official versions) comes off well, apart from the closing credit announcement in German that intrudes over the finale, but the other cuts reveal just how sloppy the band could be in their media appearances; on the plus side, Keith Relf is in much better voice here than he is on the official Anderson Theater live album from a year later. The major part of disc one is a set of alternate takes of late-era tracks of which "White Summer" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor" are the strongest numbers. What sounds like a work-in-progress version of "Ten Little Indians" featuring the guitar up close and personal (and projecting some ornate feedback) may please Jimmy Page completists (who will also devour the tracks "You Stood My Love" and its accompanying unreleased cuts, "Avron Knows"; they aren't much as songs (though they're better than much of what is on Little Games), but they do offer Page playing some aggressive and appealing leads, while "Spanish Blood" has him playing gorgeous Spanish guitar. A live version of "I'm Confused" from France in March of 1968 comes off much better than the official Anderson Theater version from later the same month. The second disc is a CD-ROM containing the video version of the four German television songs on disc one; it has amazingly high quality and is enjoyable as one of the few fairly lengthy extant glimpses of the group playing to an audience.

CUMULAR LIMIT

The Jacks: Live 24-7-1968 (Japanese Psychedelic Garage)

More psychy than garage, but nice raw `n fast tunes garagey`style, the sound quality is not the best thou, but still a great live recording.

The Jacks played in a distinct musical style fused with ambient psychedelic, surf, folk and jazz. The group had a dark, introspective sound with an exploratory, improvisational edge and sometimes headed into moody instrumental excursions. The Jacks typically employed reverb, tremolo and subtle fuzz-guitar and also utilized the vibraphone, organ and wind instruments such as the flute. Lead singer Yoshio Hayakawa sung in Japanese and typically ranged from a low, calm and tranquil voice to throaty, desperate sounding wails. Similarly, drummer Takasuke Kida would follow suit, going from subtle jazzy sounding fills to complicated, offbeat rhythms and manic cymbal crashes.

¡¡¡ THE JACKS LIVE 1968 (2nd Show) !!!

The Sonics: This Is... The Savage Young Sonics (US, 1961)

Before the Kinks and the Who came along and planted the seeds for what is commonly referred to as proto-punk, several obscure and/or one-hit U.S. wonders beat the two aforementioned British acts to the punch -- the Kingsmen, the Trashmen, and the Sonics. While the Kingsmen and the Trashmen managed to score a massive hit each ("Louie, Louie" and "Surfin' Bird," respectively), the Sonics never broke through outside of their home city of Tacoma. Regardless, the Sonics are often name-checked as one of the greatest garage rock bands ever, and the 2001 compilation This Is... The Savage Young Sonics focuses entirely on the group's early years. It turns out that the father of the Sonics' brother guitar/bass tandem, Larry and Andy Parypa, taped nearly every live show the group played during the early '60s, and these recordings serve as the basis for this 20-song release. Although the group was still a ways off from perfecting its tough-and-rough sound (which eventually included a heavy R&B influence), the comp includes such early instrumentals as "Sonic Blues" as well as covers of popular bar band standards of the day -- "Rumble," "Bony Maronie," "Keep A-Knockin'," and even the aforementioned "Louie, Louie." While newcomers should stick with one of their classic mid-'60s releases (e.g., 1965's Here Are the Sonics), longtime Sonics fans looking to trace the group's roots will certainly be able to do so with This Is... The Savage Young Sonics.

THE SONICS LIVE IN TACOMA 1961
link served by Roadrunner

The Sonics: Live In Tacoma, Busy Body!!! (US, 1964)

Given the many stories of their crazed on-stage prowess and the frantic drive of their classic studio sides, fans of real-deal garage rock have often wished that someone had the presence of mind to make a decent-sounding live recording of Tacoma, WA, madmen the Sonics in their glory days. And, as it happened, someone did -- a radio station in Tacoma, KTNT-AM, used to have a regular Friday night feature called Teen Time, in which they broadcast a live spot from one of the area's teen clubs. A guy in Seattle named Doug Patterson owned an Ampex reel-to-reel tape machine and frequently taped the Teen Time shows to collect songs for his own teenage band to cover, and two surviving tapes featuring the Sonics in action have been collected on Busy Body!!! Live in Tacoma 1964. Since these two shows (lasting less than 33 minutes combined, including patter from the announcer) predated the release of their debut single, "The Witch," and the epochal album Here Are the Sonics, the emphasis is on covers and instrumentals, and while the audio is quite good for AM radio broadcasts more then four decades old, the mix is a bit sloppy and Gerry Roslie's vocals are barely audible, with Rob Lind's sax and Larry Parypa's sax way up front. Still, if this isn't the ideal document of the Sonics on-stage, it's a whole lot of fun; these tapes show they were admirably tight and full of fire when playing for their fans, and having a wild good time cranking out "Ooh Poo Pah Doo," "Goin' Back to Granny's," "Night Train," and "Have Love, Will Travel" with all kinds of attitude. And while they didn't deign to play "Psycho" while Patterson was rolling his tapes, there's a wicked early version of "The Witch" that points to things to come. Busy Body!!! captures the Sonics in a transitional phase, when they were still minding the template of Northwest heroes the Wailers but developing an overdriven personality of their own, and it's loud-and-proud teenage fun.

THE SONICS LIVE 64

13th Floor Elevators: Live At The Avalon Ballroom (US, 1966)

Out of order...
Shure...you do remember the Kinks cover here.

They played at the Avalon ballroom four times and once at the Fillmore West. Their first album was released during their stay in California and this, plus the fact they gigged a lot at the Avalon Ballroom, led many people to believe them to be a San Francisco band. In fact, they actually put on an all-Texan show at the Avalon during their California stay with Big Brother and The Holding Company (Janis Joplin was from Austin, Texas and at one time nearly joined The 13^th Floor Elevators) and the Sir Douglas Quintet. The band's time in California helped to forge important links between America's West Coast and the hitherto relatively isolated Texas psychedelic scene. The Elevators would return to California two more times in late 1967 and in 1968.

* 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS LIVE / OUT OF ORDER! *
link served by germt

The Bachs: Live at Skokie Valley Jr High (US,1967)

GREAT SOUND QUALITY. AMAZING LIVE RECORDING.

Chicago garage combo the Bachs formed in the fall of 1965. Singer/bassist Blake Allison and guitarist Mike DeHaven first collaborated in a high school group called "the Phases" -- DeHavenJohn ("Ben") Harrison and drummer John Babicz in another teen band, the Apollos. In time, Allison also joined the Apollos, and following the addition of singer/guitarist John Peterman, the quintet renamed itself the Bachs. Gigging steadily across Chicago's North Shore area, the group also performed in Battle of the Bands competitions, once beating the fledgling Amboy Dukes, led by guitarist Ted Nugent. Although Allison and Peterson proved a prolific songwriting duo, the Bachs never recorded any commercially released singles -- they did, however, privately press 150 copies of a 1968 LP, Out of the Bachs. Comprised of 12 Allison/Peterson originals, and recorded in one day for $400.00, the album is something of a Holy Grail for garage collectors, prized for its sheer scarcity, as well as its fuzz-laden psych-punk sound. With its members poised to attend college, the Bachs split in April of 1968.

¡ ¡ ¡ THE BACHS LIVE ! ! !

The Yardbirds: Live at Anderson Theatre (UK, 1968)

So..the sound quality is superb, near 10 pts to me.
A killer set. The last tour of the band, before the split (and the creation of the other monsters!).
Highly recommended for all. Yeah... almost forgot the amazing 12 minutes version of "I m a man", really great. The band at their best!

The Yardbirds unfortunately soon disintegrated once they could no longer attain commercial success. Relf and McCarthy formed Together and then the excellent Renaissance.




Dreja became a photographer and Page was left to form the enormously successful Led Zeppelin, who were originally, for a very short while, known as The New Yardbirds. Disastrously Relf died in 1976 after electrocuting himself at his home.

THE YARDBIRDS

The Zipps: Live & extremely rare... (Dutch live recordings-compilation)

Recommended for garage diggers. The quality `s not the best, but still great rare stuff here for collectors.

" Beginning with 1967's "Marie Juana" -- a record which required significant lyrical revisions before Relax censors would agree to its release -- the Zipps steered their garage-influenced sound towards psychedelia, and thanks in part to their hallucinatory light show, they earned the sobriquet "The Dutch Pink Floyd"; Elzerman openly espoused drug use in interviews, and stickers reading "Be Stoned! Dig: Zipps Psychedelic Sound" were distributed at live dates.



LINK: MARIEJuuANA
or
LINK: DUTCH MILK !