Showing posts with label psychedelic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychedelic. Show all posts

Friday, May 22, 2026

The Cosmic Evolution – Evil Woman / Mississippi Woman. 1972 USA ~ Alabama


Well, the group certainly has the right name to grab one's attention. At least mine lol. A couple of years before ELO made a (different) song with the A) title, The Cosmic Evolution had the same idea, and really their version is more in accordance with the subject matter. One can hear an impassioned emotional group displaying their anger through some pretty mean guitar leads. The b) side is a mix of boogie and Southern rock and lacks the punch of the flip. Though there are notable guitar sections to listen for.

Friday, April 24, 2026

Enalpria – Rose Water / Shredded Heart. 1969 USA ~ Florida


And here we have their second 45. Yet another advanced release for the date. Superb psychedelic rock also mixes in some jazzy sequences, notable in the electric piano work. The B) has a haunting organ beginning, perhaps a Krautrock element is being brought forth. Enalpria weren't that creative yet, and the music moves into more of a pop psych direction. Still with some fine electric piano playing. Excellent band to my ears.

East West Review – And The Rain Came / More And More. 1969 USA ~ Kansas City, Missouri


East West Review are very much influenced by the ongoing horn rock movement of the late 60s. Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago, and Chase can all be heard in these grooves. Excellent horn charts, and some pretty wild fuzz, especially on the B side. Good stuff.

3.5

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Kachers In The Rye - Egyptian Naval Exploration / Rye Bread. 1966 USA


A very interesting two sider. Both tracks are instrumental, and the melodies border the novelty side of the house. But the guitar is much more amplified than one typically associates with 1966. Definitely a psychedelic tone. Worth hearing at least.

Further research informs us that Del Kacher invented the wah-wah pedal. No wonder.

Used to own.


Friday, April 17, 2026

The Flower Children - Mini-Skirt Blues / Marching Lovers. 1967 USA ~ Los Angeles, California


With a moniker like The Flower Children one would expect soft folky psych. Not at all. The a) side is organ driven punky psych and is quite heavy for 1967. The b) side has a rollicking rhythm, once again driven by organ, though is far more friendly to the ears. Pretty decent 45, though I wasn't floored by it.

4/17/26

L'Origine - L'Origine / La Deuxième Aurore. 1969 France


L'Origine's sole effort could be considered the very beginning of the French Theatrical Prog movement, later made far more popular by Ange. Given it was 1969, it's entirely psychedelic throughout. That speaks for the a) side. The b) is a trippy folk number that strangely sounds Brazilian, despite being sung in French, though there are cosmic effects applied everywhere. Maybe Jean-Pierre Massiera was the uncredited producer? Really good two sider.

4/17/26

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

The Motivaters - Ode To Loneliness / Heart Of Blue. 1968 USA ~ El Paso, Texas


El Paso's misspelled The Motivaters open their sole 45 with a psych tinged ballad with a cool organ sound and strumming guitar. The b) side is more upbeat yet still based in dreamy psych. Organ remains the instrument of choice, though we do get a nice soulful guitar solo. A decent 45, though it lacks heft.

4/7/26

Monday, April 6, 2026

Freddie Fender ~ El Pastel / No Puedo Creerlo. USA ~ Texas


When someone told me Freddie Fender had a fuzz psych single, I thought they were just messin' with me. Nope. And here's the proof. An all instrumental fuzz blaster, you will be questioning everything you know. Is the sky really blue? Are we different than cats? 'El Pastel' is the A side on the Mexican release and the B side on the US press. The other track is sort of a drifty folk number sung in Spanish, though it too has light popsike moments. I'll be damned.

4/6/26 (new entry)

Monday, January 5, 2026

The Gale – Gotta Run Away / Make Up My Mind. 1972 USA ~ Birmingham, Alabama


A very interesting two sider here. The a) side starts with an excellent bass and drums groove. The song itself is a laid back organ rocker with excellent harmony vocals. The guitar and organ solos are clearly from the jazz school. The b) maintains the excellent groove though moves over to the soul funk genre, especially considering the addition of female vocals and wah wah rhythm guitar. At first I thought this was the weaker track, but here the guitar solo is based more in the psychedelic tradition. Obscure as they get.

4.0

1/5/26 (new entry)

Hercules & The Black Majic - War (Parts 1 and 2). 1970 USA ~ Des Moines, Iowa


The a) side is a fairly straightforward cover of the Edwin Starr classic. A little more rough and ready. More psych'd out I'd submit. Not really enough to call out on its own though. It's the b) side that captures the attention. While still the same song, it's a completely rearranged, improvised psychedelic funk instrumental with loads of killer fuzz. Good one here.

3.5 / 4.5

1/5/26 (new entry)

Pappys Hauted House - One More Time / Dude. 1972 USA ~ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


One of those classic misspellings that that no doubt haunted (had to do it) the band for years to come. The a) side is mostly soul / jazz with the song belonging to the former and the organ to the latter. Nice wah wah rhythms and horns. It's the b) side that ignites the flame here. They add in wicked fuzz, and primarily go psychedelic with some hints of funk. 

The leader of the band was John Papi, who is the organ player, and led a jazz trio at one point. He's quite an interesting character. Much more info about him can be found here: https://oldmonmusic.blogspot.com/2010/01/john-papi.html

1/5/26 (new entry)

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

The Unwritten Law – This Whole World Is Blind / Actions Speak Louder. 1967 USA ~ California


From Napa Valley. The opener struck me as rather typical garage. I mean 'That Thing You Do' seemed to capture every garage band of the 60s perfectly. But then this crazy fuzz shows up. Not in the typical acid psych sense. Rather a heavily distorted garage sound. The b) side is a killer. Comes with a super organ groove, and that same fuzz they introduced late on the a) side. Love the jazzy Doors like rhythm. And then an organ solo - more Doors references. And it's an excellent song too. Something memorable and hummable. 2:20 is too short - I want four more minutes!

If looking to obtain a copy, a recent auction snagged $2,100. I'll stick to YouTube. Both these tracks are on various comps out there as well.

12/30/25 (new entry)

Long Richard – Force Myself / Lovin Cup. 1968 USA ~ Sacramento, California


The a) side is a drifty psych blues number with piano, electric guitar, and impassioned vocals. Has a jazzy styled rhythm. Vocals are strong and of the late 60s West Coast style. b) is a Butterfield Blues Band number. Again, bluesy in nature, but the psychedelic guitar playing takes it to the next level. Even some Steppenwolf styled riffing. Good two sider.

3.5

12/30/25 (new entry) 

Starchild - Long Way Home / Ocean. 1978 USA ~ Dallas, Texas


Really nice two sider. The a) side is more commercial in nature, but still based in space rock principles, especially considering the phasing. The vocals are female and bear a strong resemblance to my Proto Prog with Female Vocals list. This is especially apparent on the b) side which is more progressive rock in nature. The overall sound is late 70s or early 80s. Excellent guitar work throughout.

Not finding anything much about it. A comment on YouTube says it was made for a Sci-Fi Movie and Book. It also says Dallas. 

More research ties the Dallas reference together with this book. In the description they talk about an unfinished novel from a 40 year old movie treatment. And this was published in 2018. 40 years before? 1978. That sounds exactly right. I'm going forward with these dates and places.

3.5 / 4.0

12/30/25 (new entry)

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

J.B. Green & Born Again - Rock Me Baby / Time. 1976 USA


A very interesting 45, as the music presented is not really single material. It's mostly a type of instrumental psychedelic jazz, very mellow, with fuzzy lead guitar, though not overly amplified. The a) side has vocals and is based in the blues, but once again it sounds more psych jazz than anything. 

I've read they're from Texas without corroboration. Discogs says the label is from Dallas but that's based on the record being pressed by A&R. I know the record plant from my days in DFW, but that doesn't mean the label or artist is from there. I didn't realize Josey Records owns it now. 

3.5 / 4.0

12/10/25 (new entry)

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

La Familia Inc. - La Tuna / This Time. 1972 USA ~ San Francisco, California


Now this one really caught me off guard. The beginning of 'La Tuna' has a nice tight horn section, with rhythm electric piano, playing Latin salsa music similar to early Santana in their native roots mode. Then comes the most screaming fuzz guitar I've heard in ages! We're talking Carlos Santana x2 here. Very unexpected but we get our total money's worth in this extended solo. This is followed by a trumpet lead which leads to a psychotic "La Tuna" rant, and then back to the horns. Whew - what a killer track! The b) side flips over to the Chicago Transit Authority, and reminds me of the more poppy tracks from their first three albums. Unfortunately there are no Terry Kath like breaks, but it's still a pleasant song.

Both of these tracks are on their second album from 1972 called Para La Gente. No idea what kind of consistency the album holds. But 'La Tuna' needs to be comp'd on some psychedelic anthology. 

Own.

9/16/25 (new entry)

Monday, July 21, 2025

Wes Henderson - In Bed / Rea Lity. 1969 Canada ~ Vancouver, British Columbia


Vancouver based musician Wes Henderson has this one release under his own name and it's a goodie. The a) side is a familiar type of 60s soul rock with a passionate chorus and some fine electric guitar. It's the b) side (known as 'Rea Lity' on my copy) that seems to have gone unnoticed so far. Excellent driving psychedelic funk, not too far from the label's namesake Rare Earth. More focused than that with some stinging guitar work. Great drum fills as well. To be discovered.

Own.

7/21/25 (new entry)

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Sound Company - Truman's Daughter / I Am Your Hour. 1971 USA ~ Missouri


From Neosho, Missouri which is in the far SW part of the state near Joplin. The A) side is a nice driving hard rock with more than a hint of Southern rock which you might expect of a band near the Ozarks. It's the B) side that is the head turner. Sound Company introduces Hammond organ and the bass player lays down a mean groove while the drummer gets out the amphetamine kit. In comes the wah wah rhythm guitar. Think Rare Earth when they're on their A-game. A couple of chorus' later comes the payoff - an absolute wicked and blazing fuzz solo. This is followed by the vocalist going psychotic. I could have gone for 20 minutes of this! 


Own. With picture sleeve. Paid a buck at a thrift shop and it's in minty condition. Hell yea!

5/6/25 (new entry)

Saturday, April 26, 2025

The Revised Edition - Thoughts / Illusions Of You ~ USA ~ North Carolina


From Asheboro, south of Greensboro. A) side is high energy garage driven by organ and excellent drumming. The B) side turns up the amps while slowing things down. Bit of doom even. Has a nice fuzz solo in the middle.

3.0 / 3.5

4/26/25

Friday, April 4, 2025

The Fabulous Raindrops - People Need A Beat / El Putty. USA ~ Denver, Colorado


Now this is something special. I bought a milk crate full of 45s for $5 last weekend from an old Hispanic lady. I took them home and sorted through them. Most in bad condition and about 98% of them were donated to a thrift shop and a few found their way to my $2 show bin. There were two gems in there: The Mod Squad and... by far and away the big one: The Fabulous Raindrops. This was the heavy hitter. And hyper rare. That's how 45 buys go. 200 nickel records and one $500+ treasure.

The labels aren't very telling. One side says "Soul" the other "Ranchera". Do you know what Ranchera is? Think Mexican country music. The label, from the Denver industrial suburb of Commerce City, specialized in Latin music. Hence the style typed on each side. That's just what Latin labels do. If one was to just hear the Ranchera side first, you'd already be in for a surprise. It's instrumental and barely Mexican in construct. 

It's the A) side that is a... banger. And a half (I'm such a hipster now). It's as if someone made it recently as the perfect example of late 60s (or early 70s - who knows?) heavy psychedelic funk. So much phased acid guitar and heavy beats. Separated perfectly for those who love to sample. And what a groove the organ sets. It's not Soul as you would typically associate the term with. And I don't think the label had any idea what they were putting out. With names like Spike and Ricky Martinez, it's interesting that the music sounds more like a private Detroit or Philly ghetto release.

Seeing some dates of 1966 thrown around. No chance. Way too psychedelic for that. I'd go '67 but probably later than that.

Brilliant I tell ya. It's on YouTube so check it out. You can also hear this track on Gear Fab's Psychedelic States: Colorado in the 60s. 

Own.

4/4/25 (new entry)

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