A stone classic from the legendary Hawkwind – a set that's steeped in all their best space rock modes of the 70s – yet which also has a wonderfully sharp sort of focus too! Keyboards, guitars, and drums soar to the skies right from the start – prefacing an intensity that so many others would later cop from the group, but never get this right – quite possibly because the simple 70s production really helps bring all the best elements right down on the money! In ways, the set almost echoes earlier psych performance and production – yet there's also a cleaner, clearer vibe going on – one that magically steps around the overindulgence of prog and the thinness of some of the later psych of the next decade. Titles include "The Demented Man", "Magnu", "Standing At The Edge", "Warriors", "Kings Of Speed", and "The Wizard Blew His Horn". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the headier groups in the Mainstream Records psychedelic scene of the late 60s – and that's saying a lot, considering the company the act were keeping on the label! December's Children features both a male and female vocalist, each of whom sing a bit solo, but also come together in occasionally majestic ways – a bit like the mode of Jefferson Airplane at times, but with a lot more complexity. Styles range from funky blues rock to gentler, folksier modes – and although the instrumentation is conventional for a rock combo, the group manage to get a lot of unusual sounds out of what they have on hand. Titles include "Afternoon", "Hide The Water", "Sweet Talkin Woman", "Slow It Down", "Livin Way Too Fast", and "Back Road Rider". LP, Vinyl record album

The Electric Prunes get back to basics – as you might guess from the title here – shaking off some of the larger, more ambitious modes of their albums with David Axelrod, yet still retaining a nicely trippy sound overall! The lineup of the group has shifted a bit – hence their billing as "the new improved" Electric Prunes – but although things are stripped-down and simple, there's still some amazing music on the record – a blend of guitar, flute, organ, and vocals that flows along wonderfully with some unusual sounds that we wouldn't expect! And while there's certainly a bit of "good old rock and roll" going on here on a few more straightforward songs, it's not like the album's Let It Be or anything like that – because the group are really more just getting back to the garagey psych of their roots, but doing it a bit better than before! Titles include "Sell", "14 Year Old Funk", "Love Grows", "Giant Sunhorse", "Silver Passion Mine", "Sing To Me", "Tracks", and "Finders Keepers Losers Weepers". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a sound that's as wonderfully swirling as its cover – material from a short-lived Cali group of the early 70s, and one who deliver this set with all the best elements of the big groups of the time – but with a much more laidback vibe! Their harmonies can really be wonderful, and hardly even need any studio augmentation – as you'd get with a more commercial group – and the songs are easygoing, but well put-together – tight, but nicely far from the charts too – and served up with some impeccable instrumentation that really gives the group their own flair! The whole set's got all the warmth of the best soft or country rock material of the time, but is more personal and less major label – on titles that include "Angelena", "Early Morning", "Tell Me A Story", "Roll Em Down", "Sleep Eyes", "New Day", "Time", and "Dirt Roads". LP, Vinyl record album

The Move are looking a bit fuzzier here than in their earlier years – and they're sounding a bit fuzzier too, but in a way that's totally great! The group's down to a quartet, which seems to bring even more focus on the great vocals of Carl Wayne, and heady guitar of Roy Wood! There's a brashness here the group didn't have before – a direction that points more towards some of Wood's later solo work, but which still has the core crispness and wit that makes The Move so wonderful – even as they blossom here into a more full-formed psychedelic act. Tunes are longer, and definitely trippier – but in a wonderfully playful way that's never too full of itself. The group produced themselves this time around, and get some great help on arrangements from Tony Visconti – on titles that include "Fields Of People", "Hello Susie", "The Last Thing On My Mind", "Don't Make My Baby Blue", and "Beautiful Daughter". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from Queen – a set conceived when the group were already at the top of their game, and willing to not only lean into their strengths, but also take a few chances by slimming things down, and really bringing the focus onto the guitar work, vocals, and heavy rhythms that continue to make the quartet the stuff of legend! Those qualities come through right away on the album's first two tracks – the instant classics "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" – followed by plenty more greatness on titles that include the ultimate take on "Sheer Heart Attack", and the cuts "My Melancholy Blues", "It's Late", "Who Needs You", Fight From The Inside", "Spread Your Wings", "All Dead All Dead", and "Get Down Make Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Todd Rundgren in all of his great early glory – a record that's filled with simple, honest pop tunes – and one that also takes on a few experimental touches as well – but only in ways that further the earnest charm at its heart! There's a really upfront, unpretentious feel to the record – one that matches Todd's indie rock look on the cover, and which comes through beautifully in the balance of material in the set. Some tunes are a bit harder rocking, but they're always offset by gentler moments that really stand out. Titles include "We Gotta Get You A Woman", "The Last Thing You Said", "Broke Down & Busted", "Who's That Man", "Birthday Carol", "Believe In Me", and the great medley of "Baby Let's Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don't Tie My Hands". LP, Vinyl record album

The last Savoy Brown album to feature the duo of Kim Simmonds and Paul Raymond – and a record that still holds on to all the classic power of the group! The more direct blues influences have been toned down by this time, and fused more into a sound that's a trademark for the group – tight, but never slick – a cool, compressed confidence that has the vocals and sharp guitars coming across with a great deal of charm! Tracks are nice and long, with plenty of guitar interplay – and titles include "Part Time Lady", "This Day Is Gonna Be Our Last", "Get Up & Do It", "Skin N Bone", and "She's The One". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the real standouts in the late 70s run of records from The Tubes – a set that's not only got the tunes united by a concept, but which also features some impeccable production from Todd Rundgren! The group's fuzz on the guitars is turned up nice – almost like they're trying to give a nod to the new wave generation, while Rundgren ups the catchiness of their tunes, and finds a way to make the whole thing not get bogged down in the larger concept of the record – which is a commentary about television in the modern age. Titles include "TV Is King", "Prime Time", "Getoverture", "I Want It All Now", "No Way Out", "Only The Strong Survive", and "Telecide". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last couple of great records Waits made for Island, and a defining moment in his career! Leave it to Waits to cut a bunch of songs that wrestle with mortality and the fleeting nature of life head on, but have as much fun with it as he does worry or mourn. It's got some rumbling raw material as gritty as anything he'd recorded before or since, beautifully sung ballads and cool, creaky speak-singing tunes. Truly a signature effort and one for both the casual fans and Waits diehards. Includes the classic "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", "Earth Died Screaming" "Dirt In The Ground", "Such A Scream", "All Stripped Down", "Let Me Get Up On It", "Whistle Down The The Wind", "That Feel" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A heady, hairy solo album from the great Roy Wood – very different than his material with Wizzard, and definitely a solo set, given that Roy handled everything about the album himself – from all the vocals and instruments, to all the production and arrangements, to all the artwork on the cover! The record's also got this very unusual pastiche of styles, too – each song is very different, almost as if the album's an experiment by Wood, trying out different facets of his musical ability – and combining them into a set that's way more experimental than you'd guess for the time, or for a record on a major label. Some tracks are very tuneful and catchy, but sit next to looser, more openly-shaped work – and the balance is fantastic, a bit like a classic Todd Rundgren record – where you'd have a brilliant radio-ready track right next to a looser bit of sonic creativity. Titles include the Brian Wilson-like "Why Does Such A Pretty Girl Song Those Sad Songs" – plus "Look Thru The Eyes Of A Fool", "Interlude/Get On Down Home", "Mustard", "Any Old Time Will Do", and "The Rain Came Down On Everything". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sounds from this legendary group – a combo who feature a young Ted Nugent on some complete amazing guitar, but in a way that's very different than Ted's big arena rock albums of the 70s! The Amboy Dukes have a way of combining the rawness of garage rock with the headiness of psych, all while also reaching a bit into blues roots to really let the guitars speak loudly – one of those really important 60s records that twisted up different rock genres at once, and helped pave the way for a unique generation to come! Singer John JB Drake is pretty great too – and titles include great versions of "I Feel Free", "Let's Go Get Stoned", "Baby Please Don't Go", and "It's Not True" – plus the originals "Young Love", "Colors", "Down On Philips Escalator", and "Gimme Love". LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to get any more classic than this for Creedence Clearwater Revival – as this legendary late 60s album is definitely the place where it all comes together! The pairing of John Fogerty's lead guitar and the scratching rhythm guitar of brother Tom really sounds wonderful here – driven on by tight bass and drums, but always with this rootsy edge that stretches from the Bay Area scene way down to the bayou! Titles include the classic "Down On The Corner" and a great version of "The Midnight Special" – plus "It Came Out Of The Sky", "Side Of The Road", "Effigy", "Don't Look Now", and "Fortunate Son". LP, Vinyl record album

Standout early work from the mighty Esquerita – an artist you might initially write off as a Little Richard copycat, but one who also delivers a whole lot more in the end! The groove here is rough R&B, inflected with a touch of early soul – and the piano lines are worth the price of admission, played at a level that goes back to early New Orleans roots, but with more 50s bluesy currents – often alongside some tenor and guitar that rival the best instrumentation you'd find on indie singles at the time from King and Atlantic – quite a surprise for the normally-pop Capitol Records. And the vocals are something else, too – certainly with a soaring, screaming range – but also just wonderful when they're more down to earth, and in the groove. Titles include "Hey, Miss Lucy", "Why Did It Take You So Long", "She Left Me Cryin'", "Get Back Baby", "I Need You", "Maybe Baby", and "I'm Battie Over Hattie". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A killer second set from Section – a combo made up of key 70s studio players like Danny Kootch Kortchmar and drummer Craig Doerge! The style here is partly fusion, partly instrumental rock – but never too jamming overall, and recorded with a good spacious sound. Because of the restraint the group uses, there's a tight, crisp sound to the record that results in some solidly grooving numbers – recorded with a bit of a Southern California flourish in the production, but never as slick as the super-huge records these players would work on in years to come! Titles include "Smilin Ed", "El Mirador Bolero", "A Kind OF Albatross", "One Drum", "Bullet Train", "Forward Motion", "Baby Lame", "Get Down Piltdown", "The Garden Of Ryoanji", and "Burning Bush". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A late 60s classic from Canned Heat – a record that captures the group during that moment when their unique blend of styles was really on fire! There's a grittier, almost noisier vibe going on here at times – fuzz turned up a bit more than before, and maybe a bit more attitude – as if the group were getting spurred on by some of the societal changes at the end of the 60s, and shaken out of any reveries of the past! The set's filled with very heady tunes – titles that include "I'm Her Man", "Sic Em Pigs", "Do Not Enter", "Big Fat", "Huautla", "Get Off My Back", and "Down In The Gutter But Free". LP, Vinyl record album

The Move are looking a bit fuzzier here than in their earlier years – and they're sounding a bit fuzzier too, but in a way that's totally great! The group's down to a quartet, which seems to bring even more focus on the great vocals of Carl Wayne, and heady guitar of Roy Wood! There's a brashness here the group didn't have before – a direction that points more towards some of Wood's later solo work, but which still has the core crispness and wit that makes The Move so wonderful – even as they blossom here into a more full-formed psychedelic act. Tunes are longer, and definitely trippier – but in a wonderfully playful way that's never too full of itself. The group produced themselves this time around, and get some great help on arrangements from Tony Visconti – on titles that include "Fields Of People", "Hello Susie", "The Last Thing On My Mind", "Don't Make My Baby Blue", and "Beautiful Daughter". LP, Vinyl record album

Lost later genius from Cali guitar great Dick Dale – a set recorded in the 70s, but one that stays very faithful to the spirit of his classic 60s material on Capitol! In fact, the sound here may even be more lean and stripped-down – as the recordings were done at the classic Gold Star Studios, but have little in the way of overdone arrangements, production, or anything else you'd guess from the date – just really raw instrumentals that have Dale still a hell of a talent on the guitar, in a small combo with second guitar, bass, drums, and some mighty nice organ! There's great echo in the production, a bit of sax on one cut – and titles include "Surf Beat", "Misirlou", "The Victor", "Let's Go Trippin", "Get Back The Feelin", and "Peppermint Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A double-length collection of work from the first chapter of Grand Funk Railroad – that moment when the group was just a power trio, and really helping to move their early blues inspirations into some fierce hard rock territory! The title's a reference to the lineup – Mark Farner on guitar and vocals, Don Brewer on drums and vocals, and Mel Schacher on bass – all working together in a mode that's really transformative over the short space of the material included in the set! At some level, GFR are almost an American equivalent of Free from the UK – a group who clearly have all the chops of the blues heroes they admire, but who are willing to let their hair down and hit more of a rock and roll starpower mode – unafraid to get a bit soulful on the vocals, and really letting their electric strings sing at an equally strong level. Titles include "Into The Sun", "Heartbreaker", "Time Machine", "Loneliness", "Are You Ready", "TNUC", "Inside Looking Out", "Closer To Home/I'm Your Captain", and "Paranoid". LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Richie Havens at this point is beyond compare – a unique take on the dying folk sound of the 60s, one that infused it with a deeper sense of soul that helped it get new legs in the Woodstock generation – yet which is also heard here before any of the post-hippie cliches that would bog down some of Richie's later work. There's an earnestness to this music that's also touched with a good degree of worldly sense – a notion that the world was changing, but one person at a time, and mostly through the gentle efforts and honest efforts of souls like Richie. This LP features 11 tracks in all – with titles that include "High Flyin' Bird", "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Just Like A Woman", "Sandy", "Three Day Eternity", "Follow", and "Handsome Johny". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album