A lost hard rock gem from a Milwaukee quartet – produced by Kim Fowley with a sound that's as raw and garagey as his best indie productions from the mid 60s! These guys have all sorts of familiar elements in the mix – an influence from blues, a trippier style of guitar, and some nicely soulful currents in the vocals of Den Geyer – but there's a special brew that takes all of these qualities into special territory, making for the kind of standout set that was mysteriously overlooked at the time – but which makes for one of those rare treasures that lie far below the giants of the classic rock generation. Titles include "Gotta Be Free", "Hope For The Future", "Pearl", "Lady In The Dark", "I'm Walkin", "Trackin Shoes", "Sweet Mother Earth", and the jazzy guitar tune "Gazebo" – dedicated to the great Gabor Szabo! LP, Vinyl record album

The one-and-only album by upstate New York's wonderfully trippy psych-folk Chrysalis – a buried rock treasure from 1968. Definition is a strange title for the record, as the group refuses to be bound to any one – mixing laidback, trippy psychedelia, oddball folk, and meandering strains of free and old timey jazz influences! Led by rhythm guitarist J Spider Barbour, the group featured vocals by Nancy Nairn and standard psych rock arrangements, plus leftfield acoustic instrumentation and trippy keyboards! The main album includes the tracks "That Will Be The Morning", "Lacewing", "Lake Hope", "Piece Of Sun" and "Dr. Roots Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A weird bit of folk funk rock – and a totally cool record on early 70s Verve! The album was recorded during the Mike Curb years at MGM – and has a similar pop crossover, adult hip kind of sound to some of Curb's other big success stories. The sound's an unusual blend of folk and growing 70s pop modes – and the track "Let's Love" is a nice spacey groover with a flanged-out pop sound. Songs include "Butterfly", "From Japan To America", "Low Lay Low", "Teddy Bear", "Harlequin", "Caroline", "Face Of A Clown", "The Gun", "Rain", "Elie Lama Sabacthani", and "Let's Love". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Produced and arranged by Alan Lorber – who brings in some nice trippy touches! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly great pairing of talents – the post-Animals Eric Burdon on vocals, and early grooves from Cali funk legends War – coming together here in a blend that still holds up beautifully after all these years! Burdon was already getting pretty soulful on the last few Animals albums on MGM – and he really advances that style here when working with War's great grooves – some of the grittiest, nastiest, most stretched out work of their career – especially on some of the album's nicely long tracks. There's some nice Latin currents to the music at times, and the group vocalize alongside Burdon at times – and titles include a long version of "Paint It Black", plus "Bare Back Ride", "Sun/Moon", "Pretty Colors", "Gun", "Nuts Seeds & Life", "They Can't Take Away Our Music", and "Spirit". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Another gem from The Animals' overlooked late 60s years on MGM – a time when the group were easily making some of the most inventive music on the label! The styles here are even wider than before – definitely an attempt to showcase "every one of us" that made up the group – in a blend of spacey sounds, gentle folksy moments, and some of the rougher tones of previous MGM records. Many titles were written only by Burdon – a bit of a change from before – and showcase an increased use of acoustic guitar alongside his bleak vocals. Titles include "The Immigrant Lad", "Year Of The Guru", "Serenade To A Sweet Lady", "White Houses", "New York 1963/America 1968", and "Uppers & Downers". CD features a bonus single version of "White Houses". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The incredible third album from The Velvet Underground – and maybe our favorite of all their albums together – even though this one is far less weird or experimental than the rest! After their initial foray with Nico, and their bombastic sonic experiments on White Light/White Heat, the VU hit this wonderfully subtle territory here – these really personal, moody songs that still have all the knowledge of the wilder sounds of previous records, but which take those farther reaches and bring them back to more focused songwriting – with results that are completely sublime! There's no side-long jams, nor any fuzzy freakouts – but instead, the album's filled with these wonderful songs that really show Lou Reed really honing his craft – able to touch on all the seamy edges of late 60s counterculture, without ever having to hit you over the head – and likewise, the band's instrumentation has this way of using all their wider knowledge of noise and sound in these really refined ways – at a level that opened the door for so many other generations to come. The result is a masterpiece all the way through – and every track is a landmark of dark genius – on titles that include "Pale Blue Eyes", "After Hours", "I'm Set Free", "That's The Story Of My Life", "Candy Says", "What Goes On", and "Jesus". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Herman's Hermits, The Symbols, The Cherokees, The Animals, and The Moquettes. LP, Vinyl record album

Great later work from The Animals – a set that's not as tripped-out as some of their other late 60s work, and which almost starts to show Eric Burdon's rising love of soul and funk! The sound is still pretty rockish overall – but there's some great use of bass rumbling at the bottom – bringing up a rumbling quality that fits nicely with Burdon's somewhat bleak presentation of the lyrics at various points. Production by Tom Wilson almost has a raspy, lo-fi sort of feel – different than the bluesier roots of the group, and almost a precursor of indie work in decades to come! Titles include the classic "Sky Pilot", plus "Monterey", "Just The Thought", "Closer To The Truth", "No Self Pity", "Orange & Red Beams", and "We Love You Lil". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Features songs by Neil Young, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Thunderclap Newman, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. LP, Vinyl record album

Was there a sexier 70s celebrity than Joey Heatherton? It's hard to think so – and while we certainly remember her from countless variety show appearances at the time, it's actually a bit hard to remember her as a singer (something that's due, no doubt, to the fact that we were so busy looking – not listening!) The set was done in a sexy sort of 70s pop mode – slight country touches on a few tunes, but mostly glistening adult-styled backings from the team of Tony Scotti and Tommy Oliver. Tunes include "God Only Knows", "It's Not Easy", "Right Or Wrong", "I'm Sorry", "Gone", "Say Hello", and "Someone To Watch Over Me". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most mindblowing pop culture pastiches of the 60s – a record that's as absolutely mad as it is absolutely free – and proof that a whole new generation of musicians like Zappa were using the studio like an instrument itself! This is work that could have never existed away from record – as the mix of sounds, moods, and music comes together with a maddening frenzy – hardly the languid speed you'd expect from the early years of hippiedom – and instead, an inspirational stream of styles and ideas delivered with trademark Zappa dexterity and wit! The album's divided into two long passages – "Absolutely Free" and "The MOI American Pageant" – with tracks that include "Plastic People", "Amnesia Vivace", "The Duke Regains His Chops", "America Drinks & Goes Home", "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese", "Status Back Baby", and "The Duke Of Prunes". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes tracks from "Freak Out", "Absolutely Free", and "We're Only In It For The Money". 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

Amazing sounds from Frank Zappa – and a record that showed the world that he was also one hell of an arranger too! The album's got all the offbeat, tripped-out qualities that you'd expect from late 60s Zappa – but at times, it's also got this tightness that's really amazing – almost as if Frank's showing the world that he can easily do the same things as the studio wizards of LA pop – but chooses to keep most of his efforts on the wrong side of the tracks! There's plenty of larger backings at points – handled by some of the cream of the crop of the LA studio and jazz scene – but other moments are pretty darn raw, and have a gritty, almost homemade sound collage feel. LP, Vinyl record album