Joan Baez, back when she was really pretty darn amazing – a young, fresh, powerful force in 60s folk music! The set features Baez on vocals and guitar – with additional electric guitar on a few tracks, a bit of mandolin, and some bass. Includes great readings of Dylan tunes "Farewell Angelina", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall", and "Daddy You Been On My Mind" – plus Donovan's "Colours". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal set from Country Joe & The Fish – one of those albums that brought the new psychedelic sound strongly into the mainstream – but all without softening up or commercializing it at all! There's still a very sharp edge to the record – mean organ lines, fuzzy guitar, and lots of cool production that makes the sounds weirder and more watery than before – even the vocals, which have this edge that nobody would ever refer to as Sunshine Pop! In a way, the whole set's as sinister as any of the most groundbreaking albums on Elektra from the time – and definitely shows that both Vanguard and the group were at the forefront of the new psych recording scene. Titles include "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", "Super Bird", "Death Sound", "Sad And Lonely Times", "The Masked Marauder", "Grace", and "Bass Strings". LP, Vinyl record album

(Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the more obscure talents on Vanguard in the folk years – a compelling singer who accompanies himself on guitar and harmonica. (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's virtually impossible to describe in words – partly because it's got a trans-historical, trans-spatial sort of vibe – effortlessly filtering together the best roots of older French pop music, and combining them with a range of underground pop elements that reach out to the farther reaches of the globe! Jean Emmanuel Deluxe sings lead – often with a raspy style that's partly sung, partly spoken – but never in a Serge Gainsbourg mode. Instead, he gets lots of spacey support on keyboards, echoey drums, and other instrumentation that feels like reworked 60s modes – ala Stereolab, High Llamas, or Pearlfishers. Yet the record is nothing like any of those references at all – even though Sean O'Hagan provides some guest work – as does Bertrand Burgalat, Misawa Masanori, and drummer Werner "Zappi" Diermaier of Faust. Titles include "Lushy Life", "The Girl Who Was Talking In Reverse", "Claire", "La Gourveneur De California", "Hollywood Parties", and "Comme Une Video Star". LP, Vinyl record album