A garage pop monster from The Knickerbockers – a set that smokes from the start with their super-huge hit "Lies" – then grooves into a rowdy batch of groovers that almost have the feel of the early fab four at their best! Like The Beatles, the group definitely has a way of harmonizing along with their tunes – bringing in a sweetly melodic quality, even when rough around the edges – which makes for a great mix of sounds we can really endorse. Titles include "Lies", "Just One Girl", "Can't You See I'm Trying", "Wishful Thinking", "You'll Never Walk Alone", and "I Can Do It Better" – This version features 4 bonus tracks including a short interview with Beau & John Charles! CD

A really cool cooker from The Meters – recorded during their post-Josie run for Warner Brothers, but with this tight vibe that still holds all their funky New Orleans roots intact! The sound is a bit more expanded here – not in a commercial way, but just in a style that has the group trying out more things – some interesting rhythms, offbeat guitar passages, and maybe even more of a vocal presence – although it's clearly the drums and basslines that are still driving the whole thing along! Production is by Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn – again in that great style they were hitting at Warner – and titles include "Soul Island", "Flower Song", "Gettin Funkier All the Time", "Do the Dirt", "Cabbage Alley", and "Stay Away" – plus a version of Neil Young's "Birds"! CD also features the bonus cuts "Chug Chug Chug-a-Lug (Push & Shove)" parts 1 & 2! CD

The initial uttering from the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – a group with a heady sound that definitely lives up to their name! There's less "pop art" going on here than just trippy psych – served up at a level that makes the group one of the best bigger label examples of the style at the time – and definitely a lot more edgey than some of their labelmates on Warner. Jimmy Bowen produced, but really keeps all the edges intact – and titles include the completely insane "Help I'm A Rock" (actually about a rock calling for help!) – plus "Shifting Sands", "1906", "Transparent Day", "Here's Where You Belong", and "If You Want This Love". CD features bonus single mixes of "Help, I'm A Rock" and "Transparent Day". CD

Brilliantly funky! This is the greatest album they cut for Warner Brothers – and it's one of the few that ever really approaches the genius of their early work for Josie. The record features the incredible breakbeat cut "Just Kissed My Baby" – worth the price of the album alone – plus other nice ones like "Jungle Man", "Africa", "What'cha Say", and the perennial New Orleans favorite "Hey Pocky A Way". Also features the incredible funk jam "It Ain't No Use" – a monster track that's nearly 12 minutes long! Plus, the CD features 2 bonus tracks, single versions of "Hey Pocky A-Way" and "People Say"! CD

A landmark album from Skip Spence – the onetime lead singer of Moby Grape, cast out of the group on his own by the time of this debut solo album – a record that's as powerful as it is fragile, and which has been the one lasting musical legacy of the man himself! The record almost sunk without a trace at the time, but has gone onto become the stuff of legend over the decade – supported by fellow singers, songwriters, and even a fair bit of the music press – who all shine key light on the record's unique, ahead of its time quality! Spence recorded the set for the same Columbia Records that was willing to take a chance on the early Leonard Cohen records – and there's a similarly singular vibe to Skip's approach – one that puts the whole thing at the level of "missed the first time around – but never again!" albums by later-decade legends like Big Star, Nick Drake, and maybe even Cohen. The style is hard to describe – similar reworking of roots-though-psych as Moby Grape, but a lot more intimate too – with so many lost dark corners, the set will be rewarding your ears for years to come! Titles include his original "Cripple Creek", plus "Diana", "Margaret Tiger Rug", "Weighted Down", "Little Hands", "Books Of Moses", "All Come To Meet Her", "Broken Heart", and "War In Peace" – plus 10 bonus tracks!! CD

Jaunty rock by We The People – not to be confused with the early 70s soul act of the same name! Titles include "Beginning Of The End", "Too Much Noise", "My Brother The Man", "Free Information", "In The Past", "Alfred What Kind Of Man Are You", "You Are The Color Of Love", and "St Johns Shop". CD

The title track's a mighty big hit for The Marketts – and it's also a great way to describe the group's talent for pushing past their boundaries at the time! The sound is surf instrumental at the core – but really stretches out to space themes, soundtrack areas, and more – thanks to inventive arrangements from Ray Pohlman, who pushes these guys farther than the usual groups of the time – while still keeping that guitar instrumental style that made them so great overall! There's a lot more variety to the tunes than you'd hear on a Ventures album, for example – and beautiful Bones Howe engineering makes sure that the sound is top-shelf throughout! Titles include the group's big hit reading of "Out Of Limits", plus "Bell Star", "Saturn", "Re-Entry", "Other Limits", "Twilight City", and "Limits Beyond". CD

A killer compilation of cuts by The Pleasure Seekers – the criminally overlooked teen garage rock girl group with roots in the feral mid 60s Detroit scene! The band's relative obscurity is all the more surprising, given that it's the first band featuring glam rock trailblazer Suzi Quatro – with her sisters Patti, Nancy and Arlene in the lineup at one point or another, making this a bonafide sister act – along with equally roaring friends Pami Benford, Diane Baker, Darline Arone, Nan Ball and Nancy Rogers moving in and out of the lineup during the 1965-1968 run immortalized here. Raw, raucous and tuneful – really tremendous stuff! Titles include "Gotta Get Away", "What A Way To Die", "White Pig Blues", "Mr Power", "Elevator Express", "Good Kind Of Hurt", "Light Of Love", "Never Thought You'd Leave Me", and "Brain Confusion". CD

Rare work by Curt Boettcher – recorded as a solo project by the Millenium mainman for Elektra in the early 70s. The album came out briefly, and almost died upon release – but it's a great batch of tracks that ranks with the best of the 70s rock underground – including work by Big Star, Terry Reid, and Emmitt Rhodes. The sound here is very different than Boettcher's Millenium work – still heartfelt and somewhat gentle, but also with touches of countrified instrumentation, and a rawer overall sound than you'd expect from the sweetness of Curt's pop in the 60s. Gary Usher helped produce the set, and titles include "Without Her", "Bobby California", "Love You Yes I Do", "Such A Lady", "I Love You More Each Day", and "Lay Down". CD

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The Meters are struttin plenty here – stepping out with those hard, tight New Orleans grooves that practically changed the way funk sounded in the 60s – and which had a huge impact on the sound of so many other groups in the decade to come! The approach here is wonderfully lean – whomping rhythms, bubbling Hammond organ, and scratchy guitar work – all used in a nicely spare, understated way – very different than the fuller New Orleans sound of their later records – and very much the kind of energy of the funky 45 underground! The whole thing is fantastic – all great cuts, all the way through – given sharp edges through the production work of Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn, on titles that include "Same Old Thing", "Joog", "Chicken Strut", "Liver Splash", "Hand Clapping Song", "Hey Last Minute", "Tippi-Toes", and "Ride Your Pony". A bucket of breaks in every track! CD features 2 previously unissued cuts – "Funky Meters' Soul" and "Meter Strut"! CD

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A seminal second set from The Turtles – and a record that really has them sharpening up their sound! The songwriting is smarter than before, and the group's also developing the wit that would really set them apart from the rest of the west coast scene of the 60s – that mode of stepping back, taking a grander look at the music, and coming forward with a great sense of perspective in their sound! There's still a few folksy currents from before – but there's also some deeper, darker modes too – maybe a touch of Brit influence, ala Animals or Kinks – yet slightly lighter west coast too. Titles include "Down In Suburbia", "House Of Pain", "Just A Room", "I Know That You'll Be There", "Flyin High", "Pall Bearing Ball Bearing World", and "Give Love A Trial". CD

One of THE greatest experimental rock albums of the 60s – a landmark effort from a short-lived group that included avant musicians Joe Byrd and Gordon Marron! The group's got a really tremendous sound – part psyche, part electronic, and part folk rock – all put together in a freewheeling style that cares little for genre or convention – and which must have really shook the roots of Columbia Records when they submitted the tape for this set! The instrumentation on the set should be enough to pop your cork – as the group uses ring modulator, electric drums, electric harpsichord, organ, calliope, and other early electronic instruments – but their sound is topped off with some really beautiful vocals from singer Dorothy Moskowitz, adding a light touch that really makes for a strange juxtaposition! The lyrics are a bit poetic and trippy – in a good way – and titles include "The American Metaphysical Circus", "Garden Of Earthly Delights", and "Cloud Song". Beautifully expanded version of the album – with 10 bonus tracks, most previously unissued – titles that include "Tailor Man", "Osamu's Birthday", "No Love To Give", "I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You Sugar", and "Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights)". CD

Great raw vocal group material – and an essential batch of sides from this group that only ever cut rare singles! The set's a much-needed look at the rich talents of the Van Dykes – a southern male vocal trio with a style that covered a number of different areas, from hard post-doo wop harmony, to sweeter Impressions-like soul. We'd only heard a couple of the group's singles for the Mala label, and we're really pleased to discover how much of their stuff is on a par with what we'd already known. The CD features a total of 15 tracks – and titles include "I'm So Happy", "Tears Of Joy", "No Man Is An Island", "Hey Mr Lonesome", "You Need Confidence", and "I'm For Real, Baby". CD

Some of the rarest work ever recorded by guitarist Kenny Burrell – his early 60s instrumental sides for Columbia Records! Kenny only really cut 2 LPs for Columbia at the time – the instrumental album Blusin Around, and the stranger set Weaver Of Dreams, which actually features Kenny on vocals (one of his few albums of the sort.) The set here resurrects Kenny's Columbia work as a musician – by compiling tracks from the Blusin Around album, plus 9 more titles that have never been issued before, but were recorded at the time! Kenny's playing here in nicely laidback settings – small groups that include players like Hank Jones, Illinois Jacquet, Eddie Bert, Jack McDuff, and Leo Wright – a total of 18 tracks in all that represent a strong body of lost work. Titles include "The Switch", "Mambo Twist", "One Mint Julep", "Funk Junction", "Getting In The Groove", "Bluesin Around", "How Could You", and "Opus 21". CD