Assorted wig-lifters from the colonies

Continuing my search for long-forgotten and / or ignored folk-janglers brings me to this obscure compilation on the UK label, Antar Records. The sleeve is designed by P. St. John Nettleton and very similar to those Rubble LP designs by Phil Smee.

I bought this from a record shop in Sunderland, probably sometime in 1986. They had a section marked ’60s garage & psych, and I was in there, at least three times a week flicking through the new releases and buying anything interesting.

Bump – ”Winston Built The Bridge” / ”Sing Into The Wind” (Pioneer PRSD-2147) 1969

Here’s a record I first heard way back in the mid 80s on a compilation called ”Colour Dreams” and it’s held my curiosity ever since. ”Winston Built The Bridge” also turned up on ”Rubble #20” and ”Mindblowers.” Strangely, the flip ”Sing Into The Wind” written by drummer Jerome Greenberg remains uncompiled but I believe it’s on their 1970 album ”Bump” which I don’t have and haven’t even heard!

”Winston Built The Bridge” has a UK psych sound circa 1967 with an ever-present farfisa organ giving the song an early Pink Floyd vibe and the throwaway child-like lyrics recall something Syd would have on his mind. The tune is bouncy and memorable ending in a frenzy of noise and phlange effects.

I have done a little research and found an online obituary confirming the death of Paul Lupien, the keyboard player and songwriter of ”Winston.” He died in 2009, aged 62.

Line-up:
Paul Lupien (keyboards)
Jerome Greenberg (drums)
Alan Goldman (guitar)
George Runyan (bass / vocals)

The Deep – “Color Dreams” kicks off the scene with epic tolling chiming bells and booming tympani as the ensuing action flies fast and furious. The rhythm fuzz guitar is set so widely buzzing it’s a virtual background wash for the spilling of a rapid and wild succession of word play that predates The Pink Floyd’s “Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk”:

“Blue black/Purple mac
Orange yellow/Funny fellow
White brown/Pink town
Orange red/Pink bed
We’ll pretend/Yellow man
Jesus saves/Planet rays
Green red/Commie dead
Blue green/Yellow scream
Spanish fly/golden eye/pearly white/outta sight…
Grey flannel/TV panel (sound effect of shifting psychic panels)
Blue peach/out of reach/apple pie/oh my!
High!…(Wow!)
Fingernail/emerald sail
Brown suit chartreuse knapsack thumb tack pushcart go-cart tippy toes skid row…
Barber pole/yellow roll…
Polka dot/mind rot
Jingle bell/William Tell…”

On that last fantastically burnt couplet, the vibes gain in rhythmic prominence and strike groovily on the mark as though they’ve been itching to commandeer the piece into a stylish Lionel Hampton-styled Avalon-moonglow-afterglow-cocktail hour all along (And if it weren’t for Rusty’s bucket full of punk snarl and brusque overuse of fuzz riffs, it would almost succeed.)

“Color Dreams” is one of the key moments of the album. The vibes, the primitive “Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet” kettle drums, bells and tape loop of superimposed female laughter that race by teasingly all unite to create a true representation in music of the overloaded and peaking psychedelic mind.

The Good Feelins

This record was released locally on Rock-It, a small label based in San Bernardino, California. “Shattered” is an intense acid lament with fuzz leads and is simply magnificent.

They enjoyed a big reaction in their home base and opened for many acts including The Animals, The Grass Roots, The Rolling Stones and The Music Machine.

The band broke up when members got drafted to Vietnam.

line-up:
Kenny Myers (vocals/guitar)
Jerry Dalpiaz (bass)
Ray Iodice (guitar)
Mike Kravitz (drums)
Paul Balletti (vocals)

The Grains Of Sand –”Passing Through The Night” / ”The Castaway Of Capt. Haze” (AMM 008) 1967

Following on from yesterday’s Grand Prees update here’s their second and final disc. For this outing on American Music Makers they changed their name to The Grains Of Sand and explored an introspective psychedelic sound. Both sides are worthy and have been compiled in the past. The best place is on Burghers #1.

”The Castaway Of Capt. Haze” is a slow burner, quite mellow and laid back, a teen psych tripper that ends in a haze of stunning farfisa organ.

I can’t help but think about ”Scarecrow” by Pink Floyd when I hear this, it’s very early Floyd…. magical. (09/12/15)

The Cherry Slush – ”I Cannot Stop You” / ”Don’t Walk Away” (U.S.A. Records 895) January 1968

A group of teenagers from Saginaw, MI almost hit the big time with this single which was written and produced by Dick Wagner. ”I Cannot Stop You” is a memorable and very commercial sounding disc with lots of hammond organ frills and brass instrumentation.

The single had seen an earlier release on local label Coconut Groove during November 1967 and the re-release on U.S.A Records almost broke The Cherry Slush nationally. The record was even released in Germany on Cornet Records and came housed in a picture sleeve.

I was surprised to find that several websites cover the Cherry Slush and there is even a Facebook page devoted to the group. (18/09/16)