The Victims Of Chance – The Victims Of Chance (1969)

Artist: The Victims Of Chance
Title: The Victims Of Chance
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Crestview

The Victims Of Chance were an American group featuring a man named Johnny Kitchen. Kitchen, an enigmatic figure, is believed to have been Canadian and to have been a part of the Canadian outfits Crazy People and The Blues Train.

He eventually turned up in Los Angeles and was involved in the recording of the first album by onetime Frank Zappa cohort Larry “Wild Man” Fischer (see June 15, 2011 post). The true identity of the pseudonymous Johnny Kitchen is not known.

The Victims Of Chance LP was recorded in late 1968/early 1969 and was released in the US on Crestview, the label also responsible for the Bob & Earl LP and the Pretty People (see March 13, 2010 post) The music is a mix of blues, folk, prog, and psychedelia. (J.J. Hildreth)

Track Listing

1. Victims Of Chance, Part 1 (Instrumental)
2. Victims Of Chance, Part 2 (Torrin Quinn)
3. Adventures In Tyme
4. Break Away
5. Over & Out (Coda-Side One)
6. Tuesday’s Victim
7. L.A. To Frisco – Four Eleven Flat
8. Funky Sunshine
9. Devil’s Prayer (La Cheminee Du Roi Renee: Danus Milhaud)
   

The Crazy People – Bedlam (1968)

Artist: The Crazy People
Title: Bedlam
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Condor

Top caliber Canadian exploito … Seriously, that’s about all the bibliographical info I can provide on this album. Released on the Canadian Condor label (which released an eclectic mix of MOR and rock materials), 1968′s “Bedlam” was produced by Jean Daniel and Jack Millman (the latter was a Vancouver-based television weatherman).

There are no performance credits leaving you to conclude that this was a studio enterprise slapped together in the hopes of capitalizing on prevailing musical tastes.

Musically the collection was all over the place offering up a manic mixture of pysch-propelled sound collages, song snippets (“Winchester Cathedral” buried in ‘Head Games and Other Assorted Crap’) spoken word segments (‘After Six’), backward tapes and other studio effects. It made for a cool album to listen to with good headphones and a couple of beers.

Epitomized by the lead off track “Parade At the Funny Farm” the results included a little bit of everything including a melody that borrowed heavily from Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin” mixed with what sounded like Wild Man Fisher vocal samples.

The second half of “Head Games And Other Assorted Crap” somehow managed to mix a wonderful Association-styled top-40 melody with a wild mixture of channel hoping sound effects. “Head Amusement” could have easily been lifted from an early Steppenwolf LP. Just to make things interesting the instrumentals ‘Raunchy Boog-a-loo’ and ‘The Truth’ had distinctive funky feels (“Raunchy” was one of the standout tracks).

Sure, there was plenty of wasted space here. “Head Job” was a boring spoken word/telephone conversation segment. The goofy and very dated ‘Happy Academy’ and ‘Trans Luv Airlines’ would have sounded at home on a Firesign Theater LP.

Still, one of the better exploito LPs I’ve heard and a fun, if occasionally frustrating listen experience … if these guys had let a little more of their song craft show through the effects rampage then this could have been a major find.

So much for facts. There are multiple theories out there with respect to who these guys were. Some folks have linked the album to Wild Man Fisher.

Seems doubtful to me. Others claim the mysterious Johnny Kitchen who seems to have been responsible for a mid-to-late 1960s mini-industry releasing psych-exploito albums by a host of groups including The Blues Train, The Trio of Tyme, Victims Of Chance, etc. was the brains behind the LP. Who knows. (Bad Cat)

Track Listing

1. Parade At The Funny Farm
2. Head Amusement
3. Raunchy Boog-A-Loo
4. After Six
5. The Truth
6. Head Games And Other Assorted Crap
7. Head Job
8. Happy Academy
9. Trans Luv Airlines
10. Let’s Split
    

The Mustang – Organ Freakout! (1968)

Artist: The Mustang
Title: Organ Freakout!
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Somerset

The liner notes of this sterling entry in the Alshire label’s bargain-bin catalog speak for themselves: “When the Mustang mounts the Hammond — and the ‘amps’ start cookin’ — look out baby — it’s an organ freakout.

All the same artistry and down-home abandon of Frisco ’67 come screaming out of the speakers. Call it Soul — call it electronic soul — HERE’S WHERE IT’S HAPPENING.” What — still not sold? Check out that cover — the go-go chicks in their miniskirts are grooving to the middle-aged cat in the suit.

The Mustang gets more tail than a toilet seat, baby. He’s the Hendrix of the Hammond, the Ovid of the organ, and if cuts like “Old Time Religion Gone New,” “Joshua Got Busted,” and “Tennessee Waltz Frug” don’t convince you to turn on, tune in, and drop out — or some combination thereof — then keep on truckin’ back to Squaresville.

Because the Mustang is psychedelia…the Mustang is counterculture…the Mustang is love (p.s., the title does not refer to the kind of organ freakouts that afflict adolescent boys as they struggle through puberty). (Jason Ankeny)

Track Listing

1. Golden Gate Freakout
2. Tennessee Waltz Frug
3. Wild Flowers ’67
4. Old Time Religion Gone New
5. Amen
6. Joshua Got Busted
7. Haight Ashbury Time
8. California Time
9. The Acid Test
10. Swing Low Sweet Truth
    

Psychedellic Guitars – More (1967)

Artist: Psychedellic Guitars
Title: More
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Custom

“Psychedelic Guitars” wasn’t enough!!! No, there had to be “More” solid exploito trash psych. This album is not as gritty and raw as the first, sounding a bit more folk-rockish. (J.J. Hildreth)

Track Listing

1. Another Trip
2. Really Got It Bad
3. Out Of Touch
4. The Letdown
5. Psychedelic Ago-Go
6. Flower Power
7. Can You Dig It
8. Sit In
9. Lost In Space
10. Psychedelic Venture
    

Psychedellic Guitars – Psychedellic Guitars (1967)

Artist: Psychedellic Guitars
Title: Psychedellic Guitars
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Custom

“Psychedellic Guitars” was one of what seemed like a zillion exploitation rock albums (check the archive for similar posts) that cashed in on the psychedelic craze of the mid to late sixties.

The albums were released on the so-called “budget” labels such as Alshire, Custom, Somerset etc. with a formula that was pretty simple, hire unknown studio musicians, steal the riffs of popular hits and give the “songs” psychedelic titles.

This concept was so successful that it spawned major label releases such as The Mesmerizing Eye’s “Psychedelia – A Musical Light Show” and “Friar Tuck and his Psychedelic Guitar”.

This particular album boasts some great guitar riffs (there’s also some fantastic sax playing that compliments the guitars like dueling leads) on such tracks as “Flowers”, “Love In” and “Way Out”. (J.J. Hildreth)

Track Listing

1. Let’s Ride Again
2. Take A Trip
3. Flowers
4. Love In
5. Psychedellic Ripple
6. Coming On
7. Unchained Soul
8. Way Out
9. Take Me Back
10. Psychedellic Guitars
    

The Animated Egg – The Animated Egg (1967)

Artist: The Animated Egg
Title: The Animated Egg
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Alshire

The Burbank, California-based Alshire label was best known for it’s cheapy international music (“The Sounds of Spain”, “The Tijuana Sound”, “Hawaiian Paradise”) and 101 String MOR collections.

In pursuit of profit more than content to jump on a promising musical trend, 1967 saw the label shell out some cash to have anonymous studio musicians write and record a series of psych and metal oriented instrumentals.

Slapping a pseudo-trippy cover on the results (ignore the dazed long haired teens pictured on the cover since they certainly had nothing to do with the set), the cleverly titled “The Animated Egg” proved surprising accomplished.

With little at stake, the anonymous band (no performing or writing credits provided ), roared through an all-instrumental set; material such as “A Love Built On Sand”, “I Said, She Said, Ah Cid” and “Sock It My Way” heavy on fuzz, feedback and swirling organ.

Elsewhere, “Sippin’ And Trippin’” offered up a nifty slice of Byrds-styled jangle rock, while “Tomorrow” was a blatant rip-off of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’”.

Sure, it wasn’t going to change your life, but in terms of enjoyment the set was a blast. Name an album where it sounds like the band had as much fun at the recording session. (Bad Cat)

Track Listing

1. A Love Built On Sand
2. Inside Looking Out
3. I Said, She Said, Ah Cid
4. “T”omorrow
5. Sure Listic
6. Sippin’ And Trippin’
7. Dark
8. Down, Down And Gone
9. Sock It My Way
10. That’s How It Is
    

Strange – Translucent World (1973)

Artist: Strange
Title: Translucent World
Year: 1973
Format: LP
Label: Galaxie

Terry Brook’s first album is one-of-a-kind, a completely insane space rock guitar-fest that will leave you dumbfounded. Strange were formed in Florida and consisted of Terry R. Brooks (guitar-vocals), Bob Griffin (bass)and Don Hastle (drums).

The stand out track on the first album is “Ruler Of The Universe” , which is full of psychedelic guitar and Sound effects, “The Kiss of The Butterfly” is full of fuzz guitar. The first album i.e. “Translucent Universe” is recommended to connoisseurs of space rock and psychedelic freakouts. Includes “Jimi” a tribute to you-know-who. (Fuzz, Acid and Flowers)

Track Listing

1. Jimi
2. Ruler Of The Universe
3. The Kiss Of A Butterfly
4. Hey Mr. Lonely Man
5. Lost
   

Douglas Fir – Hard Heartsingin’ (1970)

Artist: Douglas Fir
Title: Hard Heartsingin’
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Quad

Douglas Fir began as the Portland, Oregon trio of Douglas A. Snider (drums-vocals), Tim Doyle (keyboards) and Richie Moore (guitar) in the late-’60s. Originally known as the Sun Trio, they played the “meat market” bar circuit of the Pacific Northwest to pay for studio time while holding down day jobs (as logger and fire fighter, construction worker, and liquor delivery truck driver).

They were befriended by Mike Carter and Russ Gorsline, recording engineers at local studios who appreciated the band’s music so much that they helped front the trio studio time, even when they were unable to pay the bill. After laboring for two years on the recording project, Douglas Fir decided to take the plunge into the murky waters of the recording industry.

Snider sold his car to buy a one-way ticket to Hollywood, and the band spent hours stalking the streets to play their tape for record companies. By luck or accident, Snider bumped into a man in the elevator of the Sunset Vine Towers, who turned out to be one of the hottest arrangers in town.

The man introduced Douglas Fir to executives from MGM/Quad Records, and after the band played the executives their tape, a deal was immediately struck. The label paid off old studio bills, and Bruce Bye was added on bass to fill out the band’s sound. MGM/Quad released a single, “Smokey Joe’s,” and it received substantial airplay, which allowed the band to begin a short tour.

The tour and the deal ended abruptly, however, when the label folded, leaving the rare Hard Heartsingin’ LP as Douglas Fir’s sole effort. By the sound of Hard Heart Singin’, Douglas Fir must have been a smoking little blues-rock combo.

They may have existed purely as a bar band, but the Pacific Northwest dives where they honed their sound must have been some pretty trippy little establishments, as evidenced by the brooding, ominous, mildly psychedelic (depending on your definition of the genre) nature of their rock & roll.

Everything about the music is coated in a dense, smothering atmosphere (in a good way), as if it is all emanating from a small box rather than the band at the front of the room. The recording displays the same ponderous, cloistered, roadhouse blues edge of the Doors, and they share some of the Band’s interest in old-time ambience, evident in the wonderful, rolling Ray Charles piano of “Smokey Joe’s,” and the perfectly placed soul horn charts of “Moratorium Waltz.”

Richie Moore’s guitar work entirely avoids showy ostentation like Robbie Robertson and occasionally matches the sustained tone of Randy California (although it is not generally as distinctive as either guitarist’s talent). The songwriting — nine originals plus a lulling Moody Blues-like cover of Donovan’s “Jersey Thursday” is solid throughout.

The ballads, which make up an uncommon majority of the album, veer into soft psych territory to a greater degree than the more propulsive songs. They are all very much above average — particularly for an unknown band — and often have a transfixing power, especially the engrossing title track and “Tom’s Song.”

The rockers are more realistically situated somewhere between revved-up hard rock and progressive blues, all played with rollicking bar band energy and featuring exceptional playing from the trio and the fabulous pipes of drummer Doug Snider. His phrasing is so grounded in the soul aesthetic that the music fairly buzzes with wrenching emotion.

His drumming, too, is wondrous, and his dexterous timekeeping spikes the music with a mystical, jazzy vibe on songs such as “I Didn’t Try” and “21 Years,” while Tim Doyle’s Hammond B3 work is never less than sensational.

It may be cliché to make such a statement in regard to a little-known band from the era, but Douglas Fir truly deserved a better shake from the music industry. Hard Heart Singin’ is plenty resonant to stand next to the B list, if not the top-level hard rock albums of the era. (Stanton Swihart)

Track Listing

1. Hard Heartsingin’
2. Jersey Thursday
3. I Didn’t Try
4. Early In The Morning
5. New Orleans Queen
6. Moratorium Waltz
7. Smokey Joe’s
8. Comin’ Back Home
9. Tom’s Song
10. 21 Years
    

Clear Light – Clear Light [Mono Vinyl] (1967)

Artist: Clear Light
Title: Clear Light
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Elektra

Did some investigating, and found myself a mono copy. Seems they’re a pretty tough score nowadays. It will probably be some time before I get both the stereo and mono copy together in the same room in order to A/B them, to check for differences in mix.

But I’ll be sure and check back to let anyone who gives a damn know if there are any. As far as the cover goes – apparently no one I know recalls ever seeing a legitimate EKL 4011 mono cover. Most of the mono copies that turn up feature this mono-stickered stereo cover.

This was not uncommon for Elektra, as they did it with some mono pressings of The Doors’ early albums. It seems certain pressing plants were given stereo cover over-runs, and told to use these mono stickers on them. But that is not to say no mono covers were printed, and may indeed exist.

As I’ve said repeatedly, one of the best things about entering all of my vinyl here on RYM is forcing myself to relisten to some records I haven’t heard in years – and discovering how my taste has changed based on the comments I wrote the last time I listened. This was an album I had always found somewhat disappointing in my youth.Not because it was bad, but more like unfulfilled potential.

You could tell from their sound that they knew what decent psych was, but I felt they just didn’t deliver it. But back in those days, I needed to be hit over the head with a psychedelic brick in order to “get it”.

The more subtle psych albums often flew under my radar. What a pleasant surprise to find that I now “get” this album too. I still won’t go as far as some reviewers, who seem to rate this at, or near the top of the genre, but it definitely has plenty of great mat’l to substantiate itself with.

Though out of L.A., I find their sound more akin to some of the better Boston scene bands, or even San Fran., and at times are vaguely reminiscent of early Amboy Dukes. The record starts out somewhat frustrating to me (still), but after sticking with it, side 2 not only kicks in, but seems to help one appreciate side 1 better.

I think it’s a mild lack of song writing quality that holds this album back a notch for me. It is good enough, just not as good as it always threatens to be. It does have great period flavor, and the psych influences are unquestionable. A consistently very good LP well worth investigating. (tymeshifter RYM)

Track Listing

1. Black Roses
2. Sand
3. A Child’s Smile
4. Street Singer
5. The Ballad Of Freddie & Larry
6. With All In Mind
7. Mr. Blue
8. Think Again
9. They Who Have Nothing
10. How Many Days Have Passed
11. Night Sounds Loud
    

The Millennium – Begin [Original Vinyl] (1968)

Artist: The Millennium
Title: Begin
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Columbia

The Millennium’s Begin can truly be described as a bona fide lost classic. The brainchild of producers Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher, the group was formed out of the remnants of their previous studio project, Sagittarius, which was preceded by yet another aggregation, the Ballroom.

On Begin, hard rock, breezy ballads, and psychedelia all merge into an absolutely air-tight concept album, easily on the level of other, more widely popular albums from the era such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which share not only Usher’s production skills, but similarities in concept and construction.

The songwriting, mostly by Joey Stec and Curt Boettcher, is sterling and innovative, never straying into the type of psychedelic overindulgence which marred so many records from this era. For example, “It’s You,” by Stec, is as powerful and fully realized as the era ever produced, easily on par with songs by the Beach Boys and the Byrds — and, yes, even the Beatles.

At the time the most expensive album Columbia ever produced (and it sounds like it), Begin is an absolute necessity for any fan of late-’60s psychedelia and a wonderful rediscovery that sounds as vital today as it did the day it was released. (Matthew Greenwald)

“The Millennium’s “Begin” is a soft-rock Sgt. Pepper. I like most of the tracks, and some are outstanding. The innovative Prelude can’t compare to Bach, but it’s kind of magical. “To Claudia On Thursday” is outstanding, brilliant and gently trippy. It is very sunshiny California hippie music, but no less poetic for that.

The next track is forgettable, too sappy. “5 A.M.” is evocative of experiencing the world in a new way. I’m with You is lush vocal harmony like The Association. “The Island “seems to be based on Aldous Huxley, but isn’t too dramatic musically. “Sing To Me” is just OK. It’s You is a marvelous production number that grew on me with each listen. The lyrics seem to be about the ego.

“Some Sunny Day” is very idealistic and evocative. So is the next track, and “The Know It All” is marvelous, rich production wizardry, energetic and a joy to listen to, with bizarre prophetic lyrics. “Karmic Dream Sequence” is the highlight of the album;

It features a wonderful melody by Lee with a bridge by Curt, soaringly beautiful and haunting sounds, and an inventive but somewhat bizarre koto ending. “There Is Nothing More To Say” is a call for our boomer generation to come forth; we haven’t yet heard it I guess. “Anthem” is their attempt to do their own “Revolution #9″.” (eameece RYM)

Track Listing

1. Prelude
2. To Claudia On Thursday
3. I Just Want To Be Your Friend
4. 5 A.M.
5. I’m With You
6. The Island
7. Sing To Me
8. It’s You
9. Some Sunny Day
10. It Won’t Always Be The Same
11. The Know It All
12. Karmic Dream Sequence, No. 1
13. There Is Nothing More To Say
14. Anthem (Begin)