THE CHIEFTONES - The New Smooth and Different Sound [USA pop, beat 1966] 2023 Numero Group Records NUM607

Billed as “Canada’s All Indian Band,” the Tsimshian Nation garage band The Chieftones stormed the U.S. in the mid-’60s with their own brand of native rock n’ roll. Led by guitarists Billy Thunderkloud and Albert Canadien, the band was filled out with Jack Wolf on lead guitar, Barry Clifford on bass, and Richard Douse on drums. Their repertoire was a heady mix of guitar instrumentals; Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Duane Eddy, and Brazil’s Los Indios Tabajaras, but through the lens of the American sock hop.

After a brief stint at Edmonton’s Alberta College, The Chieftones hit the road, eventually setting up a home base in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where they reportedly worked as ranch hands in between tours.

More Buddy Holly than Link Wray, The Chieftones lone Cuca single—1966’s “Do Lord” b/w “I Shouldn’t Have Did What I Done”—expressed the group’s radio-friendly ambitions. The rest of their Cuca recordings, however, explore their indigenous roots. Tribal drums keep time under a wash of surf-y guitars. Ceremonial dance numbers are reimagined for the Elvis generation. When the single failed to light up the phones, the album was shelved, discovered only recently by Numero’s crack team of magnetic tape sleuths.

The New Smooth and Different Sound collects 12 unreleased demos and their sought after Cuca single, all recorded at the Sauk City recording mecca.

Chieftones  

 

LOS IBEROS - Los Iberos [España freak-beat, pop 1969] 2020 Columbia, Legacy 19439735531

 

Rare 1969 album, probably the best ever psych-pop album from Spain at the time, though it was recorded in London. Los Iberos were a kind of supergroup that failed to succeed but recorded this wonderful album for your pleasure, blending psychedelia, sunshine-pop and some soul influence as well. A couple of tracks from this album are always in demand among '60s specialist DJs, including 'Hiding Behind My Smile' and the amazing cover of the Castaways' 'Liar, Liar,' but the rest of the album is also very nice with some Fading Yellow style tracks.

Los Iberos

LOS JEMAX - Los Jemax [España garage, rock 1968] 2017 Madmua Records MAD009 + LOS NIVRAM - Mi Estrella [España garage rock 1966] 2021 Munster Records MR 7335 + LOS POPS - No, No, No [España garage rock 1966] 2021 Munster Records MR 7336 + LOS ROLLERS - Camino Cortado [España garage rock 1969] 2018 Madmua Records MAD011

  

Los Jemax                                    Los Nivram

  

Los Pops                                      Los Rollers

Spanish EPs

 

ALAN LEE BRACKETT - Peanut Butter Conspiracy Theories - Lost Songs 1967-1968 [USA garage, pop, psychedelic, rock 1967-68] 2016 Out-Siders OSR052

 

Alan Lee Brackett / Peanut Butter Conspiracy Theories / Lost Songs 1967-1971, features previously unreleased recordings by Peanut Butter Conspiracy's mainman Alan Lee Brackett, mostly written and recorded in 1967, when PBC were at their fame peak. Here, Alan explores a number of different styles, encompassing fuzzed out garage numbers, pop, folk rock and full blown psychedelia.

Including ahead of its time garage-psychedelic DIY homemade recordings where Alan plays all instruments by himself plus studio cuts. Featuring collaborations with songwriter Knox Henderson of Mouse and the Traps fame. Master tape sound.

Alan

LOS SHAKERS - La Conferencia Secreta del Toto's Bar [Uruguay psychedelic pop 1968] 2020 Guerssen Records GUESS162

Originally released in late 1968, La Conferencia Secreta del Toto’s Bar was Los Shaker’s psychedelic masterpiece.

Inspired by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - a milestone that would change the face of pop music forever back in 1967 – Los Shakers created a fundamental album in the history of South American rock music, a seminal record for many artists to come, full of pleasant surprises, magic sounds and sense of humour.

It offers a complex fusion of styles, with elements from both rock and jazz, plus the use of exotic instruments like the bandoneon–widely used in tango music but unprecedented until then in pop/rock adventures. It all makes the last album by Los Shakers an essential, innovative record for any collector and aficionado.

Sounding as fresh and original today as it did back in the late sixties, here’s the first ever vinyl reissue.

Toto's

 

THE CHOIR - Last Call Live At The Music Box [USA garage, pop, live 2019] 2020 Omnivore Recordings OVCD-374

 

In 2018, when Omnivore Recordings released The Choir’s first full length platter in the group’s history, no one knew what impact the release of that recording would have. Sure, the group, in its many different manifestations during the ’60s, had released several singles, including a Top 10 smash (“It’s Cold Outside”) in the group’s hometown of Cleveland. The song would reach #68 on the Billboard national charts. But the garage rock band whose many different members went on to form other important bands like Raspberries and James Gang, had never made an album of their own before, just assorted singles from 1966–1968.

So 50 years on, when the tapes of an aborted album were found, mixed and released as Artifact: The Unreleased Album to unanimous critical acclaim, the 1968 version of The Choir suddenly found itself back in the limelight with a weighty decision… to reclaim their vision and perform live… back where they came from, the home of rock ’n’ roll, Cleveland, Ohio.

Last Call: Live At The Music Box, The Choir’s 50th anniversary performance captured live at Cleveland’s Music Box the night of Sept-ember 20, 2019. The band plays perfect renditions of material from Artifact as well as dipping into their deep bag of influences. Hear dynamite versions of songs by Procol Harum, Billy Preston, Spooky Tooth, The Nice, The Kinks, Bob Seger and yes, even a cover of Jimmy Webb’s grandiose epic “MacArthur Park.” The band even rearranges their 1966 hit “It’s Cold Outside” to reflect the current musical makeup of the group which includes Ken Margolis (keyboards), Phil Giallombardo (organ), Randy Klawon (guitars), Denny Carleton (bass) and Jim Bonfanti (drums).

The Choir

SHAKER'S - In The Studio Again [Uruguay pop, psychedelic 1971] 2020 Guerssen GUESS163

 

Originally released in 1971 (only in Brazil and Argentine) under the SHAKER’S name, (an idea / imposition of the record label / producer) In The Studio Again was in fact recorded by THE INNOCENTS, an Uruguayan band featuring Roberto "Pelin" Capobianco and Carlos "Caio" Vila from LOS SHAKERS plus Héctor and Carlos Capobianco (Pelin’s twin brothers) and Rubén ‘Lorenzo’ Viela. These top musicians recorded in Brazil a wonderful album full of catchy songs, vocal harmonies, superb arrangements and Beatlesque / baroque-pop / proto power-pop vibes.

Shaker's

LOVIN' SPOONFUL - Live At The Hotel Seville [USA pop, psychedelic 1999] Varèse Sarabande 302 065 995 2

 

Like many reunited bands from the '60s, the 1999 incarnation of the Lovin' Spoonful doesn't include all their original members. In this case, they're missing their most prominent member, lead vocalist/songwriter John Sebastian. Without him, the group has a different character, and they realize that. Wisely, they've decided not to replicate their classic folk-pop sound of the '60s, choosing instead to emphasize their folky roots, which is evident from Live at the Hotel Seville. Recorded in 1999, the album is an amiable concert performance, finding the Sebastian-less group running through hits and album tracks, meaning that there's everything from "Do You Believe in Magic" to "Never Goin' Back" and "Jugband Music." It's not a bad record, and diehard fans in a nostalgic mood will probably be reasonably charmed by it. 

Spoonful rules ok

JACK BEDIENT & THE CHESSMEN - Where Did She Go [USA garage, pop 1967] Satori Records 1001

 

This is a true Jekyll/Hyde release. Side 1 is  male vocal crooner style pop, while side 2 is good garage flavored rock featuring fuzz guitar. These guys apparently called Wenatchee, WA. their home, and were popular locally from the early 60's. 

Jack

HOJAS (PHOLHAS)- Hojas (Dead Faces) [Brasil soft psychedelic rock 1973] 2000 RCA, BMG Music Spain, S.A. 74321779612

 

Formed in 1969 in São Paulo, SP, Brazil, the Pholhas was named as a suggestion from a friend of the members Paulo Fernandes, Oswaldo Malagutti, Helio Santisteban and Wagner Benatti during their first rehearsal.

The band used to play at dancing clubs in the city in order to achieve popularity. And it happened quickly.

The first album was recorded in 1972 and released in 1973 by RCA Records, all sung in English in a time when this was not common in Brazil, where the language spoken is Portuguese.

The album DEAD FACES reached the # 1 position on the charts just 3 months after its launching, with 450,000 copies sold. This album won Pholhas' first gold album.

Hojas

JOHNNY RIVERS - Summer Rain - The Essential Rivers 1964-1975 [USA rock and roll, por rock 1964-75] 2006 Raven RVCD-245

 

True, this 25-track, single-disc compilation isn't as extensive as the two-CD set usually hailed as the best Johnny Rivers collection, Rhino's Anthology, 1964-1977. It's also true that it's missing a few of the Rivers singles that tickled the bottom half of the Top 100, like "Cupid" and "These Are Not My People." If you're looking for the ultimate single-disc Rivers comp, however, this 77-minute CD is probably as close as anyone's going to come. Summer Rains: The Essential Rivers has every one of his Top 50 hits from between 1964-1975, of which there were many, adding up to 18 in all. The other seven cuts include some of his most interesting LP tracks, among them three early Jimmy Webb covers (from 1967's Rewind album); an orchestrated version of Gram Parsons' "Brass Buttons"; the late-'60s recording "Going Back to Big Sur," one of Rivers' relatively infrequent original compositions; and his 1968 cover of "Positively 4th Street," famously cited by Bob Dylan (in his Chronicles Vol. 1 book) as his all-time favorite interpretation of one of his songs. And, frankly, cutting away some of the flab from the later part of this period makes this a tighter, more consistent listen than the more comprehensive Rhino set. For most people, this will be all the Rivers you want and need, complemented by detailed liner notes.

Rivers new link

THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS - People Like Us [USA rock, folk 1971] 2013 Geffen Records UICY-75708

The Mamas & the Papas broke up in 1968, but they still owed an album on their contract with Dunhill Records (later absorbed by MCA). So, three years later, they reunited to make People Like Us and complete their obligation. The result isn't as bad as that scenario might suggest, though the songs have more in common with John Phillips' 1970 solo album than with the group's hits of the 1960s. But the release did not rekindle interest in the Mamas & the Papas, and this was their last new album.

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JONATHAN RICHMAN - I, Jonathan [USA garage, pop, rock 1992] Rounder Records ROUNDER CD 9036

I, Jonathan is Richman's best post-Modern Lovers album.

"A lo-fi effort cut in a California basement, I, Jonathan returns Richman to the full band setting and manic diversity that recent conceptual efforts have forsaken. Sloppy and wild, the album is a blast from start to finish; among its many concerns are skydiving ("Tandem Jump"), sea life (the surf instrumental "Grunion Run"), nightclubbing ("I Was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar"), and hero worship ("Velvet Underground")". Allmusic

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SNEAKERS - Nonsequitur Of Silence [USA pop, power pop 1976-79] 2006 Collectors' Choice Music CCM 733

They called the Flatlanders more of a legend than a band, and the same holds true for the Sneakers, a power pop group from North Carolina that was known more than heard. That it was known is down to its co-leaders Chris Stamey and Mitch Easter, two figures that loomed large in the American underground in the ‘80s as the leaders of the dB’s and Let’s Active, respectively (Sneakers drummer Will Rigby also was a founding member of the dB’s; Easter also produced the early R.E.M. album in tandem with Don Dixon, who helmed the Sneakers EP). The Sneakers had an EP and an LP to their name, but they were local independent efforts at a time when independent albums truly did not leave their locality, so they were hard to find for many, many years -- a situation that was somewhat rectified by the 1992 release Racket, which was the first reissue of this material, but in somewhat bastardized form, as it was remixed and partially re-recorded in places. Fifteen years later -- nearly as a long a span of time from their EP to their first LP -- Stamey and Easter compiled the Nonsequitur of Silence CD for Collectors Choice, rounding up almost all of the EP, LP, and assorted cuts from Racket, plus three unreleased bonus tracks. To put it mildly, this is a big deal, the first real comp of one of the legendary forgotten bands, and Nonsequitur of Silence does more than satisfy the cult who long waited for this reissue: it will convert non-believers, too. This almost feels as long ago, if not more so, than the Beatles and British Invasion that fueled the Sneakers; the group’s homemade replicas of ringing ‘60s guitar pop hinted toward punk, new wave, jangle pop, and ultimately indie rock, but lacked all of the stylized self-absorption that followed as well. Like Big Star before them, the Sneakers were pop obsessives recording in a blissful vacuum, obsessed with the past but not living with it, so their recordings have a twitchy vitality that remains bracing and fresh years later. The music on Nonsequitur of Silence may belong to a cult, but it’s an important one, acting as the bridge between Big Star and R.E.M., pointing the way to such latter-day popsters as Guided by Voices and the Elephant 6 collective, too. Nevertheless, the best way to think of the Sneakers is not in terms of history, but rather, as a band that produced some brilliant power pop during their brief period together, pure pop that remains purely pleasurable all these years later and has never been better heard than it is here.

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JOHN PHILLIPS - Jack Of Diamonds [USA rock, pop 1972-73] 2007 Varèse Vintage 302 066 819 2

Jack of Diamonds featuring material from 1972 and 1973 to approximate what might have been a second album.

John Phillips as a member of the Mamas & the Papas, he's been heard and loved by millions, and he's part of the very fabric of American folk and rock history. But thanks in no small part to huge quantities of drugs, Phillips fell off fast, and for most of the 1970s on up he wandered wasted and restless, his sole commercial success a co-write credit on the Beach Boys' unctuous "Kokomo" before dying of heart disease in 2001.

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