Great Psychedelic Garage Rock: The Druids of Stonehenge - Creation 1968 (2010 Axis) Flac & mp3@320

Minor heroes of the East Coast garage-psych boom of the late '60s, the Druids of Stonehenge were a New York-based band. With an average age of 17, the group formed as the Druids in 1965, and that November a lineup comprised of Budge, guitarists Carl Hauser and Billy Tracy, bassist Tim Workman, and drummer Steve Tindall entered Manhattan's Nola Studios. This first session produced versions of "Who Do You Love," "Baby Please Don't Go," "Pretty Thing," and "I Put a Spell on You"; further sessions cut over the next year or so included similarly seething covers of Bo Diddley's "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Bald Headed Woman." These earliest recordings have since been compiled onto a self-titled Sundazed mini-album, selections and performances that place the band firmly in the Rolling Stones/Pretty Things-flavored camp of brutally high-octane R&B.

In 1968, the newly renamed and psychedelically realigned Druids of Stonehenge relocated to the West Coast and, signing to the Uni label, cut the single "A Garden Where Nothing Grows" and the album Creation. Notable for further stylized covers, Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and Love's "Signed D.C." among them, together with a fiery retread of "I Put a Spell on You," the album was recorded in two sets of sessions, the bulk at TTG in L.A., the remainder back at Nola in New York. For many years best known only for the two songs later culled for the Baubles, Vol. 1 compilation, "Six Feet Down" and "Pale Dream," Creation has also since been reissued by Sundazed. The band appeared on television's Joe Franklin Show around the time of the album's release, performing "Paint It Black"; the lineup now included future Seatrain/Randall's Island alumni Elliott Randall, who replaced Tracy following the California sojourn.

However, no further releases were forthcoming and the Druids of Stonehenge broke up in 1969. Occasional partial reunions have taken place in recent years, including a very well-received show in New York in late April 2008.(allmusic.com)


Great garage album by the Druids Of Stonehenge. From beginning till the end of the album truly great. Just listen to ''It's All Over Now, Baby Blue''.

Have fun
               Frank                      Flac part 1  &  Flac part 2           mp3@320

Andy Pratt - Andy Pratt 1973 (2002 Sony Int'l) Flac & mp3@320

Andy Pratt's self-titled album is a very quirky, idiosyncratic album that definitely establishes Pratt as a major force in the singer-songwriter arena. He also sounds very depressed as many of the song titles indicate (e.g. "Inside Me Wants Out," "So Fine, (It's Frightening)"). However, this doesn't diminish the album's power or the particular style that is very much Pratt's own. The highlight of the album is the near-hit "Avenging Annie." Sung mostly in Pratt's falsetto voice, it is a tale of a mythical heroine told from the woman's point of view. The fast piano technique is impressive, as are some other production touches (such as the cat sounds and descending guitar line). The song deserves its classic status hands down. The next number, "Inside Me Wants Out," is in the running as one of the most dismal songs ever recorded, and could seriously be used as a study tool for a psychology class -- Sigmund Freud would have a field day with it. It also has a strong hook, and is another top-notch cut on the album. There is a strong jazz element in several of the songs, particularly "Sittin' Down In The Twilight," with its almost funky trombone solo. Pratt's falsetto voice is also a strongly felt presence, though its sometimes shrill quality may not be to the liking of all. Though this album is not nearly as polished as Pratt's "Resolution," and has a very different, more home-made feel, it is nearly as powerful.(allmusic.com)

Don't expect the usual singer songwriter, to me this is a (in a very positive meaning) freak out pop album full of coloured musical balloons. The rhythm and how the songs are ''build'' sometimes remembers me a little to Rundgren and Andy Pratt is partly on the same level like Rundgren in his artistry. To me his sound is very impressive and truly wonderful music.

Enjoy it
             Frank                          Flac part 1 & Flac part 2           mp3@320

1968 Psychedelic Garage Pop: Afterglow - Afterglow 1968 (1995 Sundazed Music) Flac & mp3

Afterglow starts with "Morning," a gentle folk-rock song that finds the middle ground between the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane. Although there are a couple of tracks similar to "Morning" on the album, it is no more an indication of what's to follow as any other song on the record. Each song on Afterglow sounds as if it could have been written by different bands -- sure, there is the sighing "Mend This Heart of Mine," but it follows the downright bizarre "Susie's Gone," awhich, with its dissonant Farfisa organs and slide guitars, sounds like a space voyage gone bad.

It's not particularly coherent, and it isn't particularly good -- the group isn't just derivative, but also doesn't have a sharp sense of melody -- but its sampler nature makes Afterglow a charming psychedelic relic.(allmusic.com)

In the universe of Mr Erlewine musicians play just one style....

 Psychedelic band based in Oregon, Afterglow released only one album in 1968 before vanishing. Led by guitarist/vocalist Tony Tecumseh, the group formed in August of 1965 when Tecumseh was convinced by a friend to contact drummer Larry Alexander and a bassist named Mike. The trio, dubbed the Madallions, soon added vocalist Gene Resler and the band played several shows, usually at a local pizza parlor, before they went their separate ways to attend college. They re-formed in 1966, adding new bassist Ron George and keyboardist Roger Swanson.

That fall, they began recording with producer Leo Lukla at his Golden State Recorders studio, but due to their studies, they were unable to complete an album until late 1967; the resulting eponymous record appeared early the following year on MTA Records.(Discogs)


A piece music of it's time. I like it very much for the real garage sound and the well done vocals of the band and the fine melodies, too. I'm serious.

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               Frank               New Flac part 1   &  New Flac part 2     -  New mp3@320 link

Keith Cross, Peter Ross - Bored Civilians 1972 (2010 James & Smith Records) Flac & mp3@320

By 1972 guitarist Keith Cross had already developed a reputation as the next potential Clapton, a tag that while not quite as damaging as the next Dylan tag that was being applied liberally to almost anyone, invariably had the same effect of diluting the artist's own personality and creating an image that was near impossible to live up to. Cross, by this point had two excellent future collectibles under his belt in the shape of the Bulldog Breed's excellent modish psych-rock album "Made In England", followed closely by T2's "It'll All Work Out In Boomland", a heavy guitar based proto-prog album that really allowed his guitar playing to take flight.
So come 1972, there were two directions he could potentially take, and perhaps a little surprisingly he bypassed the more obvious full on progressive rock route, and joining forces with fellow singer guitarist Peter Ross who'd been working with Richard Thompson), they settled on a more rootsy, Americanized sound that leaned heavily on the then popular Laurel Canyon sound with a distinct West Coast tinge.

"Bored Civilians" is the result of this collaboration, and the last that either had to do with recorded music. It's easy to see how its lack of success would have left them disillusioned too - it's a very solid effort, and with guest appearances by Caravan's Jimmy Hastings, Brinsley Schwartz's Nick Lowe and Cochise's B.J Cole among a host of others, it certainly had the firepower that should have led to quite a bit of exposure if it had been promoted with any sense of urgency .

It's mostly acoustic based, but that doesn't mean that the flourishing progressive rock scene surrounding them isn't given a look in - while complex time signatures and endless solos aren't really the order of the day here, these are much more complicated, multi-faceted songs than you would find on the works of their contemporaries. Lengthy stand out track "Story to a Friend" even has a middle section that sounds a lot like Pink Floyd's "Any Colour You Like" would have sounded if they'd recorded it for "Wish You Were Here", with Hastings' flute work a dead ringer for Richard Wright's synthesizer tones on that later album - interesting as this pre-dates the release of both of these Floyd works (although Floyd were gigging "Dark Side" material around this time).
Of the two, Ross has a voice that sounds less like a product of its time, with Cross's voice a mixture of Mike Patto and eco-warrior / protest era McCartney (think "Wild Life"),  often straying into an earnestness that collectors of the era will find easy to forgive, but which may prove harder to swallow for more contemporary listeners. This is a real pity as these are generally top notch songs that could perhaps do with a little more variety in terms of tempo, but are otherwise representative of the topper echelon of their era.  Opener "The Last Ocean Rider" is a lively opener with a fabulous second half that gives Cross the opportunity to spar impressively with BJ Cole's pedal steel.
  Their take on Fotheringay's "Peace In The End" is a sprightly, pastoral reinvention that could have provided the hit that this album really needed to take off (Ross's "The Dead Salute" could have provided a similar breakthrough), but perhaps most impressive (bar the gorgeous progginess of "Story to a Friend") is the ornate orchestration that closes the album on "Fly Home" a gorgeous and stately closer that hammers home the musical ambition that this duo display in droves here.(Nathan Ford, The active listener)

If Nathan Ford says it is a progressive album in a particular way he is surely right but to me it is in the most parts a pop rock album. And it is real fine. Great guitars, acoustic, slide, very fine melody lines, vocals full of feeling. It's 1972 and it was for sure one of the finest albums in that year.

Enjoy
         Frank                              Flac part 1 & Flac part 2          -  mp3@320