Decca originals beat scene rar

Fittingly, the revolving-door personnel of John Mayall's assorted Bluesbreakers are particularly worthy of note. Among the Bluesbreaker's offerings presented here are the powerful instrumental "Curly," as well as "The Supernatural," which boasts the distinctive fretwork of Peter Green, "Steppin' Out" featuring Eric Clapton, and an incendiary early live take of "I Need Your Love.

In the case of the latter title, Dupree had a little help from both Mayall and Clapton on this recording.

As such, Blues Scene is a worthwhile assessment of Decca's vaults, and a valuable primer for the novice. Interestingly, the latter combo originated in the United States as the Velours prior to touring Europe as the Drifters. Clyde McPhatter -- another musical ex-patriot and ironically the co-founder of the real Drifters -- became a sizable solo artist in England during the mid- to late-'60s, recording right up until his untimely passing in The workout "Baby You Got It" is a perfect example of the funky style he ultimately became associated with.

While these ladies may have made a significant impact in their native U. The Girls' Scene contains over two-dozen cuts, representing some of the best female vocal groups of the era. Much like their Stateside colleagues, songs were often derived from veteran contemporary composers. This collection offers up distinguished reworkings from performers whose names might not be instantly recognizable, although the melodies should be.

In many ways, Oldham was the English equivalent to Spector, as both were multi-talented moguls who were best known for their work behind the scenes with others. The Psychedelic Scene is a key entry in the label's critically respected and listener-lauded "scene"-related releases. This installment thematically links harder-to-find cuts from a variety of groups, many of whom issued only a handful if that many of 45s. In some cases, the artists left more in the vaults than ever made it to store racks.

In fact, all but the most scholarly enthusiast probably won't be familiar with the vast majority of the featured names. However, what is lacking in instant recognition is more than compensated for by the consistently clever and sonically stimulating sides. Producers likewise chose to highlight exceedingly obscure songs from the "name" acts as well.

Although some may find the page liner booklet a bit sparse on discographical and biographical information, there are plenty of photos and vintage graphics amid the text. The Psychedelic Scene is recommended for inclined parties and is likewise a copious and worthwhile primer. Many of them though not the Stones are represented on this track compilation, which serves as a pretty broad snapshot of this aspect of the British Invasion as a whole. The not-so-good part is that a fair number of mediocrities are mixed in with the more exciting stuff.

Too, even the fine obscurities here have mostly been easily available on other CD anthologies or single-artist collections, and many British Invasion collectors interested in this kind of material are likely to already have much of the best of it elsewhere. Each thematic entry gathers hard-to-locate tunes by a variety of lesser-known acts.

The Beat Scene concentrates on groups stylistically akin to the early- to mid- '60s British Invasion beat bands. However, unlike the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, or any of their other internationally renowned contemporaries, many of the acts featured here had comparatively nominal, if any, success outside of Europe.

In the case of the Poets — whose longing rocker "I Love Her Still" is found on this volume — they created music broad enough in scope to have covered the freakbeat and psychedelic subgenres as well.

Parties interested in this edition should check out the other erstwhile installments: Mod Scene and Mod Scene, Vol. Each respective title has proven to be as much a treat for the hardcore fan as for the curious neophyte.

The focus of this track anthology is the mid- to late-'60s mod, soul, rock, garage, and psychedelia-influenced British bands that created a distinctive synthesis of sounds that have become collectively referred to as freakbeat.

However, as explained in the liner booklet blurb, that exact phrase wasn't turned until the subgenre resurfaced as retro-chic during the s. The vast majority of these platters may not be familiar to all but the most academic of freakbeat enthusiasts, which is partially due to their relative unavailability for over two decades.

In some cases, for example the Score's aggressive and attitude-laden cover of the Beatles' "Please Please Me," is practically all that exists. The same can be said of the edgy proto-punk reading of " I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" from the Flies, which deflates the Monkees' sugary farfisa organ with stinging electric guitar leads and a heavily pulsating backbeat.

While Keith Shield's echoplex-soaked revision of Donovan's "Hey Gyp Dig the Slowness " lies closer to the Animals' frenzied reworking of the tune, it likewise boasts a rhythmic agitation notably absent from either of the higher profile takes.

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band gives a solid account of "Walkin' the Dog," and the Mockingbirds show off a sound that might easily have caught on with "One by One," a single that might just have done better with some Hollies -style harmonies attached to it. The Fairy Tale close the disc with a true rarity, "Run and Hide," a strangely compelling stop-and-go piece of bluesy power pop, a bit ominous given the light harmonies involved, but great fun amid all of its conflicting elements.

Disc two is a little less interesting, precisely because it touches on more songs and artists that have points of familiarity. There's also the Big Three from Liverpool misspelled the "Big Tree" throughout on their bluesy B-side "You've Got to Keep Her Underhand," an outstanding original from a band never known for its songwriting.

The Beazers , featuring Chris Farlowe on vocals, deliver the ska effort "Blue Beat," which is a little too dramatic for its own good but mighty impressive as an early effort by the British soul legend, and the Hi Numbers reveal themselves to be a potentially fascinating mod outfit with "Heart of Stone" not the Rolling Stones ' number. Muswell Hill-based folk-rockers Turquoise deliver their surprising freakbeat-flavored "Woodstock," a title having nothing to do with festivals or counterculture "nations.

The Presidents take you back into blues-rock territory on the superb "Candy Man. AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. The sound is excellent throughout, and it's also reassuring on some level to learn from the notes that Decca is digging so deeply into its vaults that these acts are nearly as obscure to the people producing this compilation as they are to us.

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