Rubble is a 20-volume collection of compilation albums originally compiled by Phil Smee for Bam Caruso Records throughout the eighties and early nineties. As its name suggests, it is best thought of as the British version of Nuggets, and similar to that legendary U.S. garage-rock comp, Rubble does an unparallelled job of digging beneath the surface of its subject, in this case, mid-to-late sixties British psychedelia, and uncovering a plethora of forgotten gems in the process. While often associated with "freakbeat," in actuality, Rubble also covers a good amount of beat, mod-pop, garage-rock, psych-rock and early prog-rock. It is an absolutely essential resource for discovering amazing late-sixties Brit-pop obscurities, that, for various reasons, never attained canonization but deserve, nonetheless, to be heard. I will be posting all 20 volumes as separate installments, coupled with a few full albums from artists featured on each compilation or artists that were overlooked by the Rubble compilers, so if you already have the volume featured in a given post, read on because there is much more to be found after the jump!
Past and Present ~ 2003/1984
Tracklist-
01. Wimple Winch - Atmospheres (4:21)
02. The Mirror - Faster Than Light (2:08)
03. Caleb - Woman of Distinction (2:33)
04. Martin Cure & The Peeps - It's All Over Now (2:39)
05. The Living Daylights - Always with Him (2:39)
06. The Misunderstood - Never Had a Girl Like You Before (3:04)
07. The Open Mind - Cast a Spell (2:10)
08. The Dakotas - The Spider and the Fly (3:11)
09. Wimple Winch - Rumble on Mersey Square South (4:27)
10. The Open Mind - Magic Potion (3:31)
11. The Living Daylights - Let's Live for Today (2:49)
12. The Craig - I Must Be Mad (2:44)
13. Unit 4 + 2 - I Will (2:38)
14. The Hush - Grey (2:28)
15. Wimple Winch - Save My Soul (3:02)
16. The Mindbenders - The Morning After (2:08)
A Liverpudlian Mersey-beat/mod-pop group that was originally known as Just Four Men (good thing they reconsidered that moniker), Wimple Winch somehow never attained commercial success despite the fact that they were one of the more artistically dynamic bands to emerge during the tail-end of the Mersey scene. While their early sides were little more than second-rate attempts to sound like that other band from Liverpool, The Beatles, Wimple Winch eventually developed an impressive, and occasionally ground-breaking, sound of their own that produced what many argue is the first example of the mod-pop/early psych hybrid that in retrospect has come to be known as "freakbeat." Simply put, "Save My Soul," is one of the finest examples of early British psychedelia. Marrying mod-pop's R&B fetish to a scruffier American garage-rock sound, if Wimple Winch weren't solely responsible for creating the blueprint for freakbeat, they certainly were heavy contributors to the equation.
Tracklist-
01. Ad-Ventures (Theme for Friday Night) (1:00)
02. Half Past Five (1:59)
03. Aggravatin' (2:43)
04. Colours (2:39)
05. The Four Just Men Theme (Lara Norder) (2:17)
06. Sorry Girl (2:23)
07. Don't Come Any Closer (Vsn.) (2:17)
08. I Just Can't Make Up My Mind (1:46)
09. Woman Needs a Man (2:04)
10. I Still Care (2:06)
11. Thinking About Your Love (2:25)
12. Tomorrow (2:46)
13. In the Shelter of Your Arms (2:33)
14. Trains & Boats & Planes (2:26)
15. What's Been Done (2:44)
16. I Really Love You (3:42)
17. Save My Soul (3:07)
18. Everybody's Worried 'Bout Tomorrow (2:34)
19. Rumble on Mersey Square South (4:32)
20. Atmospheres (4:27)
21. Typical British Workmanship (3:00)
22. Bluebell Wood (3:33)
23. Lollipop Minds (3:10)
24. Marmalade Hair (3:01)
25. Coloured Glass (2:17)
26. Those Who Wait (2:30)
27. Three Little Teddy Bears (2:46)
28. Sagittarius (2:47)
29. The Last Hooray (3:18)
Mediafire
The Open Mind
Second Battle ~ 1993/1969
Although The Open Mind were fated to release only one album, their eponymous debut is, despite its relative obscurity, a singular gem deserving of wider recognition. Sitting midway between the mod-influenced freakbeat sound associated with the mid-sixties (it is clear the band had listened closely to the early Who) and a heavier acid-rock sound that anticipates certain aspects of the prog-rock movement of the early-seventies, The Open Mind manages to capture a unique moment in British psychedelia that is exemplified by "Magic Potion," a dark psych-rock tour de force that some have credited as being one of the earliest examples of heavy metal.
Tracklist-
01. Dear Louise (3:10)
02. Try Another Day (2:42)
03. I Feel the Same Way Too (5:05)
04. My Mind Cries (3:08)
05. Can't See You (3:00)
06. Thor the Thunder God (2:46)
07. Magic Potion (3:34)
08. Horses and Chariots (3:37)
09. Before My Time (4:07)
10. Free as the Breeze (5:33)
11. Girl I'm So Alone (3:19)
12. Soul and My Will (2:55)
13. Falling Again (3:09)
14. Cast a Spell (2:12)
Mediafire
The Misunderstood
Cherry Red ~ 1992
Easily one of the most talented, vastly underrated and strangely ill-fated garage-rock bands of the mid-sixties, the aptly named Misunderstood, originally hailing from Riverside, CA., started out as British R&B acolytes until adding steel guitarist Glenn Campbell (not that Glen Campbell!) and integrating his wonderful guitar-work into an edgy, atmospheric, bluesy, chaotic garage-psych sound that should have made them psych-rock legends. Thoroughly frustrated with their commercial prospects in the U.S., the band moved to England in 1966 at the behest of John Peel and quickly set about recording a set of songs (the first six tracks on Before the Dream Faded) that fully anticipated many of the more innovative aspects of the British psychedelic movement that would hit full stride in 1967. Glenn Campbell: "We kept getting reports from people that were seeing Pink Floyd that they were copying a lot of our stage act. The few times that we played, they obviously were in the audience and copied a lot of stuff. But they had a lot of money behind them [....] I don't think Jimi Hendrix ripped us off [....] he was still heavily blues-based at that point. It wasn't people were ripping off, really. It was a time of sharing, really. Things were just popping right and left at that time in England. I don't think we really appreciated the time when we were there. England was great [...] in the sense that you could be experimental." The original incarnation of The Misunderstood was doomed to fall apart the following year due to being badly mismanaged and threats from the U.S. Draft Board. Nevertheless, songs such as "Who Do You Love" and "My Mind" are spellbinding examples of early psych-rock at its most beautiful and groundbreaking. This is not to be missed!
Tracklist-
-Colour of Their Sound
01. Children of the Sun (2:51)
02. My Mind (2:34)
03. Who Do You Love (2:26)
04. I Unseen (2:01)
05. Find a Hidden Door (2:16)
06. I Can Take You to the Sun (3:38)
-Blue Day in Riverside
07. I'm Not Talking (2:25)
08. Who's Been Talking (2:57)
09. I Need Your Love (3:20)
10. You Don't Have to Go Out (4:43)
11. I Cried My Eyes Out (2:39)
12. Like I Do (2:51)
Mediafire
I love much of the music from this era and look forward to giving these a listen. Thank You.
ReplyDeleteMetagnathous, thank you. I had posted the first 16 Rubble volumes and many many related albums over at Plastic Palace People, but it was all lost when Megaupload was shut down. It was such a fun series to do that I thought it deserved to be resurrected here, but with some new features. I hope you enjoy all 20 posts!
DeleteThe Mindbenders were a great band imho. Thanks for the trip back to my youth. Hey it's Glen not Glenn Campbell!
ReplyDeletescurfie, ask and you shall receive. I'll post some Mindbenders on an upcoming Rubble installment :)
ReplyDeletethanks for the correction by the way :)
DeleteCiao Voix,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the freaky vibes, man. I am grateful to be able to complete my Rubble collection. I like your 'wall of fame'.
Stefano
Stefano, great to hear from you! I'm planning on re-posting many of the Rubble-related albums that I posted on PPP, along with many I overlooked the first time around, such as the band I just posted with the first Rubble volume, The Misunderstood. What an amazing psych-band!
Deletehey thank voix... I caught the original posts you did of the Rubble series at Palace People and have loved them all.
ReplyDeletedo you have any 60's albums by The Pretty Things like Emotions? They are one of my favs, thanks again
MouthoftheDesert, thank you! I really enjoyed doing the Rubble series on PPP and was really disappointed it came to a grinding halt at vol. 16, with the Megaupload take-down. When I started this new blog, I knew right away that I wanted to move the series over here, but I intend to make it even better the second time around. And yes, I have a Japanese re-issue of The Pretty Things' "Emotions," which I will add to an upcoming Rubble post :)
DeleteHello again dear friend.I hope that all is well for you at this time of your life.I simply wanted to ask if No.17-20 from the Rubble collection will Be included in your future posts? Thank you very much and all the best!
ReplyDeletemythochrist, wonderful to hear from you my friend. I am doing a little better than I was last fall. I hope all is well with you. I will be posting all 20 volumes of Rubble on the new blog along with a number of related albums that I didn't post on PPP :)
DeleteHello voixautre! I am very interested in your publications in this section. I'll wait for further continuation of this theme. I love rock music of the late '60s, early '70s.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, voixautre.
Nazareth, good to hear from you again. This series will cover a huge amount of mid-late sixties British rock, and I am starting another series soon that will focus on the early-seventies U.K. glam scene, so keep reading.
Delete