Lee Michaels

Lee Michaels - Carnival Of Life - 1968 - A&M Records

Carnival Of Life may sound a bit dated now, but it's still a good example of early West Coast psychedelic pop rock. The organ and harpsichord work is outstanding and ahead of it's time in it's originality and concepts, and Hamilton Wesley Watt's fine guitar playing perfectly complements Lee Michaels great vocals and keyboard playing. You can find some good info on Lee Michaels @ LM/BIO/MYS Buy his great "Absolute Lee" album.

TRACKS

Hello
Another One
Streetcar
Love
Carnival of Life
Why
Tomorrow
Sounding the Sleeping
My Friends

All songs composed by Lee Michaels

MUSICIANS

Bass - John Keski
Drums - Eddie Hoh
Guitar - Hamilton Wesley Watt
Organ, Bass - Rev. Gary Davis
Vocals, Piano, Organ, Harpsichord, Bass - Lee Michaels

N.B: Also released on A&M 4-Track reel tape in 1968

REVIEWS

This album is an excellent example of California Psych-Pop with inventive organ and harpsichord parts, Michaels' superb vocals, and Hamilton Wesley Watt's (of Euphoria) blistering guitar cutting through the mix. A quirky start to what would be a fine and innovative career , and a fine and timeless album in it's own right. © 1996-2009, Amazon.com

Lee Michaels, a veteran of the Los Angeles and San Francisco bar-band scene in the mid-'60s, struck out on his own in 1967 after fronting bands with such illustrious alumni as Joel Scott Hill, Bob Mosley, and John Barbata. Michaels' music was characterized by his soulful vocals and equally soulful organ playing. These awesome talents would be polished on his second and third albums, but his debut, while interesting, falls a bit short. The main problem is that A&M saw Michaels as sort of a psychedelic singer/songwriter/rocker. In reality, he was sort of a California version of Steve Winwood. Carnival of Life has some excellent performances by Michaels and especially drummer Eddie Hoh. Both rock hard on the album's nine cuts, but the material is a bit dated and tends to end up in some hard-rock clichés of the period. Still, it's a promising if quirky start of what would be a fine career. © Matthew Greenwald, All Music Guide

BIO (Wikipedia)

Lee Michaels (born 24 November 1945, in Los Angeles, California), plays the Hammond organ, piano, and guitar (plus vocals), was best known for his 1971 Top 10 pop hit, "Do You Know What I Mean". Michaels, also known as Mike Olsen, began his career with The Sentinals , a San Luis-based surf group which included Merrell Fankhauser and drummer Johny Barbata (later of The Turtles, Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson Starship). Michaels joined Barbata in the Strangers, a group led by Joel Scott Hill, before moving to San Francisco. In 1967, he signed a contract with A&M Records, releasing his debut, Carnival Of Life, later that year. Michaels' choice of the Hammond organ as his primary instrument was unusual for the time, as was his bare-bones stage and studio accompaniment: usually just a single drummer, most often a musician known as "Frosty" (Bartholomew Eugene Smith-Frost), or with Joel Larson of The Grass Roots. This unorthodox approach attracted a following in San Francisco, and some critical notice, but Michaels did not achieve real commercial success until the release of his fifth album (Fifth), which produced a surprise U.S. Top 10 hit (#6 in the fall of 1971), "Do You Know What I Mean," and a Top 40 follow-up, a cover version of the Motown standard, "Can I Get A Witness". Michaels recorded two more albums for A&M before signing a contract with Columbia Records in 1973. His Columbia recordings failed to generate much interest, and Michaels went into semi-retirement from the music business by the end of the decade. He currently owns a chain of restaurants, named Killer Shrimp, around Southern California. Apparently, after a trip to New Orleans, Michaels invented a dish that his friends liked enough to urge him to open a restaurant.

MORE ABOUT LEE MICHAELS

One of the most interesting second-division California psychedelic musicians, keyboardist Lee Michaels was one of the most soulful white vocalists of the late '60s and early '70s. Between 1968 and 1972, he released half a dozen accomplished albums on A&M that encompassed Baroque psychedelic pop and gritty white, sometimes gospel-ish R&B with equal facility. A capable songwriter, Michaels was blessed with an astonishing upper range, occasionally letting loose some thrilling funky wails. In 1971, he landed a surprise Top Ten single with "Do You Know What I Mean," one of the best and funkiest AM hits of the early '70s. But Michaels was really much more of an album-oriented artist, from the time he began recording in the late '60s. Michaels started playing music in Southern California, where he was in a band with future members of Moby Grape, the Turtles, and Canned Heat. By the time he signed to A&M, however, he'd moved to San Francisco, joining the management stable of Matthew Katz (which also included, at various times, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and It's a Beautiful Day). Michaels was unusual for a San Francisco act in that he relied mostly on an organ-based sound, especially after the first pair of albums, when for a time he played, live and in the studio, with the mammoth drummer "Frosty" as his only accompanist. "Do You Know What I Mean," ironically, was a throwaway tune that Michaels wrote hurriedly. Though Lee himself didn't think much of it, the song was a first-rate blast of white boy soul; around this time, the gospel influence that had often informed his sound come to the fore. His albums in the mid-'70s for Columbia, however, were both critical and commercial disappointments. Michaels moved to Hawaii for an extended retirement from the music business; aside from a self-released album in the early '80s, little's been heard from him since. © Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com

The Open Mind

The Open Mind - The Open Mind - 1969 - Philips

A very good British sixties psychedelic/progressive rock album. The album has great vocals and guitar playing, and is well worth listening to. There are no dud tracks here. A well above average album of this genre, and a very enjoyable listen. Any info on this group would be very welcome by A.O.O.F.C

ORIGINAL TRACKS

A1.Dear Louise
A2.Try Another Day
A3.I Feel The Same Way Too
A4.My Mind Cries
A5.Cant You See
A6.Thor The Thunder God

B1.Horses And Chariots
B2.Before My Time
B3.Free As The Breeze
B4.Girl Im So Alone
B5.Soul And My Will
B6.Falling Again

N.B: This album was released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006, and included two bonus tracks, "Magic Potion ," & "Cast a Spell." ). Both tracks are included here -

13Magic Potion (Bonus Track) - Released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006
14.Cast a Spell (Bonus Track) - Released on a limited edition VIRGIN VINYL LP in 2006

BAND

Mike 'Bryan' Brancaccio - Guitar, Vocals
Timothy Du Feu - Bass
Phil Fox - Drums
Terry Martin, a.k.a. Terry Schindler - guitar, vocals
Jon Anderson briefly sang in the band but left to form Yes







REVIEW

As a defining point of the U.K. psychedelic/progressive rock crossover, the Open Mind's sole album is the perfect specimen. With a singing style rooted in the freakbeat era, rather than the operatic tenor screams hard rock ushered in, and acidic duel guitars, heavier than those of a typical psychedelic act, The Open Mind filled the gap between the beginning of one era and the end of another. "Magic Potion" is unarguably their greatest moment. Its monotonous rhythm guitar anticipates the stoner rock of Hawkind while double bass drum fills and doom-laden fuzz guitar ragas combine bombastic rock power with Eastern-influenced psychedelia. Magnificent! "Girl, I'm So Alone" — a remake of early Open Mind lineup, mod band the Drag Set's "Get out of My Way" — harks back to a 1967 feel, as do a number of other songs that show the band being not quite as progressive as they intended. However, both the heavier and mod styles work well, but where they fall down is on some rather laborious numbers that just don't take off. Unfortunately, "Magic Potion" is the benchmark that everything they wrote is compared to, and when a song is that good, nothing else measures up. Still, as a whole, this album is a solid product of the time. It might not merit the "classic" status dealers apply to it, but it won't disappoint either. © Jon 'Mojo' Mills, www.allmusic.com
A.O.O.F.C Note - The track, "Get out of My Way," mentioned in the above review is not included on this album issue.

BIO (Wikipedia)

The Open Mind were a London-based psychedelic rock band active in the 1960s and 1970s. The band was formed in the mid 1960s by four musicians from Putney, South London. Initially named The Drag Set, they released a little-known single in February 1967, Day and Night/Get Out of My Way. Shortly thereafter, they changed their name to The Open Mind and in July 1969 released a self-titled LP which has since become a highly sought-after collectible. The band, however, is best known for its druggy August 1969 single Magic Potion, which did not appear on the album. The Open Mind disbanded in 1973; its members wanted to move into jazz-influenced music, but The Open Mind was too well-known as a psychedelic band. The band members (minus Phil Fox) went on to form Armada, which lasted about three years but did not release any recorded material. Despite their paucity of recorded material, The Open Mind have proven to be influential in the psychedelic rock genre. The noted 1990s psych group Sun Dial paid tribute to the band with a cover of Magic Potion on their 1993 album Return Journey.

Mock Duck

Mock Duck - Test Record - 1968 - No label (5 track acetate) [Re-released in 2000 by Gear Fab records]

Mock Duck was a legendary underground psychedelic band from Vancouver, B.C. that recorded three singles, "Groundhog, " "Do Re Mi" and "Easterdog" for the local Baroka label in 1968. The band also made a live album that was recorded at the Village Bistro in Vancouver in 1968. The original album was only distributed to a few fans and there were reportedly only 14 copies ever pressed and it was only available in acetate form. Test Record, released through Gear Fab Records, gathers together the bands' three singles for Baroka, the complete live album tracks together with additional tracks recorded, but never released, by the band for R& D studios in Vancouver in 1968 & 1969, as well as two tracks consisting of live jams recorded in 1968. This is the complete recorded output of the Mock Duck and debut CD release of the band's material. The music of this band is mainly of an experimental nature of such bands as Soft Machine, Matching Mole or some of the other so called experimental bands of the British Canterbury scene. The music of Mock Duck consists of swirling organ , blues guitar, wailing jazz saxophone and off tempo time shifting drumming. Sophisticated music that was many years ahead of their contemporaries and very uncharacteristic of a Canadian band performing in the late 60's. The sound quality of these recordings is excellent despite the fact that many of the songs were privately recorded by the band themselves. This CD also features an essay on the band written by band member Joe Mock as well as archival photos of the band members and detailed information on the band line ups and recording sessions. © Keith Pettipas. CanEHdian.com, 2000
Has anybody got any info on this band? Comments appreciated.

TRACKS

1. Home Made Jam/Introduction
2. Ground Hog
3. Hurt on Me
4. Sitting on Top of the World
5. My Time
6. Fat Man [Bonus Track]
7. Crosscut Saw [Bonus Track]
8. Easter Dog [Bonus Track]
9. Funky Song [Bonus Track]
10. Do-Re-Mi [Bonus Track]
11. Playing Games [Bonus Track]
12. Jazz Mock [Bonus Track]

Major Members: Rick Enns, Ross Barrett, Tom Hazelitt, Spense Sutton, Steve Barrett, Lee Stevens

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

A stellar archival collection uncovered by reissue label extraordinaire Gear Fab, Test Record brings together a group of terribly rare recordings from Canadian band Mock Duck, a deservedly popular draw on the Vancouver ballroom scene due to its arresting musical fusion. The original Test Record was actually just an acetate pressing made of the first five tracks off the Gear Fab CD, only 14 copies of which are know to exist. Those five tracks, along with two of the bonus tracks, were recorded live at the Village Bistro in Vancouver in late 1968. Four of the other bonus songs were off 1968 singles, and the final "Jazz Mock" is a nearly 20-minute jam from the same period. Better than most, Mock Duck discovered a true nexus between early rock & roll, blues, and exploratory jazz, and they tied those strains into a really exciting amalgam that fit well into Vancouver's developing psychedelic scene . The music certainly has its drawbacks. Joe Mock is only an adequate vocalist, his nasally release (which probably better fit the Dylan slant of the original unit) doesn't create much of a spark at all and is almost devoid of the virtuosic intensity that the music requires. That is no more evident than on the band's cover of "Sitting on Top of the World," one of the few moments on the album when even the band sounds uninspired. The band turns tunes like the 13-minute "Home Mad Jam," the traditional "My Time," and the cool "Jazz Mock" into smoking free-rock with plenty of psychedelic ambience to satisfy the trippy mood of the era. Rarely, however, is Mock Duck predictable, and their sound is all their own. A creative and individual band, they sound great even outside the context and milieu in which they existed. Although maybe not as inventive as likeminded peers such as Captain Beefheart, Spirit, and Traffic, they are nevertheless a dynamic footnote to the era. © Stanton Swihart , http://shopformusic.microsoft.com/

BIO

During the mid- to late '60s, Mock Duck emerged as one of the most popular rock bands on the burgeoning music scene of Vancouver, BC. They were one of a plethora of Canadian bands (alongside peers such as Spring, Papa Bear's Medicine Show, the Seeds of Time, and Hydroelectric Streetcar) who packed local psychedelic ballrooms such as the Village Bistro, Retinal Circus, and Big Mothers in emulation of the San Francisco and Seattle scenes to the south. Although they never made much of an impression outside their local region, they were good enough to support visiting names of the day like Fleetwood Mac, B.B. King, Country Joe & the Fish, and the Steve Miller Band.
Like a whole generation of youngsters, Joe Mock picked up the guitar in the early '60s, spurred on by rock & roll. By 1966 he was good enough to play live, and subsequently formed the first incarnation of Mock Duck with Steve Barrett (drums), Spense Sutton (vibes), Tom Hazelitt (bass), and David Sinclair (guitar). At the time they were calling themselves Joe Mock & No Commercial Potential and were chiefly enamored of folk-rock, particularly Bob Dylan. The band played at the Afterthought, a venue where Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe would sometimes perform. They eventually changed their name to Mock Duck when Sutton's girlfriend, unhappy with yet another band practice, appended a frustrated, four-letter epithet to bandleader Mock's surname.
By the beginning of 1967, the first lineup dissolved and a second version of the band was formed when drummer Glen Hendrickson witnessed Mock performing a solo set and approached him with the possibility of starting a new band. With the addition of bassist Lee Stevens, Mock Duck became a trio and began making the rounds of the local psychedelic scene, which was significant enough by this time to lure artists such as the Doors and Mad River from the States. The trio worked into the next year before Stevens was replaced by Rick Enns and Ross Barrett was brought in on saxophone, flute, and keyboards. They began recording at the nascent R&D Studios, releasing two singles in 1968. The second, "Do Re Mi," received substantial airplay at regional radio stations, although not enough to make any inroads in America. By the end of 1969, this version Mock Duck also dissipated, and Mock formed one more band under the moniker, moving into a psychedelic R&B realm before calling it quits in 1970. © Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide