MICHAEL & THE MUMBLES Michael & The Mumbles De Stijl LP www.destijlrecs.com


These 1966 recordings, though lacking the studio finesse that would lend sparkle to many outings from the same timeframe


have, nonetheless, an enticingly primitive gleam. To this end, Minneapolis combo Michael & The Mumbles should be well pleased that they’ve been freed at last from dusty shelf captivity. Remnants of Buddy Holly and early Beatles


charm are in evidence throughout, yet beyond such reference points are distinct echoes of something much less obvious. It’s there in some chordings and lyrics by named leader, one Michael Yonkers – later the maker of ‘Micro-Miniature Love’ and the even more crazed ‘Kill The Enemy’. Here, within the likes of ‘Cold Town’ and the rambling, semi-chaotic ‘I Need Her’, a slightly dark-cornered vein is more detectable. Nothing like as bonkers as what Yonkers


would create in future years, but an appealing, squint-eyed glare through edgy teen garage rumble all the same. Lenny Helsing


PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS Complete Original Columbia Singles Collectors Choice 3-CD www.ccmusic.com


Paul Revere & The Raiders, featuring Mark Lindsay on lead vocals, put the Pacific Northwest on the rock ’n’ roll map in 1965, beginning a decade-


long series of punk-edged Top 40 smashes with their powerful breakout single ‘Steppin’ Out’ and going national with an ongoing stint on Dick Clark’s after-school TV rock show


JAN & DEAN Carnival Of Sound Rhino Handmade CD www.rhinohandmade.com


At last, after 40 years this sumptuously packaged release of Carnival Of Sound is a triumph for all involved and a lasting testament to


the musical genius of the late Jan Berry. Although barely able to communicate


through suffering from Apraxia and Aphasia, and having to relearn his basic motor skills as a result of his near fatal car crash in April 1966, Jan Berry struggled to release the music still in his head. Painstakingly recorded from ’66 to ’68 by the wrecking crew assembled by Hal Blaine and a host of guest vocalists including Glen Campbell, Ron Hicklin and Tom Bahler (who sang lead on four songs), this is a great album. The wonderful sleeve notes detail chronologically when and where the different tracks were recorded and who were the main contributors. Andrew Sandoval took three years to collate and listen to every tape Jan submitted


Where The Action Is. This three disc set contains all 62 of the


band’s commercially released songs (including ‘Just Like Me’, the oft-banned ‘Kicks’, their ’66 commentary ‘The Great Airplane Strike’, ‘Ups And Downs’, ‘Don’t Take It So Hard’ and their biggest hit ‘Indian Reservation’) along with a rare single recorded for Chevrolet dealerships (‘SS396’ b/w ‘Corvair Baby’), a Pontiac jingle and a Mattel “Swingy Doll” 45. Unlike many groups of the era, the Raiders


played on their own records and had a well- rehearsed stage show, complete with comedy skits and 18th century patriot costumes. It’s all here. Gary von Tersch


THOSE GUYS Behind The Glasses 60sGarageBands CD www.60sgaragebands.com


When The Elite – responsible for deadly punker ‘My Confusion’ – split, Bob Barnes and Eddie Deaton joined fellow Texans, Those Guys, based


around brothers David and Jimmy Owens. Groovy anglophile vocals and an infectious organ/fuzz carousel crown the last of their two 45s, ‘Looking At You Behind The Glasses’, issued in 1968. 34 years down the line this track found


favour with fans of garage psychedelia, showing up on the excellent Fuzz, Flaykes & Shakes compilation series. Though infinitely more mellow than its counterpart, ‘Stereopsis Of A Floret’ (the flipside to ‘Glasses’) is yet another captivating affair. A cache of unissued material fleshes out


the collection, with soulful fuzz-beater ‘Working Girl’ and the half-closed eyes shuffle of ‘Sunshine Go Lightly’ among the best. Although sonically strong, the recordings made for Sump’n Else television show, including a couple of wimpy DC5 covers, are the set’s weakest points. Lenny Helsing


to Warner Brothers and the sound quality is amazing. Since Jan left no definitive track list for the album, Sandoval has sequenced the album by grouping his post-accident tracks together and closed with the pre-accident masters, making for a great listening experience. Jan’s original mono masters are included first, then the 15 bonus tracks include stereo mixes, the instrumental ‘Don’t Drop It’ and a demo of ‘Laurel And Hardy’. Beginning with the driving ‘Girl, You’re


Blowing My Mind’ and the sitar-infused ‘Mulholland’, the superb ‘Fan Tan’, ‘Love And Hate’, ‘Tijuana’ (a rewrite of ‘The Little Old Lady From Pasadena’) and the surf sounding ‘Hawaii’, it moves into a slew of oldies like ‘Louisiana Man’, ‘Stay’ and ‘In The Still Of The Night’ featuring Davy Jones of The Monkees. It’s such a shame that this album was not


released at the time. The lyrics and instrumentation were a big leap forward for the Jan & Dean sound and showed how Jan could adapt to the changing musical soundscape of the late ’60s. Thankfully we now have this beautifully


presented package with a cover by Dean Torrence, a 30-page booklet and of course the carnival of sounds contained in Jan’s head. Pat Curran


THE TORMENTORS Hanging Around Gear Fab CD www.gearfab.swiftsite.com


Californian act The Tormentors’ 1967 album Hanging Around may be classified as “psychedelic” by certain traders, but in reality it’s a very uneven affair.


The cod-Sir Douglas Quintet cop-off ‘Didn’t It Rain’ is plain annoying whilst other numbers like the coy ‘Capricious Lolita’ are just wimpy. However, they do muster a mean Standells-


styled garage classic in the form of ‘She’s Gone’. A few Spoonful/Brummels influenced numbers and the odd foray into moody pop (the excellent ‘Childhood Memories’) are good enough, yet in general it’s rather uninteresting upbeat mid-60s pop that doesn’t go anywhere. Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills


TWINN CONNEXION From The Heart Twinn Connexion Group CD www.myspace.com/twinnconnexion In 1968 identical twins Jay and Jerry Hopkins released their self- titled sunshine pop album. Produced by Jerry Keller it includes the sublime ‘It’s Such


A Lovely Day’. Their career foundered after this – Jay became a stock trader on Wall Street and Jerry became a painter. Jay died of heart failure in 2001 and, when going through his things, Jerry discovered tracks of vocals and songs they had recorded but never released. With the help of Jim Barbara this is, in effect, their follow-up album some 40 years on. The 16 tracks encompass sunshine pop ,


folk-rock, rock (‘Barbara Pepper’ recorded live with a coruscating guitar), even a prototype rap track (‘Broadway Joe’), while the lyrics deal with the Vietnam War (‘The Silent Parade’) and gay issues (‘Letter From Mum And Dad’). Pat Curran


THE UNDERGROUND More Psychedelic Guitars/Psychedelic Visions Gear Fab CD www.gearfab.swiftsite.com


When “psychedelic” was the word to drop in American pop music, it brought mixed results. Along with the bona fide leaders came a slew


of cheapo exploitation albums dressed up to look hip ’n’ happening on the back of the trend. More Psychedelic Guitars was housed in a


sleeve with a groovy chick in op-art gear holding a guitar, yet there was no band name – and after researching the album, it comes as no surprise to learn that Jerry Cole and co are the ones getting wiggy on the low session fee! The 10 tracks with titles like ‘Flower Power’ sound like The Ventures and are reminiscent of the inappropriate twangy music that featured in so many drive-in movies. Next time around the same gang would come closer to actual psychedelia as The Animated Egg. The second half of the package is given


over to The Underground’s far better Psychedelic Visions, which contains some decent snotty, fuzzy garage-punk with raw vocals (‘WeAin’t Got Nothing Yet’, Psychotic Reaction’ and ‘Tobacco Road’ included). Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills


VARIOUS ARTISTS Bless You California: More Early Songs Of Randy Newman Ace CD www.acerecords.com


Influential pop songsmith Newman is equally at home composing in a country, ragtime, jazz or soul vein as he is in rock. This is


another volume of his early songs (mostly from the ’60s) recorded by everyone from Irma Thomas, Martin Denny, Lou Rawls and


“THE CULT OF CARNIVAL” Pat Curran talks to contributor Mark A Moore


Shindig!: It’s a beautiful package. Are you pleased with the result of what was obviously a labour of love? MarkAMoore: I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Producer Andrew Sandoval did a terrific job of helming this project and Steve Stanley’s design and layout reflect the era beautifully. The whole team at Rhino Handmade and Warner Music Group did an outstanding job.


SD: The sleeve notes detail why the album was shelved at the time. Why did it take another 40 years to be released? MM: For years, Jan’s Warner Brothers recordings didn’t have an advocate. Jan and Dean’s business relationship was terribly strained in the mid to late ’60s and by the early ’70s Jan was moving ahead with his solo recordings. As good as Paul Morantz’s Rolling Stone article was, it failed to mention the Carnival Of Sound sessions, basically skipping from the accident to Jan’s solo recordings. That


was a big blow to the project’s visibility. It took LA pop aficionados like Darian Sahanaja and Domenic Priore to champion and spread the cult of Carnival.


SD: Is there anything left in the vaults? MM: There’s a partial backing track (several takes) for ‘Light My Fire’, some studio chatter with long term compatriots like Glen Campbell, Hal Blaine and Roger Christian and backing tracks and incredible a cappella vocals for ‘Hawaii’, ‘FanTan’ and ‘Love And Hate’.


SD: I was pleased to see that Dean Torrence designed the front and back cover and contributed a note. Was he amicable to being involved? MM: Andrew Sandoval noted that Dean spent several days working on the Jan & Dean lettering which is vintage Kittyhawk and it’s a real treat to have Dean contributing artwork for the project.


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