This is a bootleg CD reissue of a rare French compilation of 60's garage rock singles. An early example of the pebbles/nuggets garage rock craze, when the search for hitherto unknown garage nuggets led to the reissue of virtually anything released between 1965-67. These compilers put together the complete output of The Clefs Of Lavender Hill, but that filled only one side of the album, so they added some random 60's garage singles to fill side 2. The C.O.L.H. were a Florida brother/sister team (Joseph and Lorraine Ximenes) on vocals and guitars, aided by another siblings team, Bill & Fred Moss. Their single "
Stop! Get A Ticket" was a minor local hit and later anthologized in the
Nuggets box set. The music is Beatles-y folk-rock with vocal harmonies and jangly guitars. For an unknown mid-60's band, these tracks are quite professionally played and produced, which is both a blessing and a curse: while all of their songs are listenable, they're also too tame and generic to register. This is especially notable in the covers (Beatles' "
It Won't Be Long", The Stones' "
Play With Fire") which are just competent imitations and thus completely redundant. There are a few small detours (the soul beat of "One More Time", Dylan-ish folk of "Oh! Say My Love") but mostly the sound is melodic garage folk. Side 2 offers more variation and an overall rawer sound. Opener "William" borrows from The Yardbirds' "For Your Love" but features manic drumming and distorted guitars courtesy of former
Litter guitarist Zippy Caplan. The Pied Pipers are white school kids imitating Motown Soul but ending up sounding rock'n'roll just the same. The Baskerville Hounds (or The Dantes, or The Tulu Babies, or Talula Babies - it's all the same band) have produced one of my garage favorites: "
The Hurtin' Kind" has it all: danceable rhythm, groovy organ, bluesy harp and sneering lyrics. I have three versions of this song: by Scandinavian garage revivalists The Cosmic Dropouts, by an all-girl 60's band called The Bittersweets, and
this one -
all great.
The Todds' "I Want Her Back" is an intense rocker, while The Moonrakers play fast Animals-like R&B, Satisfactions prefer mid-tempo Stonesey blues, Cavemen improvise over a
Louie Louie beat with cheesy organ background, and Nomads close the LP with a bit of folk rock. Between the two album sides, the second one wins easily because the bands overcompensate for their lack of professionalism with enthusiasm and intensity - the two marks of a good garageband. On the whole, it's a hit-and-miss collection that contains a few garage rock gems and a lot of filler.
SIDE ONE (all tracks by The Clefs Of Lavender Hill) Stop! Get A Ticket****, First Tell Me Why****, So I'll Try**, One More Time***, It Won't Be Long**, Play With Fire**, Oh! Say My Love**, Gimme One Good Reason***
SIDE TWO William (White Lightning)*****, Stay In My Life (Pied Pipers)****, You Don't Know Like I Know (Pied Pipers)***, The Hurtin' Kind (Baskerville Hounds)*****, I Want Her Back (The Todds)****, I'm Alright (The Moonrakers)****, Bad Times (The Satisfactions)***, Small World (The Cavemen)****, I Need Your Love (The Nomads)***
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