It is very rare that I play “various artist” compilation
albums. I think it is only really necessary when the individual artists on the
compilation don’t have much of a “body of work” to investigate in their own
right. That theory can probably be challenged in a number of instances but I am
sticking to it for now as it generally fits when discussing this particular
“comp”.
“Freakbeat” is a term invented in the 1980’s, in a rather
odd retrospective sorta way, to describe a type of 1960’s music that came after
Merseybeat etc and before Psychedelia. Clearly no such “genre” or specific time
period actually existed, and as such it is a completely manufactured name for
any music that took the basics of the British
Invasion sound and added some off the wall sounds and ideas that take it off
the beat group straight and narrow.
Two tracks on here fit that theory particularly well in that
they are covers of Beatles songs i.e. Please Please Me by The Score and Taxman
by Loose Ends (no I’d never heard of them either). The former is a soulful take
on the moptops first number one that rather crassly adds a bit of the Rolling
Stones Satisfaction guitar riff at the end. It is slightly mad, somewhat funny
and overall just the right side of the genius/lunatic divide.
The cover of Taxman is really, really superb. It has shed
loads of percussion going on and a bass line that severely kicks Macca’s ass.
And gradually takes off with Hammond organ and guitar solos that major on the
psych side of things.
The only bands on here I have heard of are The Small Faces,
The Birds (with Ron Wood) and The Attack. Oh and some bloke called Marc Bolan.
I have no idea what became of the rest of them but it is an immensely enjoyable
album. It’s Freakbeat, baby.
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