The College Crowd Digs Me

"Electric Warrior" - T. Rex (1971)      I picked up this beauty...a 1971 original pressing of T. Rex "Electric Warrior" ...at an off-base house rented by three airmen stationed at McConnel AFB.  One was soon being reassigned and had several of his records for sale. Mostly '70s and '80s rock.  Some new wave.  Some hip-hop.  I hadn't been there but for maybe 10 minutes.  I had two albums in my hand, when another fella who looked like an airman himself, said he wanted to buy the seller's whole collection   The deal was quickly consummated.  All except for the two albums I was holding in my hands. Not only that. I didn't have much money in my pocket anyway.  I was just doing a little running around and saw a cool garage sale T-shirt sign.  It was all spur of the moment.  Anyway, I was holding two "Electric Warrior" albums in my hands.  One was a German 1st pressing on the Ariola label. It was in "well-loved" shape....

"The Eyes Of The Beacon Street Union" - Beacon Street Union (1968) "The Eyes Of The Beacon Street Union" is a fine, inexpensive, psychedelic square that checks plenty of boxes.  Tasteful fuzz guitar and keyboards decorate the songs giving off garagey acid vibes.  And the bass ( Wayne Ulaky ) is dancing all over the place.  It's all very groovy and very much a snapshot of the times.  Out of Boston, Beacon Street Union is representin' the Bosstown Sound just dandy.    The opening track begins with a spoken pronouncement that is both corny and incredibly cool.  And then BSU is off.  Nothing dangerous, but hard not to like.  Side two is the stronger, for sure.  Side one would be equally strong but for two back-to-back sore thumbs.  Not really bad per se, just out of place.  Overall, however, "The Eyes Of…" is an under-appreciated square still flying under the radar.   "The Eyes Of The Beacon Street Union" - Beacon S...

"The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" - Bob Dylan (1963 - Rei 1966) As everyone knows, Dylan's poetry song-smithing is a mind-blow.  And his approach broke all the rules once the needle dropped on this square.  And this was only his second album!  This surprised me.  I always wanted this album because I was so familiar with the iconic album cover.  I always loved it.  But the truth is, I didn't know this was the follow-up to his debut.  And no sophomore jinx, this one. I recognized all the biggies from it.  "Blowin' In The Wind"... "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"... "Girl From The North Country"... "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"... but I'd never listened to the record in its entirety.  The accolades are warranted.  I got chills spinning it.  The album photo of baby-faced Bob Dylan being arm-snuggled by his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo walking down the middle of the snowy street in New York City is gold.  The e...

"Harvest Of Dreams" - Bobb Trimble (1982 - Rei 2007) I picked up another psych album I discovered in the Acid Archives .  It's a 2007 reissue of "Harvest Of Dreams" that was originally released in limited numbers in 1982.  From a small town in Massachusetts, Bobb Trimble made a unique, otherworldly square that attempts to balance his jumbled magical thoughts on the head of a pin.  Spinning "Harvest Of Dreams" is like how it must feel to be in a slightly broken but genius mind.  Trimble's self-produced indie psych-folk album sounds like one foot standing close to George Martin and the other one burrowed deep into Brian Wilson's sand garden. Songs are heavily layered with surprising studio effects that make them both emotionally fragile and strangely euphoric.  Studio trickery is used everywhere but somehow never gets in the way.  How weird is that?  And for the coup-de-gras, Bobb Trimble's vocals are a jaw-drop.  Feminesque.  Like a ge...

"Milestones" - SRC (1969)      "Milestones" is the   2nd of three albums released by the Detroit psychedelic band... SRC and all are a tasty square to pick up.  " Milestones"  is not quite as strong as their self-titled debut, but the psych-searing fuzz-burn guitar is there and sounds fantastic.  Not as heavy as the first, but the vocals, guitar, drumming, and keyboard still play nicely together keeping mostly an acidic vibe even on the more commercial pop-dusted songs.  In other words, the music doesn't go limp on the more commercial reachouts. The pressing has beautiful separation with and without headphones and is one of those spins that continues to reward the listener after the first shake of hands.  And the opening track just scorches.  There is a "Spinal Tap" moment on the last track that's a bit of a smile-maker, but the music rescues the song.  I'm cool with it.  The album is a nice follow-up with enough goodness with...