Scroll down for reissues by The Electric Prunes and Paul Revere and the Raiders

The Carnabeats
First Album and More

(Philips 1968/Teichiku 1999 (Japan))

http://60spunk.m78.com/carnabeatse.htm

In the 60s garage/psych fan’s never-ending quest to uncover new and
increasingly unusual musical artifacts, no corner of the globe has gone
unscathed. We’ve scoured the earth for records we didn’t even know existed,
dug through tapes looking for unreleased anything, and traveled to foreign
lands searching for rare indigenous pop sounds. To date, one of the most
eclectic and satisfying of musical finds has been the amazing Japanese 60s
pop scene, nicknamed ‘Group Sounds’ or G.S. for short. Although it took
years to get notice in the West, for Japanese teens, it was impossible NOT
to get swept up in probably the most significant pop music revolution Japan
has ever experienced. Among the leading G.S. groups was the Carnabeats, who
formed in 1967 and released this album in 1968. It’s really a great
collection, containing some excellent and hard-hitting pop songs in
Japanese, English, and sometimes a combination of the two. Many of the
songs on this album are absolutely frantic, with screamed vocals, violently
aggressive fuzztone guitar, and breakneck drums. As with most other
Japanese 60s bands, the Carnabeats were a dangerous blend of the
instrumental ferocity of the Ventures and the melodic pop sensibilities of
the Beatles. Particularly excellent examples of this synergy include
“Okay”, “Chu! Chu! Chu!”, and “Koi Wo Shiyoyo Jenny”, which was a big hit
for the group. Another of the better songs, “Sandy” boasts possibly the
most aggressive fuzztone riff to emerge from the 60s. In addition to strong
original compositions, many fine covers are included, such as their Japanese
language versions of the Great Scots’ “Give Me Lovin’”, the Zombies “I Love
You”. Their cover of the Animals’ “When I Was Young” is so menacing and
disturbing that it might have made Eric Burdon think a little more
positively of his own childhood, had he got wind of it back in 1968. Along
with the original album, this CD generously adds twelve bonus tracks, which
are every bit as interesting as the album material. Among the more notable
bonus tracks are English covers of “Daydream Believer”, “Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band”, and “Get Back”. With their version of “Get Back”,
the group hilariously botches the lyrics, stating “Jojo left his home in
Tucson, Arizona, bought some California GLASS” (it’s great out there, you
know). Despite these minor lyrical blunders however, there is some really
great music here. This disk is easily on par with either of Big Beat
Records’ popular “GS I Love You” compilations, which is no slouch either.
Definitely recommended for those who enjoyed those aforementioned CDs, or
for anyone at all curious about Japan’s eccentric, amazing 60s pop scene.

The Electric Prunes
Artifact

(Pruntewang 2001)

http://www.electricprunes.net/

After over thirty years apart, the Electric Prunes are together again and
continuing the story of one of the most significant and recognizable garage
bands of the 1960s. After playing reputedly excellent shows at Cavestomp
and Voxfest, the newly reunited Prunes released *Artifact*, a new album
filled with all-new material. Musically, the group’s style has evolved
somewhat from the punky psychedelic sound which they helped to pioneer with
the hits “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” and “Get Me to the World on
Time”. This new album is more in a slow and mellow heavy rock mould,
occasionally bordering on blues-rock. Despite the stylistic changes
however, several Prunes trademarks remain. The mind-melting fuzztone guitar
which defined their original style is still in vogue, often in conjunction
with more mainstream distorted guitar sounds. On *Artifact*, the core group
of James Lowe, Ken Williams, and Mark Tulin is joined in the studio by
original drummer Quint, James’ son Cameron Lowe, and former Moby Grape
guitarist Peter Lewis, among others. Overall, the musicianship on this new
album is excellent. The lead guitar work of Ken Williams is particularly
exceptional. James Lowe’s vocals retain the attitude they had from the old
days, although his voice has perhaps lost some of the range and softness
which complemented that attitude so well on songs like “I Happen to Love
You” and “Too Much to Dream”. The only real exception to the impressive
instrumentation is some rather tedious drum machine work, which sometimes
gives an 80s pop feel to songs like “Big Stick”. The songwriting on
Artifact is often interesting, and it echoes the group’s sense of humor
and attitude. The first song on the album, “Lost Dream” is also probably the
best, with its driving guitar riffs and pouted lyrics about past glories.
Other interesting songs on the album include an uncharacteristically slow
version of Love’s “7 & 7 Is” and a very pleasant reading of Randy Newman’s
“Dream I Had Last Night”. Despite the occasional moment of inspiration
however, the album is not wholly successful. The songs are just too
slow-paced and undistinguished to maintain interest. Artifact is an album
desperately in need of variety. Still, it’s an interesting glimpse into the
musical development of the Electric Prunes, three decades and many musical
trends later.

Paul Revere & The Raiders
Just Like Us!

(Columbia 1965/Sundazed 1998)

http://www.rainbowplanet.com/harpo.html

Although they were once America’s most popular rock band, Paul Revere and
the Raiders are often dismissed as a being merely a teenage fad, like so
much ironed hair. On closer inspection of their early original Columbia
albums however, we see a genuine, hard-hitting rock band who definitely knew
how to have fun. Just Like Us! was their second Columbia album, and a
decided improvement over the bland frat club-rock sounds which dominated
Here We Come, their first CBS album. Just Like Us! was also the group’s
first album to feature any of the mid-60s hits they are so well remembered
for, namely “Steppin’ Out”and “Just Like Us”. Both these tunes are stone
classics, particularly the sublimely raunchy “Steppin’ Out”. The rest of
the album consists nearly entirely of covers, including “Out of Sight”,
“Baby Please Don’t Go”, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. One of the
best covers is their folk-rock version of “I’ll Be Doggone”, featuring great
vocals from Mark Lindsay. All the songs are excellent, but it’s a shame the
album relies so much on outside material. This CD reissue on Sundazed adds
three bonus tracks, including an alternate mix of “Just Like Me” and the
rare B-side “B.F.D.R.F. Blues”. It’s a solid release, but definitely
would’ve benefited from more original compositions. Luckily this problem
was soon remedied on their subsequent Columbia albums.

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