The latest installment in Grapefruit’s acclaimed late Sixties compilations is ‘Try A Little Sunshine: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1969’. A collection proving that lysergia was still in force at the end of the decade, it largely eschews the heavy and progressive material that dominated the year. Packed with 73 tracks it uncovers a series of bold and brilliant material that often harked back to an earlier epoch.
This is typified by the 1967 feel to the now classic title track by The Factory, ‘Green Mello Hill’ by Angel Pavement and Move-like ‘Petrol Pump Assistant’ by Fat Mattress. Similarly, harmonies abound in the folksy ‘Summer Came Along’ by Ralph McTell, gorgeous psych of The Montanas ‘Roundabout’ and Harmony Grass doing what they did best with ‘What A Groovy Day.’
As we come to expect with Grapefruit, established acts such as The Pretty Things, The Spencer Davis Group, Status Quo, Procol Harum and The Move, rub shoulders with long lost groups such as Strawberry Jam ‘This Is To A Girl’ and cult duo Peter Howell & John Ferdinando ‘The Walrus And The Carpenter’.
That’s not to day that times hadn’t moved on with the country-rock of ‘Burning The Weed’ by Bobak, Jons, Malone, prog of ‘Day Of The Change’ by Andromeda and the singer-songwriter sound of ‘Morning Way’ by Trade Horne.
This collection has a 44 page booklet that includes biographical information on every band and uniquely shows another side to the closure of this fervent decade. Available to pre-order now from Cherry Red.
