Search - Blues Magoos :: Psychedelic Lollipop / Electric Comic Book

They Made Psychedelia Fun

BluesDuke | Las Vegas, Nevada | 06/30/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If ever a band made psychedelic music fun and knew how not to take it or themselves so seriously as to come forth as a gang of self-righteous twits, the Blues Magoos were they. They jerked one classic cut into the top 40, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," and if you were there at the time and could resist that dopey organ-and-bass riff which hook the whole thing in the first place, you just didn't know how to have a good time. These first two albums of theirs were pretty basic: psychedelicised garage-band R and B with tongues partly in cheek and about as unpretentious a way with it as you could ask in the middle of the haze. Influential beyond their years, in its way, too: on the one hand, their style seems to have been a soft curlicue to the striking and (admit it) even more dopey-fun bubblegum craze of 1969-72 (imagine the like of the Ohio Express - whose Kasnetz-Katz stable practically forged a career out of squishing up the Magoos' organ riffs - as Blues Magoos Lite, and with none of the Magoos' romping guts); on the other hand, the Magoos - especially "Gotta Get Away," the flip of "Nothin' Yet" - also runs a direct line to the garage-punk revival of the late 1970s-early 1980s (the Fleshtones, for one, probably owed as much to the Blues Magoos as they seemed to owe to the like of the Yardbirds or the Standells).The rest of these tracks mostly romp the same road. "Tobacco Road" has kept the band's legacy alive, too, by way of its inclusion on the ancient, original "Nuggets" compilation and subsequent remakes thereof. The Blues Magoos actually got semi-serious a couple of years later - they cut a surprisingly spry, classically funky R and B set, "Never Goin' Back To Georgia," long lost but well worth the hunt to find it. But it's these two albums which will end up defining their real legacy: For a couple of years at the crest of the psychedelic era, the Blues Magoos managed to remind people not to forget that rock and roll was also supposed to be fun."

Blues Magoos-'Psychedelic Lollipop/Electric Comic Book'

Mike Reed | USA | 09/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another great 2 lp's-on-one CD release brought to us by the Collectables label.Some of you may not remember much about the Blues Magoos.They were a Bronxe five piece that played some decent psychedelic garage rock that released six lp's from 1966-70,with the first three probably being their best work.This 2-on-1 includes two of those three albums.A total of 22 songs,starting off with their only hit,"We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" along with many of their other decently penned tracks,like "Gotta Get Away","One By One","Pipe Dream",their outstanding six-minute cover of "Gloria"(one of the disc's best tracks) and "Let's Get Together".Aimed at fans and collectors of '60's psych/garage rock.Will appeal to fans of Shadows Of Knight,Strawberry Alarm Clock,The Creation,The Leaves and Count Five."

PSYCHEDELIC LOLLIPOP/ELECTRIC COMIC BOOK

Mr. T. J. Gray | walton on thames, surrey United Kingdom | 07/12/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This collection,of their first 2 lps they released features their singles plus all their album tracks.It also comes with a precise history and pictures of the group, plus a reproduced sleeve of their electric comic book lp sleeve.This collection also includes a different version of one by one which is a bit slower but the words are more clearer on it. I have only given it three stars because even though they released some brilliant singles these 2 lps lack something.But still a collection worth having at a good price."