Thirty songs (16 previously unissued) drawn from the archives of Autumn Records, the San Francisco-based label founded by deejays Tom Donahue and Bobby Mitchell, with a young producer named Sylvester (aka "Sly") Stewart mo... more »stly running the musical end. The biggest act ever on Autumn was the Beau Brummels, who ended up on Warner Bros. when the label was sold in 1966, but there were lots of other good (and even a few better) groups on the label -- the Mojos, represented here by the title track and a nicely snarling version of the Stones' "Off the Hook," and a bunch of others, among them the Tikis (later much more famous as Harpers Bizarre), the Chosen Few, the Us, the Bundles, the Gear One, and the Knight Riders. The sounds here are, obviously, quintessential mid-1960s, with some good garage band representation, including "Little One" (in a stripped-down alternate take) by the Spearmints, the moody "Anything" and the soaring "I Still Love You" by the Vejtables, and the Knight Riders' "Won't You Be My Baby" (very Outsiders-like, and unissued until 1994), but there's also surf music (the Upsetters' "Draggin' the Main") and protest songs (the Mojo Men's "As I Get Older," written by Sylvester Stewart). The Knight Riders' "I" is a wonderfully sneering piece of garage rock which somehow failed to get released until 1968, two years after the label folded. The sound is killer -- there seem to be original tapes on everything here, and it was all recorded good and loud. Alec Paleo's notes are pretty cool too. ~ Bruce Eder« less
Thirty songs (16 previously unissued) drawn from the archives of Autumn Records, the San Francisco-based label founded by deejays Tom Donahue and Bobby Mitchell, with a young producer named Sylvester (aka "Sly") Stewart mostly running the musical end. The biggest act ever on Autumn was the Beau Brummels, who ended up on Warner Bros. when the label was sold in 1966, but there were lots of other good (and even a few better) groups on the label -- the Mojos, represented here by the title track and a nicely snarling version of the Stones' "Off the Hook," and a bunch of others, among them the Tikis (later much more famous as Harpers Bizarre), the Chosen Few, the Us, the Bundles, the Gear One, and the Knight Riders. The sounds here are, obviously, quintessential mid-1960s, with some good garage band representation, including "Little One" (in a stripped-down alternate take) by the Spearmints, the moody "Anything" and the soaring "I Still Love You" by the Vejtables, and the Knight Riders' "Won't You Be My Baby" (very Outsiders-like, and unissued until 1994), but there's also surf music (the Upsetters' "Draggin' the Main") and protest songs (the Mojo Men's "As I Get Older," written by Sylvester Stewart). The Knight Riders' "I" is a wonderfully sneering piece of garage rock which somehow failed to get released until 1968, two years after the label folded. The sound is killer -- there seem to be original tapes on everything here, and it was all recorded good and loud. Alec Paleo's notes are pretty cool too. ~ Bruce Eder
Brilliant collection of ultra-rare California 60s teen pop
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/06/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Another stellar compilation of San Francisco's Autumn Records recordings. Archivist Alec Palao has fashioned an excellent second volume of the series (the first having been devoted to the Beau Brummels), cramming 30 tracks onto a single disc, and a booklet full of great photos and liner notes.This volume covers the prime of Autumn Records British-invasion influenced singles, album and unreleased tracks. The sound is crisp, and mostly in stereo. This disc sounds better than my original Autumn releases! (Though, to be fair, there are a few places where it sounds as if the balance in the mix has been changed - e.g., the tambourine in the Mojo Men's "Dance With Me" seems a bit too forward.)Some of these tracks have been anthologized on a half-dozen other compilations (e.g., Pebbles, etc.), but this release is vastly superior - both in sonic quality and in presentation (placement and liner notes). Previously undocumented bands are recounted in detail here. E.g., the Pebbles series couldn't come up with anything on the Knight Riders, while this comp tells much of their history, and gives their origin as San Carlos, CA!Many of the tracks will be well known to fans of the Autumn label. Classics such as the Mojo Men's "Dance With Me", the Vejtables "Anything" and "I Still Love You" (with that cool "Ticket to Ride" riff slipped in), the Knight Riders stunning "I". But beyond these are a wealth of great early San Francisco pop sides. Extra tracks by the Mojo Men (including the great white pop blues' "Off the Hook" and "My Woman's Head"), Vejtables (including an alternate take of their "I Still Love You") and others. Three extra Knight Riders tracks have them sounding more like the Byrds than like the Shadows of Knight, but still sounding great!There's also a stack o' cool wax by the likes of the Spearmints, Gear One (actually a bit weak in this company), The Chosen Few, The Tikis ("The Darkest Night of the Year" *kills* with the sort of urgency as in The Squires "Go Ahead" and the forlorness as in The Dovers "What Am I Going to Do?"), The Us (great folk-rock on "Just Me"), the buzzing pop of The Bundles (bigtime shades of the Beau Brummels on "Watch Me Girl"), and the Au Go Gos masterful "All Over Town."Also included are oddities such as the Upsetter's tribute to the Jan-Dean-Beach-Boys-Gary-Usher car genre, "Draggin' the Main." As the liner notes point out, they work a cool 12-string guitar break into an otherwise straight ahead racing tune. And The Us's tribute to premarital infidelity, "How Can I Tell Her" is hysterical: "You wanted me so bad, but my infidelity made her mad..." "It's a shame / She wants to say goodbye / I didn't mean to hurt her / All I wanted was a taste of life / Before she became my wife..." Oof!A labor of love through and through."