Q3 on record: Love, Hendrix, Blind Faith

Love, Jimi Hendrix, Blind Faith and Yes are among the psychedelic-era artists with albums ready for resurrection in the third quarter of 2013.

The vinyl revivalists will continue to pack the shelves of your favorite indie record store with psychedelic classics. Other formats in this record roundup are hybrid SACDs, CDs and MP3s.

Love’s “Da Capo” makes its debut on hybrid SACD on July 30, via Mobile Fidelity. It’s billed as direct from the original master tapes, as was Sundazed’s vinyl release.

“Da Capo” has many fans, despite its split personality:

Side 1 is the run-up to the band’s classic “Forever Changes,” with six breathtaking psychedelic classics that incorporate rock, Latin rhythms, jazz and classical.

Side 2, notoriously, is surrendered to a 19-minute jam, one that has done a good bit of damage to the otherwise brilliant album’s rep. (For many Love fans, “Da Capo” is more or less an EP.)

The “hit” is the fast and furious “Seven & Seven Is,” quite possibly the most explosive 2 1/2 minutes in ’60s rock, its speed rush ended by an atomic blast.

“Da Capo” ranks No. 37 on Psychedelic Sight’s list of the top 50 psychedelic albums.

The release raises hopes of an SACD release of “Forever Changes,” which has seen seemingly endless reissues on CD and vinyl. (Warner Music Japan has just rereleased the album on CD with “2013 digital remastering.”) Also, a “Best of Love” vinyl platter with 16 tracks is scheduled for Sept. 24 via Friday Music.

Love frontman Arthur Lee’s “Black Beauty” recently resurfaced on 180 gram vinyl, also in a numbered limited edition. The album, credited to a 1973 version of Love, was produced by Paul Rothchild, who also oversaw “Da Capo.”

The “official bootleg” of Hendrix’s “Live in Cologne” debuts July 9 on CD. It chronicles the Experience’s January 1969 performance at the Sporthalle center in Germany.

“The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live In Cologne” was sourced from a mono audience recording, and long has been available as a bootleg. “This recording is not without various technical flaws and sonic limitations,” warns Dagger Records, which is owned by the Hendrix family. The vinyl version debuted in November via Dagger as the 12th in its series of live and bootlegged recordings.

The Experience featured Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the classic lineup that would last only another six months.

In addition to the regular Experience set — “Fire,” “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe” and so on — the show included the New Orleans rocker “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” and a cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.”

Blind Faith’s debut album, in fact its only album, is back on vinyl in a double-disc import edition released July 2. The set features the original U.K. cover — the artsy-strange one with a naked pre-teen girl. In the U.S., the blah LP cover had Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood and the rest of the band posing.

The second Blind Faith disc offers five bonus tracks, including an electric take on “Can’t Find My Way Home” and two versions of the unreleased “Sleeping in the Ground.” There’s also an “acoustic jam.” Most of those tracks can be found on Universal’s Deluxe Edition CD of 2001, but apparently this marks their debut on vinyl.

The Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks series returns Aug. 1 with the release of volume 7: “Horton Field House, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 4/24/78.” The three-disc set is limited to 13,000 numbered copies, the Dead marketing folks say.

The Dead’s show capped the spring 1978 tour, sporting a fairly familiar set list. Treats include the opening and closing Chuck Berry covers, “Werewolves of London” and some “Saturday Night Fever” riffing. The Rhythm Devils enjoy a 14-minute “jungle vibe” workout: “Some of the best Grateful Dead drumming I’ve heard from 1977-78 — that’s saying a lot,” says curator David Lemiseux, who talks up the set in this Dave’s Picks video.

In other Dead news, iTunes has put together four new digital collections of Dead material. The remastering was done specifically for iTunes distribution by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering. The collections are “The Complete Studio Albums Collection,” “The Live Albums Collection,” “The Complete Studio Rarities Collection” and “The Complete Live Rarities Collection.” Apple also is giving away a promotional digital book, “The Golden Road and Beyond: A Grateful Dead Primer.” More Dead-iTunes info and debate.

Dead fans looking to relive the summer’s movie night out should trek to “Veneta, Oregon: 8/27/72”– aka “Sunshine Daydream” — a four-record vinyl set out Sept. 17 (Dead/WEA).

Roky Erickson has three vinyl record reissues on the way via Light in the Attic: 1981’s horror-show “The Evil One” (two LPs), 1986’s hard-rocking “Don’t Slander Me” (two LPs) and the odds-and-sods “Gremlins Have Pictures” (single LP with additional 7-inch record). They’re all due Sept. 3. The albums include liner notes by Texas music specialist Joe Nick Patoski as well as keys for downloads of the albums.

Meanwhile, “Bull of the Woods” from Erickson’s Thirteenth Floor Elevators charges back on vinyl Aug. 13 (Snapper).

Quicksilver Messenger Service continues to feel the overdue love, with the Aug. 27 release of “Live at the Old Mill Tavern: March 29, 1970.” This captures the band just after the success of “Shady Grove,” with Dino Valenti at the helm. Audio is OK, a bit trebly. The final two tracks on the Purple Pyramid Records release are jams with blues harp man James Cotton.

Steppenwolf’s debut album finally made it to market on 200 gram vinyl after numerous delays; the hybrid SACD version reportedly comes out Aug. 6 Sept. 24 from Analogue Productions. For all its ubiquity in the late 1960s, “Steppenwolf” has been scarce in recent years, with the last domestic CD version released 23 years ago.

Cohearent Audio did the new “Steppenwolf” mastering, always good news. The LP’s psychedelic classics include “Magic Carpet Ride” and “The Pusher.”

The ever-resourceful Sundazed has unearthed the Love Exchange’s self-titled album from 1968 — billed as “a one-off gem of psychedelic sunshine.” The L.A. quintet’s frontwoman was teen singer Bonnie Blunt. The vinyl edition is limited to 1,000 copies, says Sundazed, which released an expanded CD version in 2001.

Sundazed also delivers a mono version of Captain Beefheart’s “Safe as Milk” on Sept. 24. CD and vinyl. The new serving of “Milk” comes with the original Richard Perry mono mix, not the botched version created by Beefheart’s label. “Authoritative new liner notes” by Rolling Stone old-weird record specialist David Fricke, who writes: ” ‘Safe As Milk’ was so far in it was out.”

Pearls Before Swine, led by Tom Rapp, returns to the racks Sept. 17 with 1970’s “The Use of Ashes” on 180 gram vinyl.

On the space jazz front, Weather Report’s “Mysterious Traveller” streaks back to Earth via 180 gram vinyl on July 24. It’s the closest thing to a psychedelic album made by the pioneering jazz fusion outfit, opening with Josef Zawinul’s stunning “Nubian Sundance.”

The long-awaited hybrid SACD of Vangelis’ “Blade Runner,” the electronic music soundtrack — simultaneously creepy and chill — comes out July 10 from Audio Fidelity. An hour’s worth of music with classic dialog mixed in. Cohearent Audio did the remastering. (A red vinyl version just came out.)

Also from the astral plane comes “In a Silent Way,” the 1969 Miles Davis record with John McLaughlin that paved the way for “Bitches Brew.” It was Davis’ initial response to the electronic psychedelic music of the day. “Silent Way” is due on 180 gram vinyl (numbered, limited) July 10 via Mobile Fidelity. (If the new 180 gram “Milestones” is an indicator, expect stunning sonics.)

Yes revisits “Yesterdays,” the compilation album mined from the prog rockers’ first two albums and led off by the band’s brilliant take on “America.” It’s set for July 30 as part of Friday Music’s 180 gram vinyl series of Yes albums.

And for Yes fans with deep pockets, a Japanese import SACD box set titled “High Vibration” is due Sept. 17 from Warner Bros. The 16-disc set should run you about $550. Also on tap is vinyl of Yes’ “Big Generator,” Sept. 10.

Yes man Rick Wakefield went solo in 1973 with the ambitious “The Six Wives of Henry VIII,” the concept album not surprisingly finding its biggest success in the U.K. Plastic Head brings the double-album set back to vinyl Aug. 6.

King Crimson’s “Red” is due July 16 on 200 gram vinyl, from Discipline Global Mobile. The 1974 album includes the 12-minute debut of “Starless.”

“Higher!” the Sly and the Family Stone box set from Sony Legacy, rolls in Aug. 27 in various formats, including 180 gram LPs. “Nearly one-fourth of the contents will be previously unissued material,” Legacy says. Stone’s psych-funk classic “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” has shipped on hybrid SACD from ORG Music.

“Child Is Father to the Man” was the first — and by far best — BS&T album, with Al Kooper at the controls. The album, a longtime audiophile favorite, has another go with a “gold CD” just out from Impex. The adventurous album is in stark contrast to the radio-friendly BS&T material to come. Kooper, meanwhile, has the two-fer “Black Coffee/White Chocolate” set for Sept. 17.

Other psychedelically tinged releases of note:

Dead Meadow’s first album returns remixed/remastered on vinyl (Xemu Records, Sterling Sound), Aug. 6; Todd Rundgren’s “Hermit of Mink Hollow” on 180 gram (Friday Music), Aug. 20; “Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972” box set on vinyl (Rhino), Aug. 20; Nick Drake’s psych-folker “Five Leaves Left” in a new single LP version, Aug. 27; and the Beach Boys’ box set “Made in California” (many unreleased tracks), Aug. 27.

And the new albums: The Arctic Monkeys “AM” on Sept. 10; MGMT’s “MGMT” on Sept. 17; Yoko Ono’s “Take Me to the Land of Hell,” Sept. 17 (check the trippy advance track); Moby’s “Innocents” with guests including Wayne Coyne, Oct. 1. (All in multiple formats including vinyl)

Just out: John Mayall’s concept album “Bare Wires” with Mick Taylor, on 180-gram LP from Music on Vinyl. The 1968 album includes the trippy tracks “Fire,” “Look in the Mirror” and “Bare Wires.”

From the mysterious land of TBA we have:

• Roger Waters’ “Amused to Death” on a hybrid stereo SACD and 200 gram vinyl record (apparently delayed again).
• The Grateful Dead’s “From the Mars Hotel” with a 180-gram vinyl release (Mobile Fidelity). Numbered, limited and half-speed mastered.
• “Santana III” on vinyl from Mobile Fidelity.
• The first two Chicago Transit Authority albums, numbered and limited on hybrid stereo SACD, from Mobile Fidelity.
• “Highway 61 Revisited” on audiophile 45rpm discs, from Mobile Fidelity.

Note: Release dates for vinyl and SACD titles remain fluid until they actually ship. This record roundup will be updated as needed through the quarter. SACDs are all hybrids unless specified otherwise; they work on a CD player but not in advanced resolution.

More psychedelic music: Q2 on record: Lips, Traffic, Quicksilver, Dead