It’s a sleepy yet sufficiently surreal summer in the psychedelic music world. Breathe deep.
Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the Woodstock gang, the Rolling Stones, Eric Burdon, Traffic and Love are among the classic underground artists with reissues due in the third quarter of 2019. Here come the goods, on a scroll:
Frank Zappa: Recorded at UCLA’s Royce Hall in 1975, “Orchestral Favorites” first surfaced four years later in a label-hacked version that Zappa disavowed. He reworked the title in the CD era, but now we get a full-tilt 40th anniversary edition. “Favorites” streets Aug. 30 in a three-CD set featuring “proper hi-fi transfers” of the master tapes. Includes the original album (live but no audience) as well as an entire evening performance. New 2019 mix for the added concert. Also on vinyl (original album only, mastered by Bernie Grundman). The composer performed with the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra, partly populated by Zappa project veterans such as Ian Underwood, Malcom McNab and Terry Bozzio. Selections include “Strictly Genteel,” “Duke of Prunes” and “Bogus Pomp.” Zappa Records/UMe.
More Zappa: The 1969 compilation “Mothermania: The Best of the Mothers” pulls together the catchy numbers from the first three Mothers of Invention albums, with updated mixes and edits from Frank Zappa. Key tracks include “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It,” “The Idiot Bastard Son” and “Who Are the Brain Police?” New vinyl from Zappa Records, out July 19.
Woodstock: The 50th anniversary hype train chugs on through the summer of 2019. Woodstock nostalgia may be a tough sell, but the music certainly isn’t. Here is your new festival lineup: The gargantuan “Woodstock 50 — Back to the Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive.” This 38-CD box set is due Aug. 2 from Rhino/Atlantic. The main box set includes all known songs performed at the rock festival (except two from Jimi Hendrix and one from Sha Na Na). Limited to 1,969 copies. Rhino’s The “Summer of ’69” series opens July 9 with new versions of the two well-traveled Woodstock collections: “Woodstock: Music From the Original Soundtrack and More” (three LPs; half blue/half hot pink vinyl) and “Woodstock Two” (two LPs; half orange/half mint green vinyl). Joining the tribe are “Woodstock Three” (three LPs) and “Woodstock Four” (two LPs). Both draw on the “Back To The Garden” CD boxed set. A 10-LP “tie dye” set taken from the Woodstock vinyl collections is available through Vinyl Me Please. “Early August,” $280. And the complete Jefferson Airplane “morning maniac” set returns Aug. 9 on three blue LPs from Real Gone.
The Rolling Stones: “Rock and Roll Circus” promised “clowns” and “antics,” and the British rock royalty of the day delivered. Envisioned as a BBC TV special, the show was shelved after the dismissal of Brian Jones and his subsequent death. The video and music surfaced here and there over the decades, but is finally getting superstar treatment. No wonder. It features tremendous but last-gasp performances by the original version of the Stones (flacking “Beggars Banquet”). More fireworks come from guests include John Lennon, Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, the Who, Mitch Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono and Taj Mahal. The new expanded three-LP edition, out July 30, expands to 28 tracks. Marvel at the take on “Yer Blues” and “Revolution” by the Dirty Mac: Lennon, Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitchell. Just out (in the U.S.) is the limited DVD box set, which includes a Blu-ray, two DVDs and two CDs. Blu-ray (with Atmos surround) not available separately. Also on two CDs.
Eric Burdon & the Animals: In 1967, Burdon had begun his transition from white R&B shouter to long-haired leaping gnome. The English singer disbanded the original Animals in 1966 and enthusiastically turned to lysergically inspired music. And so appeared the album “The Twain Shall Meet,” best known for two stunning tracks — “Monterey” and “Sky Pilot.” The singles clicked but the album didn’t. Yet “Twain” remains an intriguing artifact of the psychedelic times, a space where bagpipes and sitars happily coexist. The album returns Aug. 23 on Sundazed’s new gold slice of vinyl (following a Sundazed vinyl rerelease of 2017). This one “meticulously mastered from the original MGM Records reels.”
Jefferson Airplane: “Surrealistic Pillow” touches down, yet again, this summer with an “audiophile” rerelease. Despite a recent spin onto SACD (mono), the sonics on the band’s second classic album have always seemed to disappoint. Friday Music gives it a shot with these new “black, white and gray swirl” or “white and pink swirl” vinyl reissues. “Impeccably remastered by Joe Reagoso” … so who knows. Gatefold cover with liner notes from Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. Out Aug. 2. Also on black vinyl.
More Airplane: “Thirty Seconds Over Winterland” has its moments but never made anyone forget about “Bless Its Pointed Little Head,” the first live Airplane album. While “Pointed Head” remains a classic of psychedelic heavy metal, “Winterland” offers a sputtering souvenir of the “Long John Silver” tour of 1972 (with Papa John Creach). Key tracks: “Have You Seen the Saucers” and “When the Earth Moves Again.” Back on sky-blue vinyl via Rhino. July 16.
Love: “Four Sail” followed the band’s psychedelic classic “Forever Changes,” but fans were in for a surprise. It was Love, but only because Arthur Lee said so. New guys; new hard rock sound. And messy contractual obligations for Lee. “Four Sail” runs a distant fourth for most fans of the L.A. band, but it has plenty to offer, starting with the blazing “August,” featuring the electric guitar wizardry of Jay Donnellan. “Singing Cowboy” became a Lee staple. And “Always See Your Face” surfaced in recent months on a car ad — go figure. Rhino offers a chance to discover (or rediscover) this fine Love album via a mint-green vinyl version, due July 16. Early reviews say this is the best-sounding version of “Four Sail” to date, sans Elektra’s reverb wash. Part of Rhino’s “Summer of ’69: Peace, Love and Music” reissue campaign.
The Beatles: “Abbey Road” continues the Fabs’ deluxe rereleases of their latter works. Front and center is the remix done by Giles Martin, who also worked “Sgt. Pepper” and “The Beatles.” The three-CD and Blu-ray edition includes two discs of outtakes as well as two surround mixes (5.1 and Dolby Atmos) on the BR. Also three-LP box and double-CD set. Also a picture disc. Due Sept. 27.
Grateful Dead: Rhino loads up five LPs with the recordings from “Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA 2/28/69.” A fan favorite show with highlights including 20 minutes each of “Turn on Your Lovelight” and “Dark Star,” and an extended “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Pigpen a plenty. Some tracks found on the CD version of “Fillmore West 1969” released in 2005 and, uh, here and there. Rhino, July 9. Streets for about $100. Limited to 9,000 copies.
More Dead: “Dave’s Picks Volume 31: Uptown Theatre, Chicago, Il., 12/3/79” just out sees the arrival of Brent Mydland. Limited, as usual, and available via the Dead.net site. Just out. And “Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 3 Fillmore East 5-18-70” just out from Real Gone Music.
Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Live at Woodstock” finally debuts in an official version Aug. 2. Key tracks from the midnight set include “Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising” and “I Put a Spell on You.” CD and double-LP from Craft Recordings.
Chicago Transit Authority: Yes, the smooth rockers have psychedelic music in their DNA. The first album, “Chicago Transit Authority,” features the frantic feedback adventure “Free Form Guitar,” from guitar god Terry Kath, as well as a few other songs that bubbled up from the underground. Rhino returns to the Chicago well Aug. 30 with a “50th Anniversary Remix” of the double album, created by Tim Jessup. Other key tracks include “Introduction,” “South California Purples” and a delightful botch of “I’m a Man.” (Previous releases of the album have been well regarded and are widely available.) CD, vinyl and limited numbered gold vinyl edition.
Traffic’s “The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys” returns Aug. 2 with its original Tony Wright-designed cubed die-cut album cover, “for the first time in North America since its 1972 release.” Mastered from the original Island Records tapes by Joe Reagoso with Kevin Gray. Groove to the translucent blue vinyl. Key track is the epic 12-minute title song. Aug. 2 via Friday Music.
Flaming Lips: Perhaps you braved the desert to experience Wayne Coyne’s “King’s Mouth” experiential art installation at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. Or at the Womb in Oklahoma City. Relive the weird times with the new Lips album, “King’s Mouth,” which contains a dozen new original compositions as well as narration by Mick Jones of the Clash fame. It’s the band’s 15th album. Due July 19 via Warners.
Steve Miller had pretty much given up on psychedelic music by the time he released his band’s third album. We all know where that road led. But there still were notes from the underground to be found on 1969’s “Brave New World.” Capitol Records revives the title on yellow vinyl (matches the yellow cover), following up on the label’s tepid rereleases of the early Steve Miller Band albums a year back. Key tracks on “Brave New World” include the title track, “Kow Kow,” “Space Cowboy” and “My Dark Hour” featuring Paul McCartney. Due “in July.”
Velvet Underground: “The Complete Matrix Tapes” offers eight LPs, 48 tracks from the Velvets’ stand at Marty Balin’s club in late 1969. Vinyl version of the 2015 CD box set. Doug Yule in for John Cale. “Heroin,” “Waiting for the Man,” “Venus in Furs” … all that. July 12 via Universal; sold earlier overseas.
Caravan: “The Decca/Deram Years (An Anthology) 1970-1975” box set carries nine CDs. Includes remastered 2001 reissues of the classic Canterbury Sound studio albums plus two live sets. Sept. 6 (import).
Fruup was a Northern Ireland prog band active during the mid-1970s. “Wise As Wisdom: The Dawn Albums 1973-1975” collects their catalog, including “Modern Masquerades” (1975), produced by Ian McDonald (ex-King Crimson). Eclectic Music, Aug. 30 (import).
Soft Machine: “The Harvest Albums 1975-1978” on CD. Packs in “Bundles,” “Softs” and “Alive and Well, Recorded in Paris.” Mike Ratledge, Allan Holdsworth and a changing cast of Softies. Eclectic Music, July 26 (import).
The Beau Brummels’ fourth album, “Triangle,” gets a 50th anniversary release via Rhino. The “Laugh, Laugh” hitmakers adopted psychedelic sounds and fantasy elements for their second album on Warners. Obscure but a critical favorite. Key track: “Magic Hollow.” Produced by Lenny Waronker. Due “in July.”
Also of interest: The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s “We Are on the Edge” (50th-year recording) on vinyl (Avant-Garde label, July 26) … Terry Riley & Gyan Riley’s “Way Out Yonder” (live double LP, ORG Music, July 10) … “Morricone Groove: The Kaleidoscope Sound of Ennio Morricone 1964-1977” (double LP, Beat Ball Music, July 19) … “Yes 50 Live” (four-LP set and CDs, Rhino, Aug. 2) … Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno’s “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” (double LP, soundtrack, July 19) … Sly & The Family Stone’s “Anthology: Greatest Hits” (colored vinyl, Friday Music, Aug. 2) … Santana’s “Borboletta” (colored vinyl, Friday Music, Aug. 9) … The Crimson ProjeKct’s “Live in Tokyo” (Tony Levin, Adrian Belew, double LP plus CD, July 12) … Geronimo Black’s “Freak Out Phantasia” (CD, Munster Records, just out) … The Alan Lorber Orchestra’s “The Lotus Palace” (Sundazed, LP, Aug. 23.) … “It’s a Revolution, Mother” soundtrack (green vinyl, DVD, Sundazed, Aug. 23).
Note: Release dates for vinyl and SACD titles remain fluid until they actually ship. This record roundup will be updated through the quarter. SACDs are all hybrids unless specified otherwise; they’ll work on a CD player not offering advanced resolution.