Various - A Slight Disturbance In My Mind

by Kimberly Bright

published: 17 / 3 / 2020

Various - A Slight Disturbance In My Mind

Label: Cherry Red Records
Format: CD Box

Cherry Red’s new compilation of the UK experimental pop of 1966 that blossomed into psychedelia shows how diverse the style really was

Review

'A Slight Disturbance in My Mind: The British Proto-Psychedelic Sounds of 1966' is an extensive, dense three CD set with 84 tracks spanning 1966, gathering the “nascent psychedelia, introspective pop and what’s been retrospectively called freakbeat” that led to the colourful, legendary music of the following year. There is some previously unreleased material as well as a few go-to songs that have been included on many a previous garage band compilation, such as 'My Friend Jack' by the Smoke and 'Making Time' by the Action. There’s a remarkable balance of material from well-known artists (the Bee Gees, the Hollies, the Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, the Kinks), with room for surprises (Beverley’s 'Happy New Year', young Bowie and Bolan), and wonderful obscure ones. Poking fun at middle-class pretensions and ambition is well represented, as is astrology, expansion of consciousness, mental instability, and musical experimentation. The most striking element of these songs is the diversity of psychedelia’s influences. There’s quite a lot of R&B (example) and raunchy blues (Rod Stewart’s 'I Got Some') and not as much exoticism as one would expect. The sitars are pretty thin on the ground, except for the Kinks’ 'Fancy'. There are more multi-harmony pop songs and hard rock with fuzzy guitars than sing-song pastiches and dreamy pastoral settings. It’s obvious that 'Tomorrow Never Knows' was a major influence on the developing sound of that year, but there are still far too many questionable Beatles covers here. A slightly unexpected theme is anxiety about war and nuclear annihilation ('Answers Please' by the Luvin’ Kind, 'A Quiet Explosion' by the Ugly’s), although the Renegades’ 'Thirteen Women' turns a post-apocalyptic setting into a sexy-sexy dream. While it’s true that the Vietnam War and the Cold War were escalating at the time, these weren’t prevalent topics when full-blown psychedelia presented listeners with glittering escapism. This collection definitely provides a taste of what would later be called dark psych.

Track Listing:-

1 MAKING TIME
2 SHAPES OF THINGS
3 ILL KEEP HOLDING ON
4 MUD IN YOUR EYE
5 SWEET MUSIC
6 ORIENTAL SADNESS
7 PLAY DOWN
8 AM I THE RED ONE
9 I UNSEEN
10 SECURITY
11 I DIG EVERYTHING
12 SHES A GIRL
13 A HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY
14 DADDY LONG LEGS
15 MAN WITH MONEY
16 THE QUIET EXPLOSION
17 THIRTEEN WOMEN
18 I TAKE IT THAT WERE THROUGH
19 MAJOR CATASTROPHE
20 HIPPY GUMBO
21 I WILL HAVE YOU
22 TOMORROW NIGHT
23 BLOW
24 SIMPLIFIED
25 BACK SEAT DRIVER
26 BABY, YOUVE GOT IT
27 I JUST GOT SOME
28 ANSWERS PLEASE
29 MY FRIEND JACK
30 PLEASE PLEASE ME
31 PAINTER MAN
32 WHY DONT YOU SMILE NOW
33 YOUVE GOTTA HAVE LOVE BABE
34 OUTCAST
35 WERE BROKEN
36 IVE LAID SOME DOWN IN MY TIME
37 WELLALL RIGHT
38 SHAPES IN MY MIND
39 MY TIME
40 FANCY
41 YOURE MY GIRL
42 WHAT A STATE IM IN
43 TURN INTO EARTH
44 THE MORNING AFTER
45 WALKIN WALKIN WALKIN
46 HAVE YOU EVER LOVED SOMEBODY
47 HUNGRY
48 MOLLY ANDERSONS COOKERY BOOK
49 TAX MAN
50 THE RUIN