WA-Square : The Story of Michigan's Legendary A-Square Records is a collection of garage rock songs originally recorded in the 1960s for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based A-Square label, which has been compiled for this release by Big Beat Records. Michigan had one of the most active garage rock scenes in the country and Jeep Holland was one of its prime movers, as the owner of one of the city's most premier record stores and founder/proprietor of the A-squared label. This collection focuses on the pivotal period in the later half of 1960s as garage rock began encompass psychedelic influences and gravitate towards heavier sounds, typified by groups such as MC5, two of whose pre-Elektra songs are showcased here. All of the tracks are taken off of source tapes from A-Square's vaults. Noted rock journalist Alec Palao compiled the set and wrote its liner notes.
WAcid Dreams is an unofficial compilation album of American acid rock, garage rock and psychedelic rock songs recorded in the 1960s. It was originally produced in 1979 by a German record shop owner, inspired by Elektra Records' Nuggets series
WAllentown Anglophile is a compilation album featuring American garage rock bands that were formed in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and active in the 1960s and 1970s. The album compiles various tracks taken from rare singles, original master tapes, and unreleased material that were previously only made available to few garage rock enthusiasts. It is the first installment of albums related to the Allentown garage rock scene, and was released on Distortions Records on April 15, 2005.
WCambodian Rocks is a compilation of 22 uncredited, untitled Cambodian psychedelic and garage rock songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the tracks were recorded, musicians in the thriving music scene were combining Western rock and pop genres with their own styles and techniques. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, artists were among those viewed as a threat to the regime's agrarian socialist vision, and several of the performers on the album are believed to have been among those killed during the ensuing Cambodian genocide of 1975–1979. A great deal of information about them and their creative output was lost, although some has been recovered since the album's release.
WEar-Piercing Punk is a compilation album issued in both LP and CD formats of obscure 1960s garage rock that was originally released on AIP Records in the late 1970s. As discussed on the AIP Records website and in reviews of the album during its initial release, the album was given the name "Ear-Piercing Punk" to try to market or turn this music, now often referred to as proto punk, on to kids just getting into punk rock for the first time as a result of the 1970s punk explosion. The purpose of the album was to show that punk had existed for quite a number of years prior to the generally accepted mainstream use of the term to define bands such as the Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash.
WFrat Rock! The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Party Tunes of All-Time is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1988, featuring "frat rock" songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Different volumes of Frat Rock! were released on vinyl and CD both before and after this release.
WFrom Keflavík, With Love is a retrospective anthology issued in 2001 by Big Beat Records consisting of twenty songs by Thor's Hammer (Hljómar), a 1960s garage rock and beat group from Iceland who were one of the best-known Icelandic groups during the era. Though they worked with different producers on various labels, Thor's Hammer sound is best-typified by the tough, aggressive fuzz-drenched rockers they recorded in London for Parlophone Records in 1966, such as "I Don't Care," "My Life," "Better Days," and "The Big Beat Country Dance", and "If You Knew". While the lyrics to most of their songs were sung in English, several tracks were recorded in their native Icelandic, such as "Fyrsti Kossinn", "Ef Hún Er Nálægt Mér", and "Ertu Med", which was covered by the Savages on their Live 'n Wild album. Some of the tracks from Thor's Hammer's final period in the late 1960s, such as "Stay", show the group stretching their sound stylistically, augmenting certain arrangements with keyboards and horns. At his time, Thor's Hammer moved into a more eclectic direction, but they broke up in 1969, with several of their members going on to join the progressive rock group, Trubrot.
WGreen Crystal Ties, Volume 7: Mind-Expanding Punk of the 60s is a compilation album featuring American psychedelic and garage rock musical artists that recorded in the 1960s. It is the seventh installment of the Green Crystal Ties series and was released on Collectables Records on April 7, 1998. The album is not so "Mind-Expanding"—alluding to psychedelic music -- Volume 7 does offer the most hard-edged musical stance within the series.
WGS I Love You Too: Japanese Garage Bands of the 1960s is the second installment in the GS I Love You CD compilation series, featuring songs from the Group sounds movement in Japan during the 1960s. GS was essentially the Japanese variant of garage and psychedelic rock. Japan, like many Western countries, experienced a beat boom in the 1960s as a result of the British Invasion, particularly in the wake of the Beatles' 1966 visit to the country. Though the Japanese beat craze blossomed slightly later than in the West, it stretched well into the end of the decade, with groups continuing to play in the beat/garage style after it had fallen out of favor elsewhere. Surf rock, which had been popular in Japan since before the arrival of the Beatles continued to exert influence on the music throughout the decade. Bands typically sang in both Japanese and English. GS I Love You Too was issued in 1999 by Big Beat Records. Like the first entry in the series, it is noted for good mastering and high sound quality. The front cover sleeve of the CD is adorned with a backdrop of bright red sun rays invoking the pre-WWII (pre-surrender) Japanese imperial flag, and the inside includes English liner notes that provide biographical information about the groups and their songs.
WGS I Love You: Japanese Garage Bands of the 1960s is a compilation album featuring songs from the Group sounds movement in Japan during the 1960s, which was essentially the Japanese variant of garage and psychedelic rock. Japan, like many Western countries, experienced a beat boom in the 1960s as a result of the British Invasion, particularly in the wake of the Beatles' 1966 visit to the country. Though the Japanese beat craze blossomed slightly later than in the West, it stretched well into the end of the decade, with groups continuing to play in the beat/garage style after it had fallen out of favor elsewhere. Surf rock, which had been popular in Japan since before the arrival of the Beatles continued to exert influence on the music throughout the decade. Bands typically sang in both Japanese and English. GS I Love You was issued in 1996 by Big Beat Records and is available on compact disc. It features 28 tracks originally released on the Crown and Teichiku labels and is the first installment in the series, which currently is made up of two entries--the second of which is GS I Love You Too. The series is noted for good mastering and high sound quality. The brightly colored psychedelic style packaging includes English liner notes on the inside providing biographical information about the groups and their songs.
WHang It Out to Dry! is a compilation of garage rock recordings from the 1960s first issued by Satan Records in 1994 which is available in two versions, both on LP and in extended form on CD. It features some of the more upbeat and rocking examples of the genre.
WThe Highs in the Mid-Sixties series is a group of 23 compilation albums of garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings that were issued by AIP Records in the mid-1980s. This series is a companion to the Pebbles series of similar music; the title is technically preceded by "Pebbles Presents:". The title sounds like it might have come from a weather report, although "Highs" intends to mean "the best", while the recordings on these albums were originally released in the mid-1960s.
WHighs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1 is a compilation album of American garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings from the mid to late 1960s. It was the first in a series that is nearly as long as the earlier Pebbles series of similar music, although the Highs albums concentrate strictly on particular regions of the US – in this case, recordings that were released in Los Angeles, California..
WIt Came from the Garage! Nuggets from Southern California is a garage rock compilation that features music made by acts who recorded for Downey Records in Downey, California during the 1960s. The label was founded by brothers Jack and Bill Wenzel, who had previously owned a local music shop. The compilation contains 24 tracks and was issued in 1997 by Big Beat Records, making it the third collection offered by Big Beat to feature material from the Downey archives. The set represents the diversity of the genre ranging from typical three-chord fare to psychedelic, as well as soul-influenced garage.
WLast of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Volumes 1 & 2: American Garage Teenage Hoot 1965-1967 is a compilation album of 1960s garage rock available on compact disc and is the first installment in the CD version of the Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns series created and compiled by Tim Warren for Crypt Records. It was released and 2015 and combines volumes 1 and 2 of the LP counterparts in the series. As indicated on the front sleeve, most of the songs were recorded by American groups between 1965-1967. Packaging includes detailed liner notes that include basic information about each song and group, such as origin and recording date. The albums also include photographs of included groups, and cover artwork reflects the mid-1960s style graphic presentation popular on record sleeves of the time.
WLast of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Volumes 7 & 8: Heartbroken American Garage Jangle Misery 1965-1967 is a compilation album of 1960s garage rock available on compact disc and is part of the Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns series created and compiled by Tim Warren for Crypt Records. It was released and 2015 and combines volumes 7 and 8 of the LP counterparts in the series. Most of the set focuses on downcast and moody rock songs and ballads. Several of the tracks display folk rock influence. Packaging includes detailed liner notes that include basic information about each song and group, such as origin and recording date. The album also includes photographs of musical groups, and cover artwork reflects the mid-1960s style graphic art popular on record sleeves of the time.
WThe Midnite Sound of the Milky Way is a garage rock compilation available on compact disc put out by Big Beat Records (UK) that consists of songs recorded at the Midnite Sound recording studio in Danville, Illinois during the 1960s. The Midnite Sound studio one of many such venues pushing out obscure garage rock in the mid-1960s. The set was compiled by Alec Palao, who also wrote the liner notes. The compilation features twenty four tracks by different various artists who recorded there, and all except four have not been previously compiled. The Midnite Sound recording were often typified by an echo-laden sound, giving them a characteristically "outer space" vibe. The performers tended to be, even by 1960s garage rock norms, untutored and naively strange and noncommercial racket. The groups and artists who recorded at Midnite Sound tended to be less British Invasion-influenced than most, sometimes displaying rockabilly and pre-Beatles stylistics. The best-known act to record for the label was rockabilly/garage rocker Dean Carter, who is known for the song "Rebel Woman", which has appeared on several other compilations such as his Call of the Wild anthology on Big Beat Records. He does not appear on this set, but two performers here, George Jacks and The 12th Knight, do renditions of the song.
WMindrocker is an extensive series of compilation albums that was circulated through Line Records and then Impact Records in the 1980s. The complete series compacted nearly 200 songs of rare, and obscure material primarily from American garage and psychedelic rock musical artists that were originally recorded in the 1960s, and previously made available to only a handful of collectors. It was organized by record producer Hans-Hermann Pohle, named after a single by California band, Fenwyck, and initially distributed in Germany. The first volume was released in 1981 and by 1986 the thirteenth and final installment of the series was issued.
WNew England Teen Scene: Unreleased! 1965-1968 is a compilation album, which features previously unreleased material by American garage rock bands from the New England region. The album was released in 1996, and is the third and final compilation issued on Arf! Arf! Records related to the New England garage scene. The featured artists on New England Teen Scene: Unreleased 1965-1968 were sorted after 15 years of research to uncover their obscured recordings. For the most part, the bands never had the opportunity to release any official material, with five of the tracks being completely uncredited, having been discovered in undocumented tapes. Perhaps the most prominent group on the album is Underground Cinema, the pre-band that manifested into the psychedelic rock band Ultimate Spinach. Speaking on the album, music historian Richie Unterberger wrote "New England bands in general seemed to favor melodic pop and Zombie-ish keyboards more than groups from other regions, and that's reflected in many of the selections on the disc".
WNo Chance Baby! is a retrospective album by the American garage rock band Oscar and the Majestics and was released on July 26, 2011 on Sundazed Records. The album compiles all of the group's released material that was previously available to only a handful of collectors.
WNo No No is a compilation of garage rock recordings from the 1960s issued by Arf! Arf! Records, and is available exclusively on compact disc. In keeping with the sub-heading that reads "28 Moody, Somber and Tragic '60s Garage Rock Sagas", the set features mostly somber and downcast examples of the genre, many of them ballads in contrast to Arf! Arf!'s subsequently released companion piece, Yeah Yeah Yeah, which instead features upbeat, driving, and hard-rocking songs. There are no liner notes included, but the cover artwork nonetheless displays photographs of the labels of the original singles from which the tracks were taken.
WNow Hear This! Garage & Beat from the Norman Petty Vaults is a compilation that highlights recordings by garage rock acts made at Norman Petty's recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico during the 1960s. Petty is best known for his work as the producer on Buddy Holly's records in the 1950s, many of which were recorded at the Clovis facility. He continued to produce records in the 1960s, providing a regular recording stop for a handful of the plentiful bands working at the time, particularly in the wake of the British Invasion. The set, put out in 2007 by Big Beat Records, features twenty five tracks that encompass the broad stylistic range of the garage genre, many displaying clear British Invasion influence, and Petty's production lends most of the tracks with a certain level of polish and professionalism not always associated with the genre. The collection is well-mastered, displaying generally high sound quality throughout and the packaging includes well-researched liner notes highlighting the artists and their songs. Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, in a piece he wrote in the December 25, 2008 issue of Rolling Stone, mentioned this album as one of his favorite compilations.
WNuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era is a compilation album of American psychedelic and garage rock singles released in the mid-to-late 1960s. It was assembled by Lenny Kaye, who at the time was a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies record shop in New York. He would later become the lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. Kaye worked on Nuggets under the supervision of Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records. Kaye initially conceived the project as a series of approximately eight individual LP installments, each focusing on US geographical regions, but Elektra convinced him that one 2-disc LP would be a more commercially viable format. The resulting double album was released on LP by Elektra in 1972 with liner notes by Kaye that contained one of the first uses of the term "punk rock". It was reissued with a new cover design by Sire Records in 1976. In the 1980s Rhino Records issued Nuggets in a series of fifteen installments, and in 1998 as a 4-cd box set.
WOh Yeah! The Best of Dunwich Records is a garage rock compilation issued by Sundazed Records featuring music made by acts who recorded for Dunwich Records in Chicago during the 1960s. Dunwich quickly became one of the top independent labels in Chicago and, with national distribution through Atco Records, enjoyed hits by artists such as the American Breed and the Shadows of Knight, who were some of the best-known acts in garage rock, and are included here, along with the Del-Vetts, another well-known act. The set represents the stylistic diversity of the genre, featuring cuts that range from harder-edged and blues-based numbers to more pop-oriented fare. Some of the tracks display folk rock and psychedelic influences and there are a few advertising jingles, which appeared local radio stations, as well as an interview with the Shadows of Knight thrown in for good measure. The packaging includes thorough and we-researched liner notes by Jeff Jarema that provide information for the acts and their songs.
WScream Loud!!! The Fenton Story is a garage rock compilation consisting of songs released by Fenton Records in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the assorted vanity labels that it had pressed and distributed for various regional acts, primarily from western Michigan in the 1960s, and is available on identical LP and CD formats.* The set focuses on basic upbeat and rocking material, but includes a couple of odd and more eclectic expetions. Fenton's founder was musician and entrepreneur Dave Kalmbach, who intended the label to be a place where un-established groups could have a place to record on either the Fenton label itself or on their own vanity labels, which were usually given special custom names chosen by the bands and their management, often under the arrangement that the bands would pay themselves for most of the recording and pressing costs, but receive a certain share in royalties. Commenting on how these recordings more-or-less function as aural snapshots taken from the bygone scrapbook of a more innocent time, Stephen Thomas Earlewine commented:They preserve a whole gaggle of bands that were bashing out three chords for the love of the music with little hope of hitting the big time. As such, the double-disc/triple-LP set Scream Loud!! The Fenton Story -- a collection of these rare, collector-cherished 45s assembled by those very same collectors -- almost functions as a piece of regional folk art, capturing bands from Grand Rapids, Holland, Lansing, Muskegon, and elsewhere in western Michigan and thereby offering a specific portrait of a place, or perhaps more specifically a time.*
WSongs We Taught The Fuzztones is a garage rock compilation album. The album, released in 1993, contains the original versions of songs covered by The Fuzztones.
WUptight Tonight: The Ultimate 1960s Garage Punk Primer is a garage rock compilation put out in 2005 by Big Beat Records. The set consists of twenty-six tracks that, with a few exceptions, focus on the harder and more aggressive side of the genre. Steve Legget, commenting in AllMusic, writes that Uptight Tonight "...rips out the attitude and trash riffs pretty darn well, making it perhaps the ultimate single-disc set of this raggedly endearing rock style." The packaging includes well-researched liner notes written by Alec Palao, which provide helpful biographical information about the artists and their songs, as well as extensive photographs of the bands."
WWhere the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968 is the fifth box set in Rhino Records' Nuggets series, released September 22, 2009. The set's four discs each focus on a different aspect of the underground rock music scene in and around Los Angeles at the end of the 1960s. The first disc, "On the Strip", features bands that rose out of the Sunset Strip scene; disc two, "Beyond the City", focuses on bands from the surrounding areas outside the city's borders; disc three, "The Studio Scene" covers bands' attempts to exploit the Los Angeles sound for a commercial audience; while disc four presents the movement away from psychedelic and garage rock towards the country rock sound which became popular in the city late in the decade. The boxed set was compiled and curated by Los Angeles native, Andrew Sandoval. On December 1, 2010 this project was nominated for a Grammy Award in the best Historical album category.
WYeah Yeah Yeah is a compilation of garage rock recording from the 1960s issued by Arf! Arf! Records, and is available exclusively on compact disc. In keeping with the sub-heading that reads "28 Mega-Manic & Elusive '60s Garage Punkers", the set features mainly upbeat and hard-rocking examples of the genre, whereas Arf! Arf!'s previously released companion piece No No No, focuses instead on moody ballads and downcast songs of lament. In customary fashion, the rear sleeve includes a brash description of the contents contained within:Though large scale success eluded these prophetic '60s combos, consider them the foot soldiers in the Holy War against the establishment. No shit Sherlock—this is the real thing: raw, crude, brutally honest and never to be forgotten.