VARIOUS ARTISTS – Fifth Pipe Dream Volume I (LP) - Guerssen Records Press

A very attractive Guerssen release, awaited for ages, of a legendary American psych rock compilation with unreleased, premiere material issued in 1968 by the San Francisco Sound label, cult today. It features recordings by It’s A Beautiful Day (before their album debut!), Tripsichord Music Box (another legend!) and the forgotten West Coast Natural Gas, San Francisco Sound House Band and Black Swan. The music oscillates between psychedelia, garage rock and folk rock, with plenty of overdriven guitars, organs, multi-voice vocal parts and extended instrumental forms characteristic of the era. The record captures the peak period of the development of psychedelic rock, combining extended guitar parts with the arrangement freedom typical of the late 60s. An edition in the original black-and-white, gatefold sleeve, with a four-page insert and remastered sound. A MUST! (JL)