Psychedelia: 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums: 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums, 1966-1970

just received the book and very pleased on the whole, Good size with great illustrations and insight. I've got most of the albums already, but will enjoy finding the more obscure albums and singles listed. already downloaded the Rotary Connection album and thought it was great. Minnie Ripperton one of the vocalists, who knew! Looking forward to hours of bedtime reading

Fine!

Absolutely brilliant book. If like me you are in your 70's it is like reliving my record collection.

excellent informative book, made me want to explore more music

Beautiful book by Richard, one of the foremost writers on the psych scene of this era. Paper quality and colour reproduction are excellent. Makes you want to own all these lps. At this price, a book any music enthusiast would be pleased to have.

Awesome book

Another great book by RMJ. The boy's doing well!

perfect

100% beautifulAnd there is a brazilian band (Mutantes) in the iconic list

A wonderful trip filled book. The pic's and stories regarding these bands give the reader a real sense of the days when LP's ruled the world. These are the albums you have been looking for.

As someone who grew up in the sixties and who was into the music of the times, I was surprised and pleased to see this book advertised. I was anxious to see it, but had some fear that it would be a coffee table type book that was long on colorful illustrations and short on substance. I shouldn't have worried. It is an interesting and informative volume that was well thought out and carefully researched.It features one album each by 101 different bands or artists, some well-known and some quite obscure (there were several I had not heard of). Each article is accompanied by an excellently reproduced full-page illustration of the relevant lp cover as well as, usually, one other photo. While these artful, and sometimes flamboyant, album covers are part of the history of the times and should definitely be shown, it is the accompanying essays that are the meat of the book.When appropriate, the essay features a discussion of the band’s personnel, their backgrounds, and the formation and breakup of the band. With the more obscure bands, this is informative, as in those cases I found myself asking “just who are these guys anyway?” With the more familiar bands this discussion is not so much needed and less is said. The author also discusses the circumstances under which many of the lps were recorded, and that is often interesting also. In several of the essays the musicians have provided current quotes, which help explain what went on.Many of the essays also include vintage reactions to the lp. These are welcome and the author should be commended for doing the necessary research. I saw little rock criticism during the sixties and the reviews from that time are interesting. I was surprised to see the negative initial reaction to “Forever Changes,” but have to say that, to a small degree, I agree with it, as I think the lp is not strong melodically and is a bit overrated.The author has clearly done his listening, and his opinions of the music are realistic and rational, if maybe a little inflated. He is probably a devotee of the genre and probably looks for things in the music that would not mean much to a more casual fan like myself. Still, he is objective and avoids the temptation to label everything a “lost masterpiece.” He is not afraid to point out flaws, as he shows in his discussion of The Stones’ controversial “Satanic Majesties“ lp. On the other hand, he does not engage in the extreme revisionism we sometimes see in current music criticism. His approach seems to be to describe the music as best as can be done in print, give his assessment, and leave it to us to decide if we want to hear the lp. He is an excellent writer and his somewhat low-key style works well.Of course, part of the fun of a book like this is disagreeing with it. The author’s decision to only feature one lp per artist leads to some enormously influential lps being omitted (Electric Ladyland, Trout Mask Replica etc), and I sometimes think his choices are a bit puzzling, with Donovan’s “For Little Ones” over the glorious “Sunshine Superman” being the most inexplicable. For what it‘s worth, my “how could he leave out” lp is by the band Listening, whose lp on Vanguard reveals solid musicianship and contains the classic “Stoned Is.” Many people are more knowledgeable than I about this genre of music and they should enjoy assessing the author’s choices and opinions.I only heard a small number of these lps when they were originally released, but CD reissues have enabled me to have heard about half of the listed lps now. Will this book inspire me to seek out and listen to those I haven’t heard? Well, probably some. My periodic adult delving into psychedelic music has convinced me that most of these obscure bands are more interesting to read about than to listen to. Of course there’s always the hope that I could stumble onto another C.A. Quintet or Thirteenth Floor Elevators, but I suspect most of these lps are probably mostly for hardcore psych fans. Still, my curiosity is aroused about some of these releases, which I guess is the author‘s aim.In any case, I would certainly recommend this book, and I hope that we see more about this era of music from this author.

Un racconto su alcuni dischi "psichedelici", con le rispettive copertine in bella mostra, usciti intorno all'anno domini 1967, completate da alcune foto del periodo e commentate dall'autore. Un'epoca musicale memorabile: vengono citati molti gruppi, famosi e no, che hanno fatto la storia della psichedelia. Un bel libro di immagini, di grande formato (cm. 25x30). Jack ha fatto un buon lavoro anche se non aver inserito nell'elenco il disco d'esordio dei Red Crayola credo sia una spiacevolissima mancanza.

Visuals and texts are great overall, a good mix of classic albums and rarities. A good pick for fans of 60s music and counterculture scene