Shiver me TBMbers! The Great Comp Showdown Thread!

Among all mysterious '80s comps, Good Roots is probably the most mysterious one. Still have my copy here, but the vinyl seemed to be degrading with repeat plays so I transferred it to tape and then digital. I think it's from Germany?

It sez Austria and "Printed in Sweden"
 
From Discogs:



Credits


  • Design [Cover Design] – Curt Bachner
  • Executive Producer [Producer] – TUT Company & Gulb

Notes


This early Garage/Folk/Psych Compilation is also known as "Good Roots" due to the fact that it was pressed (in a limited edition of 500 hand numbered copies) on already labelled vinyl blanks of "PAUL ROTHSCHILD / STEVE GARNER - GOOD ROOTS. The original Matrix numbers are scratched out on both sides, all information except artist, tracks and 33rpm are made illegible with a marker pen.
The album cover is a folded piece of printed cardboard, the record was sold in a plastic sleeve.
An A4 copy with tracklisting and information is included.
TUT Company obviously refers to the Ton Um Ton Record Store, 1070 Vienna, and the (later) attached label, Ton Um Ton Records
Printed in Sweden by Jåintstrøm
 
From Discogs:

Credits

  • Design [Cover Design] – Curt Bachner
  • Executive Producer [Producer] – TUT Company & Gulb
Notes

This early Garage/Folk/Psych Compilation is also known as "Good Roots" due to the fact that it was pressed (in a limited edition of 500 hand numbered copies) on already labelled vinyl blanks of "PAUL ROTHSCHILD / STEVE GARNER - GOOD ROOTS. The original Matrix numbers are scratched out on both sides, all information except artist, tracks and 33rpm are made illegible with a marker pen.
The album cover is a folded piece of printed cardboard, the record was sold in a plastic sleeve.
An A4 copy with tracklisting and information is included.
TUT Company obviously refers to the Ton Um Ton Record Store, 1070 Vienna, and the (later) attached label, Ton Um Ton Records
Printed in Sweden by Jåintstrøm

No info on who put this together then.
 
I'd suppose the late Reinhardt Bugl who ran the Ton um Ton store early on and was a well known collector.

Next to Da Capo in Uetrecht, Ton um Ton might have probably been my favorite "collector record store" ever: freaky people, okay prices, great selection - a shame both are gone now!
 
New chapter in the Acid Dreams saga:
UK label Spiral Groove (of the Past & Present / Radioactive etc. family) have just released Acid Dreams Testament on vinyl. I already have all of the songs on numerous comps, including Acid Dreams 1 and the 3LP Acid Dreams set, but I guess I'm dumb enough to get this one as well...
 
Now the tricky thing (that I already once exposed on Psychedelica some years ago, but I’m trying again here).
All the copies of both vol.1 and vol.2 I could come across since years feature some sun discoloration, on spine and seams for vol.2, and near the opening for vol.1.
I never managed to find a copy of any of them with a perfect sun-untouched sleeve.

I'll check my copy of Echoes 1, can't say I remember any discoloration, but I might be wrong.
I desperately need a copy of vol. 2 by the way!
 
Great Sylvain, please dont't stop!


CHANGES
1980, lim. numb. 230 copies, silkscreen sleeve.
One of the earliest garage comps ever released. If Patrick don’t mind, I’ll quote his perfect « Age of Madness » blurb :
« Full title is "The Psychedelic Changes Beat Album" whatever that means. Second Euro comp after Acid Dreams. Attempts to
illustrate the mutations the Minneapolis scene underwent in the 60s and brings together many of the best (and rarest) Minn tracks with a leaning towards the later head sounds. Closing side two is a bonus heavy psych epic from New Jersey. Very rare, copies have sold for $300 »
Super limited indeed, but also not that hard to come-by on ebay since a couple of years : seems like only fetichists of my kind are looking for it, and we’re far less than the 230 copies released. Still don’t know who was behind this comp.

Side 1
1. Danny's Reasons - Triangles
2. C.A. Quintet - Blow To My Soul
3. C.A. Quintet - Cold Spider
4. Bedlam Four - Hydrogen Atom (Or Mushrooms Are In)
5. Twas Brillig - Dirty Old Man
6. Hope - Of Times You Can See
7. Third Wave - Dream
Side 2
1. The Gestures - It Seems To Me
2. Hope - One Man
3. Jonny Rome & The Second Thought - Museum
4. T.C. Atlantic - Love Is Just
5. The Calico Wall - Flight Reaction
6. The Stillroven - Have You Ever Seen Me

I won a copy of this on ebay earlier this year, surprisingly cheap, too! It's not perfect, but I dig it a lot. I really like the DIY feel of these comps. The bonus cut on side 2 is Earth Odyssey by Surprize, by the way.



MAGIC CARPET RIDE

WANT!


ACID TRIP FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC 60’s

Great comp!


ACID TRIP FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC 60S VOL.2
GMG, 1989
Never went further than the test pressing stage (only known copy displayed below). Heavier late-60s psych selection on this born-dead unreleased comp.

Sylvain, you should get someone to release this properly with the same artwork!

GARAGE MONSTERS

I've never seen this compilation before, thanks for posting the pics. A rather pointless release, more or less a 'best of' BFTG 1 & 2, but I'll definitely grab a copy if I ever come across one.

CLASS OF 66
Real Teen Innocence at its Finest!! Crude Sound of 18 Mid-60's Bands. No Fuzz!!!
1995, 300 copies
Fantastic « no fuzz » garage comp, « lots of basement teenage Sears guitar fumbling » to quote Patrick. Tough to come by, never turns up on ebay and such. The guy behind it released some more comps afterwards (« Don’t turn me off », « Jugobeat », etc).

I agree, an excellent comp, although the sound quality is a bit tinny. Luckily I found an unplayed copy a couple of months ago.

LYSERGIC SOUP VOL. 1

Never seen this either, and another want!
 
I'll check my copy of Echoes 1, can't say I remember any discoloration, but I might be wrong.
I desperately need a copy of vol. 2 by the way!

Nope, no discoloration on my copy of Echoes 1 :cool:
 
Changes has that weird old magic of the ancient comps, really an eye-opener. Very curious idea of a Frenchman doing a regional US comp, and a good one too. I think at least one of the tracks on there is still unknown, in terms of its source (not the Surprize track, but another one... Third Wave or something). I was however told that Changes was compiled by the mysterious group known as "The Austrians", who pretended to be French. True or false, we may never know.

I was disappointed with Lysergic Soap (that's what it sez, rather than Lysergic Soup) as my Age Of Madness review reflects... I may have been getting fed up with the comp scene in general at the time (mid-90s). I guess it could be OK for newbies. "Magic Carpet Ride" is a comp I've always liked, it is still today the only place to reissue the great Harry Helling 45, and for a long time was the only place to find the underrated Ray Hummel III 45. As I recall, 1-2 tracks listed on the sleeve arent on the record.

The two "Acid Trip" vinyl volumes were combined into an Eva CD titled "Acid Trip And Heavy Sounds" or something like that... it's really a '68-69 sound with some good stuff worth hearing, mosty from rare LPs.

I didn't know Class Of '66 was French, I thought it was from Holland with American cooperation. Neat comp anyway.

Sylvain, let's not forget "Journey To The East", an entertaining French comp that introduced me to a couple of great psych tracks. Turns out it was compiled by one of my mailorder customers!
 
Third Wave is the wrong group credit on the comp - "Dream" was the B side of a 1970 45 from the Morning After - A side is the much better "I Don't Need You Today" (listed in TBM). Third Wave is the name of the record label of that 45.
 
Third Wave is the wrong group credit on the comp - "Dream" was the B side of a 1970 45 from the Morning After - A side is the much better "I Don't Need You Today" (listed in TBM). Third Wave is the name of the record label of that 45.

Whoa! Glad I tossed that "mystery" into my post in passing. Many thanks MTM!... I recently cracked another long-time comp mystery, and so the only one still on my radar is FRIDAYS KEEPERS "Take Me For A Ride" on Psych Unknowns 6.
 
I'd be up for helping to write / and or publish the "Comp History" deal as part of the planned TeenBeat Mayhem 'Zine.

I'd be happy to assist, although I won't be able to do the main writing due to other projects. I do however have a lot of ancient knowledge about the comp scene logged since working on the Age Of Madness book back in the 1990s.

Let's get this damn thing done once and for all! Kugelberg made a half-hearted attempt in a recent UT issue, but his chronology and background info had a whole bunch of errors.
 
I suspect the best way to do a North American garage comp history is to break it up into a series of maybe 4 instalments, in order to fit all relevant info but without overwhelming the reader. Nuggets would be kind of an intro/prologue, then: 1) first wave US-produced comps 1978-1982/3 (Pebbles->Chosen Few or so), 2) second wave US comps c1983-c1989 (Grave, HitMS, Psych DW, Calico Wall etc), 3) Euro/UK-produced comps 1979-1989, 4) recent rumblings US + Euro (60s Rebellion, Teenage Shutdown, last Graves + a selection among numerous one-offs).

All this with reference to US/Canadian comps only. Or maybe US only if the strict TBM delimitations apply.

Or?
 
Here's one of my favourite later-era (1998) U.S. comps. Hardly any repeats from older comps and good sound quality. Say what you will of the Italians and their occasional lack of quality control, but this one shines brightly! It will probably not score that high on the TBM-o-meter - a lot of the moody killers don't score high enough (IMO!), and this comp is predominantly of the moody kind.
Lack of pics, label scans and liners is a bummer, but that's why we have Google and TBM..
By the way, does anyone have any info at all on the Aquinos track (read: label, flipside etc.)?.

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