Freakbeat

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Freakbeat is a loosely defined [1] subgenre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups during the Swinging London period of the mid-to late 1960s. The genre bridges British Invasion R&B, beat and psychedelia. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The term was coined by English music journalist Phil Smee when he was compiling the Rubble series of compilations in the 1980s. [3] [4] AllMusic writes that "freakbeat" is loosely defined, but generally describes the more obscure but hard-edged artists of the British Invasion era. [1]

Compilations

Much of the material collected on Rhino Records's 2001 box-set compilation Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 can be classified as freakbeat. [5]

The English Freakbeat series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in R&B and beat genres. The series served as a follow-up to the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP, itself subtitled The Roots of Mod, which was the only album in the Pebbles series that was devoted to English music. When the English Freakbeat series was reissued as CDs in the 1990s, the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP was adapted into the English Freakbeat, Volume 6 CD.[ citation needed ]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swinging Sixties</span> Youth-driven cultural revolution centred in London in the 1960s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIP Records</span> Record label

AIP Records is a record label that was started by Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records in 1983 to continue the Pebbles series. AIP stands for "Archive International Productions". The first 10 volumes in the Pebbles series had been released by BFD Records of Kookaburra, Australia in 1979–1980 and have been kept in print by AIP for many years. Including those in the companion Highs in the Mid-Sixties series – which concentrated on American regional music scenes – there are over 50 LPs covering some 800 obscure, mostly American "Original Punk Rock" songs recorded in the mid-1960s – primarily known today as the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres – that were previously known only to a handful of collectors.

<i>Pebbles</i> (series) 1978 compilation album by Various Artists

Pebbles is an extensive series of compilation albums in both LP and CD formats that have been issued on several record labels, though mostly by AIP. Together with the companion Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, the Pebbles series made available over 800 obscure, mostly American "Original Punk Rock" songs recorded in the mid-1960s — primarily known today as the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres — that were previously known only to a handful of collectors. In 2007, the release of the Pebbles, Volume 11: Northern California CD marked the final album in the Pebbles series. The following year, Bomp! marked the 30th anniversary of the original Pebbles album with a spartan, limited-edition, clear-vinyl reissue complete with the original pink cover insert.

<i>Pebbles, Volume 6</i> (1979 album) 1980 compilation album

Pebbles, Volume 6 is a compilation album among the LPs in the Pebbles series. Subtitled The Roots of Mod, Volume 6 is the only album in the Pebbles series that features primarily British music. The Pebbles, Volume 6 CD is not at all related to this LP; instead, the CD featuring the songs on this LP was released as English Freakbeat, Volume 6.

Rubble is a 20-volume collection of compilation albums featuring mostly late-1960s British psychedelic rock compiled by Bam-Caruso Records, St Albans, Herts, England by Phil Lloyd-Smee.

Nuggets is a series of compilation albums, started by Elektra Records in 1972 and continued by Rhino Records thereafter. The series focuses primarily on relatively obscure garage and psychedelic rock songs from the 1960s, but with some hits and pop-oriented songs also included.

<i>English Freakbeat</i> series Group of compilation albums

The English Freakbeat series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in the early punk, proto-punk, R&B, mod, and beat genres. The series served as a follow-up to the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP, itself subtitled The Roots of Mod, which was the only album in the Pebbles series that was devoted to English music. When the English Freakbeat series was reissued as CDs in the 1990s, the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP was adapted into the English Freakbeat, Volume 6 CD.

<i>English Freakbeat, Volume 1</i> 1988 compilation album

English Freakbeat, Volume 1 is a compilation album in the English Freakbeat series, featuring recordings that were released decades earlier, in the mid-1960s.

<i>English Freakbeat, Volume 2</i> 1989 compilation album

English Freakbeat, Volume 2 is a compilation album in the English Freakbeat series, featuring recordings that were released decades earlier, in the mid-1960s.

<i>English Freakbeat, Volume 5</i> Compilation album

English Freakbeat, Volume 5 is a compilation album in the English Freakbeat series, featuring recordings that were released decades earlier, in the mid-1960s.

Back from the Grave is a series compilation albums of 1960s garage rock created and compiled by Tim Warren and released by Crypt Records. The series originally consisted of eight LP records released between 1983 and 1992. Volumes seven and eight were double albums. Starting in 1994, the series was reissued on compact disc. Due to the longer playing times offered by CDs, the first seven volumes were contained on four discs, save for a few tracks that were omitted. And, while all of the songs on the first four CDs are included on first seven vinyl albums, they do not necessarily correspond to the individual LPs bearing their same titles. However, the Volume 8 CD corresponds almost directly its LP double-LP counterpart, but with the addition of four bonus tracks not included on the LP. The eight vinyl albums are titled consecutively "Back from the Grave, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, and Voume 10". In similar fashion the five CDs are titled "Back from the Grave, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 8, and Volumes 9 & 10". There are no volumes 5, 6, or 7 for the CDs. Two separate LPs for Volume 9 and 10 were released in 2015 as well one CD, released the same year, which combines Volumes 9 and 10 onto one double-length disc.

Music of the United Kingdom developed in the 1960s into one of the leading forms of popular music in the modern world. By the early 1960s the British had developed a viable national music industry and began to produce adapted forms of American music in Beat music and British blues which would be re-exported to America by bands such as The Beatles, The Animals and the Rolling Stones. This helped to make the dominant forms of popular music something of a shared Anglo-American creation, and led to the growing distinction between pop and rock music, which began to develop into diverse and creative subgenres that would characterise the form throughout the rest of the twentieth century.

Killed by Death is a series of bootleg albums compiling rare punk rock songs primarily from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first four of these compilations,, were issued in 1989 by the Swedish label Redrum Records and featured tracks by obscure North American and European punk groups, as well as a few more well-known acts such as The Wipers, Zero Boys, Subhumans and the Beastie Boys. In the years since the release of these first compilations, more than 50 other albums have been added to the series by various anonymous publishers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Freakbeat Music Genre Overview | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  2. "Looking Back: 80 Mod, Freakbeat & Swinging London Nuggets - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  3. Norris, Richard (11 March 2012). "20 best: UK psych records ever made". Factmag .
  4. Kendall, Jo (27 February 2020). "Designer, historian and writer Phil Smee shows us his record collection". Prog .
  5. D. Thompson (2002). The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 47. ISBN   978-0879307134.