Highs in the Mid-Sixties were a series of compilation albums released in the mid 1980s on AIP Records developed by Greg Shaw.[1][2] The series was spun off of the similar Pebbles series.[3] Each volume focuses on a specific geographical region.[4]
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1: LA '65 / Teenage Rebellion 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 (for which the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series is a companion series), although the Highs albums concentrate strictly on particular regions of the US – in this case, recordings that were released in Los Angeles, California. (Despite the subtitle, however, not all of these records were originally released in 1965).
This album was released in 1983 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10003).
Notes on the tracks
The Standells were one of the best of the mid-sixties L.A. bands; this is a rare early track that was previously unreleased at this time. The flip side of "Linda" by the Starfires is one of the most valuable and sought after garage rock songs, "I Never Loved Her", which was featured on the Pebbles, Volume 8 LP and CD. The Epics have managed yet another take on the eternal "Louie Louie". Gypsy Trips are actually from Oklahoma but settled in L.A.; this song was later covered by the Electric Prunes. The Lyrics' "So What!" was a featured song on Pebbles, Volume 2.
Track listing
Side one
The Avengers: "Be a Cave Man" (G. Paxton, G./W. Powell), 1:53
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 2: LA '66 / Riot on Sunset Strip features recordings that were released in Los Angeles, California. Despite the subtitle, not all of these records were originally released in 1966. The subtitle is taken from Riot on Sunset Strip (a movie that was actually released in 1967); the film features live performances by two classic garage-rock bands, the Standells (featured on Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1) and the Chocolate Watchband.
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 3: LA '67 / Mondo Hollywood is a compilation album in the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, featuring recordings that were released in Los Angeles. (Despite the subtitle, not all of these records were originally released in 1967. Also, not all the bands are from Los Angeles; The Search and The Lyrics were from San Diego, California). The subtitle is seemingly taken from Mondo Cane, an influential 1962 documentary film.
This album was released in 1984 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10017).
Notes on the tracks
The Shag – also known as the Shags – are one of the best-known Milwaukeegarage rock bands and are pictured on the album cover. This track – one of the first anti-drug rock songs ever recorded, in 1965, and also one of the best – has been reissued several times (for example, as a bonus track on the Pebbles, Volume 5 CD).
This album was released in 1984 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10019).
Notes on the tracks
The unique "Good Times" might be the garage rock song that is least inspired by the British Invasion; the song was written by Allen and Ray Schram about an apartment they were renting in Irving, Texas. It was just a joke, but a friend, who was a dancer on the Ron Chapman TV show Sump'N Else, arranged a meeting with Chapman at his house. He played the lacquer demo down to the line "go out for entertainment, I park behind the Twin" (a drive-in movie that played edited X-rated films in Grand Prairie, and stopped it. He called GPC records and they pressed 100 copies. The night it was to be played on the Jimmy Rabbit radio show, (a popular KLIF 1190 DJ show), Robert Kennedy was shot and killed in California and KLIF started playing somber classical music; "Good Times" missed its release date.
This album was released in 1985 as an LP by AIP Records (somewhat out of order, as #AIP-10020).
Notes on the tracks
With its moaning saxophone and infectious beat, the instrumental that starts the album, "Wolf Call" would feel right at home on the Born Bad Series. "Sorry Charlie" is a take-off on the long-running series of Charlie the Tuna commercials for StarKist Tuna, complete with faux British accents.
Side one, track 6 is incorrectly credited to "The Statics." The actual artists are Merrilee & the Turnabouts, featuring Merrilee Rush.
The album was released in 1985 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10026).
Notes on the tracks
"We Sell Soul" by the Spades was a regional hit by one of the first bands headed by Roky Erickson. He was one of the founding members of the legendary psychedelic rock band 13th Floor Elevators. Neil Ford (also spelled Neal Ford) from Houston was in a succession of bands including the Ramadas, whose "Shame on You" was included on Essential Pebbles, Volume 2. The Iguanas on this album are not the same band that launched Iggy Pop's career, although a track by those Iguanas is included on Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 19. The track listed as "The Darkest Hour (Part 1)" is actually the instrumental B-side, Part 2.
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 18 (subtitled Colorado) is a compilation album in the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, featuring recordings that were released in Colorado. This is the only state featured in this series that is limited to only one LP.
This album was released in 1985 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10027).
The Moonrakers were originally known as the Surfin' Classics and, like many 1960s garage rock bands, have a website and had a 2006 reunion concert. Guitarist Bob Webber of the Moonrakers founded Sugarloaf with Jerry Corbetta, who brought in drummer Robert MacVittie and rhythm guitarist Veeder Van Dorn III from this band as well.
The title of the psychedelic instrumental "Music to Smoke Bananas By" refers to the urban legend prevalent in the late 1960s that banana peel scrapings have an LSD-like effect if dried and then smoked like marijuana.
This album was released in 1985 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10028).
Notes on the tracks
One of Iggy Pop's first bands was the Iguanas (who are pictured on the cover); the band was formed in 1963 when he was still in high school, and he was the band's drummer. After he left this band and joined The Prime Movers, the other bandmembers began calling him "Iggy" due to his association with the Iguanas. This previously unreleased track comes from early demo tapes and is evidently the first song recorded where he was the songwriter. AIP Records has also released a series of compilation albums of unreleased Iggy Pop material named after this band, called the Iguana Chronicles.
"Be Careful With Your Car-Full" (track 4) by the Royal Shandels (Don Gladden, Ron Oswalt, Jeff White, Neil Williams and Carl Zenoni) was recorded in Detroit at Golden World for the National Safety Council back in the days that seat belts were a fairly new addition to cars, and a bit before most mandatory seat belt laws were introduced. The M.S.C. wanted to encourage their use, and this was played on national AM radio for about two years.
This album was released in 1985 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10031).
Notes on the tracks
Evil Enc. Group (also known as Evil Encorporated) is a west Virginia band; these two cuts (from their first of two singles) made it onto Essential Pebbles, Volume 2.Evil Enc. was from Oak Hill, WV not from Beckley, WV. They only recorded in Beckley.
Daze of the Week is actually from Tacoma, Washington, not Mississippi as the liner notes on this album claimed. The band was active from 1966 to 1967 and put out one single in a very limited release.
Track listing
Side 1
Daze of the Week: "One Night Stand" (Gregg Gagliardi) — rel. 1966
Dick Watson 5: "Cold Clear World" (Dick Watson)
The Nomads: "Time Remains" (Fontenot/Doucet)
Creatures, Inc.: "Letters of Love" (Christie/Phillips)
Evil Enc. Group: "Hey You" (Gent/Micheal/Dunlap/James)
Evil Enc. Group: "The Point Is" (Gent/Micheal/Dunlap/James)
The Flys: "Reality Composition No. 1" (The Flys)
Side 2
The Counts IV: "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon) — rel. 1967
Jimmy & the Offbeats: "Stronger than Dirt" (T. Guarino/B.G. Fussell/D. Short)
This album was released in 1986 as an LP by AIP Records (as #AIP-10038).
Notes on the tracks
Gaylon Latimer made a total of four singles in 1965 and 1966; three were in the name of Gaylon Ladd, but one was made with Bob Sharp under the name Bob & Gaylon. "Repulsive Situation" was not included on any of the four.
Track listing
Side 1
The Wind: "Don't Take Your Love Away" (L. C. Johnson)
Sweet Smoke: "Morning Dew" (T. Rose/B. Dobson) — rel. 1968
Related Research Articles
The Choir was a garage rock band largely active in the greater Cleveland area from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. Originally called The Mods, their largest commercial success came with the release of their first single "It's Cold Outside" in December 1966. The song, considered to be a classic of the garage rock era, was featured on Pebbles, Volume 2, one of the earlier garage rock compilation LPs. The flipside, "I'm Going Home" was included as a bonus track when the Pebbles album was reissued as a CD, and it can also be found on a garage rock compilation LP on Ohio bands, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 9. The Choir is well known for containing three of the four original members of Raspberries.
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.
Pebbles is a compilation of US underground and garage single record releases from the mid- to late-1960s. It had a limited original release in 1978 and a more general release in 1979. It was followed by several subsequent Pebbles compilations and albums. This album is nowadays known as Pebbles, Volume 1 and was originally issued in 1978 as Pebbles, Volume One: Artyfacts from the First Punk Era, an obvious riff on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, a similar, groundbreaking compilation from 1972.
Pebbles, Volume 4 is a compilation album in the Pebbles series that has been issued in both LP and CD formats. Unlike other volumes in the series – which compile obscure garage rock and psychedelic rock music – Volume 4 collects rare examples of surf rock. The LP is subtitled Summer Means Fun, while the CD is subtitled Surf N Tunes. Another Pebbles, Volume 4 was issued on CD a few years earlier by ESD Records and has completely different tracks.
Pebbles, Volume 5 is a compilation album in the Pebbles series that has been issued in both LP and CD formats.
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.
Pebbles, Volume 11 is a compilation album among the LP's in the Pebbles series and has no relation to the Pebbles, Volume 11 CD that was released many years later. The cover was adapted and colorized for a later Pebbles double CD, Essential Pebbles, Volume 2.
The Pebbles Box is a 5-LP box set of mid-1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings, primarily by American bands. Several years later, a similar 5-CD box set was released that was called the Trash Box. The Pebbles Box purports to collect the first five volumes of the Pebbles series, although there are fewer songs than on the original LPs: 72 total tracks on the five discs, as compared with 86 on the original LPs. Also, as is generally true of the CD reissues of these five volumes, the tracks differ significantly on all five discs as compared to both the original Pebbles LPs and the later Pebbles CDs in the corresponding volumes; and the surf rock rarities on Pebbles, Volume 4 have been eschewed entirely.
The 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.
Pebbles, Volume 6: Chicago Pt. 1, also known as Chicago 1, is a compilation album featuring American garage and psychedelic rock musical artists from the 1960s that were associated with the Chicago music scene. It is a compact disc installment of the Pebbles series, and was released on AIP Records in 1994.
Pebbles, Volume 7 is a compilation album among the CDs in the Pebbles series; it is subtitled Chicago 2. The previous CD in the series, Pebbles, Volume 6 also features bands from Chicago, as does the LP Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 4.
Pebbles, Volume 8 is a compilation album among the CDs in the Pebbles series; it is subtitled Southern California 1. The next CD in the series, Pebbles, Volume 9 also feature bands from Southern California; while Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 2, and Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 3 showcase music from Los Angeles specifically.
Pebbles, Volume 9 is a compilation album among the CDs in the Pebbles series; it is subtitled Southern California 2. The previous CD in the series, Pebbles, Volume 8 also features bands from Southern California; while Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 2, and Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 3 showcase music from Los Angeles specifically.
Pebbles, Volume 10 is a compilation album among the CDs in the Pebbles series.
Essential Pebbles, Volume 2 is a compilation album in the Essential Pebbles series. Although subtitled Still More Ultimate '66 garage classics!, not all of the recordings on the album were originally released in 1966.
Essential Pebbles, Volume 3 is a compilation album in the Essential Pebbles series. Since the last album in the Pebbles series was released in 2007, this is likely to be the last volume in the Essential Pebbles series. Although the album is subtitled Still More Ultimate '66 garage classics!, not all of the recordings were originally released in 1966.
The Human Expression was an American garage and psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles that released three well-regarded singles, and made additional demo recordings between 1966 and 1967.
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.
English Freakbeat, Volume 1 is a compilation album in the English Freakbeat series, featuring recordings that were released decades earlier, in the mid-1960s.
English Freakbeat, Volume 2 is a compilation album in the English Freakbeat series, featuring recordings that were released decades earlier, in the mid-1960s.
References
↑ Nodine, Steven; Beaumont, Eric; Carroll, Clancy; Luhrssen, David (2017). Brick Through the Window: An Oral History of Punk Rock, New Wave and Noise in Milwaukee, 1964-1984. Splunge Communications. p.13. ISBN9781985194700.
↑ Markesich, Mike (2012). TeenBeat Mayhem! Commemorating America's Forgotten Musical Heritage: Those Teenage Rock & Roll Combos of the Swingin' 1960s. Priceless Info Press. p.40. ISBN9780985648251.
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