| The Charlatans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1969 |
| Recorded | 1969 |
| Studio | Pacific High, San Francisco, CA |
| Genre | |
| Length | 41:28 |
| Label | Philips Records |
| Producer | Dan Healy The Charlatans |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
The Charlatans is the self-titled debut album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band the Charlatans, and was released by Philips Records in 1969 (see 1969 in music). [3]
Between 1965 and 1967, the Charlatans were an influential, but commercially unsuccessful, folk rock and blues band that have been widely credited by critics as having started the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic scene in San Francisco. [2]
In 1969, the band signed a recording contract with Philips Records, although their lineup had changed considerably from their 1965 – 1967 heyday. The version of the band that recorded The Charlatans consisted of original members Mike Wilhelm (lead guitar, vocals) and Richard Olsen (bass), with Terry Wilson (drums) and Darrell DeVore (piano/keyboards, vocals) having been recruited in order to flesh out the band, prior to the recording of the album.
The Charlatans was recorded at Pacific High Studios in San Francisco, with production and engineering by Dan Healy and the band. [4]
The Charlatans was a critical and commercial flop upon its release. Although the record was the Charlatans' debut album, it was recorded and released relatively late in the band's career, a factor which critic Richie Unterberger has suggested contributed to its commercial failure. [2] Critics have also suggested that a contributing factor to the album's lack of success was the fact that the band's sound had become somewhat outdated by 1969, with their brand of jug band blues and gentle psychedelia being largely eschewed by the public in favor of a heavier rock sound. In his book, The Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West, author Joel Selvin describes the album as "an unenthusiastic coda to a misspent career." [5]
Other reviewers have been kinder towards the album, with critic Bruce Eder noting that the album "is a rather gorgeous and gently challenging piece of San Francisco rock, incorporating elements of blues and big-band swing, as well as '50s rock & roll and elegant '60s pop." [1]
A single taken from the album, coupling the Van Dyke Parks-penned song, "High Coin", with "When I Go Sailin' By", was released by Philips Records in 1969, but this too was a commercial failure. Disillusioned by the album's lack of success, the Charlatans had broken up by the end of 1969. [6]
The Charlatans has been reissued on CD three times to date. Firstly, in 1992 by Eva Records as an unofficial (or bootleg) CD, where it was coupled with another unofficial Charlatans' album, a compilation of unreleased recordings titled Alabama Bound. The second reissue was on One Way Records in 1995 and included two bonus tracks, "The Shadow Knows" and "32-20", both of which had been released on the Charlatans' debut single in 1966. The third reissue of the album was released under the title San Francisco 1969 by Acadia Records in 2004 and was digitally remastered from the original master tapes. [7] The Acadia release also included a 1969 Philips Records' radio advertisement for the album as a bonus track. [7]
Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and are also credited as being some of the earliest pioneers of heavy metal, with their cover of "Summertime Blues" sometimes cited as the first in the genre. They have also been noted as influential in the development of genres as disparate as punk rock, stoner rock, doom metal, experimental rock, and grunge.
The Charlatans were an American folk rock and psychedelic rock band that played a role in the development of the San Francisco Haight-Ashbury music scene during the 1960s. They are often cited by critics as being the first group to play in the style that became known as the San Francisco Sound.
Sailin' Shoes is the second studio album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 1972. Produced by Ted Templeman, it marked a shift away from the sound of the band's eponymous debut, to that of their subsequent album, Dixie Chicken. It also introduced the cover artwork of Neon Park to the group, and was the last album appearance of original bassist Roy Estrada.
Pendulum is the sixth studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on December 9, 1970. It was the second studio album the band released that year, arriving five months after Cosmo's Factory.
The Magnificent Moodies is the 1965 debut album by British rock band The Moody Blues, released on Decca Records. It is the only album by the original line-up of Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Clint Warwick (bass/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (flute/harmonica/percussion/vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums). Lead vocals were shared by Laine, Pinder and Thomas. The album is a mix of rhythm and blues covers, including "Go Now" which had been a Number 1 hit single for the band earlier that year, and original songs by Laine and Pinder which show more of a Merseybeat influence. Also included is a cover of the George and Ira Gershwin standard "It Ain't Necessarily So". The album was produced by Denny Cordell, with the exception of "Go Now" which was produced by Alex Wharton. In-between "Go Now" and The Magnificent Moodies the band had released two more singles, "I Don't Want to Go On Without You" and "From the Bottom of My Heart", neither of which were included on the album. For the American and Canadian release on London Records, with the title Go Now: The Moody Blues #1, four songs were replaced with those two preceding singles and two B-sides, with a different running order of the tracks. One of the tracks that was replaced, "Stop", was released as a single in America and Canada later that year. The American and Canadian album also titled three of the songs incorrectly.
Aoxomoxoa is the third studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was one of the first rock albums to be recorded using 16-track technology. The title is a meaningless palindrome, usually pronounced.
The Grateful Dead is the debut album of the Grateful Dead. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in March 1967. According to the biographies of both bassist Phil Lesh and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, the band released the album as San Francisco's Grateful Dead.
From the Mars Hotel is the seventh studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. It was mainly recorded in April 1974, and originally released June 27, 1974. It was the second album by the band on their own Grateful Dead Records label. From the Mars Hotel came less than one year after their previous album, Wake of the Flood, and was the last before the band's then-indefinite hiatus from live touring, begun in October 1974.
The Thirteenth Dream was the second "reunion" album from Spirit, and their eleventh album overall. It features re-recordings of seven of their best-loved tracks, along with three new songs. The most noteworthy things that can be said about the album are in regard to the excellent fidelity of the album, as it was originally recorded by an audiophile label and is an early digital recording, and that it was the first Spirit album to be released on CD, as it appeared in that format from Mercury Records in West Germany in 1984.
H. P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967 and named after the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Much of the band's music was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambience, and consisted of material that was inspired by the macabre writings of the author whose name they had adopted. Combining elements of psychedelia and folk rock, the band's sound was marked by the striking vocal harmonies of ex-folk singer George Edwards and the classically trained Dave Michaels. In addition, Michaels' multi-instrumentalist abilities on organ, piano, harpsichord, clarinet and recorder provided the band with a richer sonic palette than many of their contemporaries.
Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone multiple recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana the only consistent member. After signing with Columbia Records, the band's appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 increased their profile and went on to record the commercially successful and critically-acclaimed albums Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). These were recorded by the group's "classic" line-up, featuring Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve, David Brown, and José "Chepito" Areas. Hit songs of this period include "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", and the instrumental "Samba Pa Ti".
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! is the debut solo and third studio album overall by American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, released on September 11, 1969. It was the first album which Joplin recorded after leaving her former band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the only solo album released during her lifetime.
East-West is the second album by The Butterfield Blues Band led by Paul Butterfield, released in 1966 on Elektra Records, EKS 7315 in stereo, EKL 315 in mono. It was recorded at the famed Chess Studios on 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It peaked at #65 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and is regarded as highly influential by rock and blues music historians.
Michael Ray Wilhelm was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the influential Bay Area band the Charlatans, who have been widely credited as starting the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic scene during the 1960s. He later played with the bands Loose Gravel and the Flamin' Groovies.
The Amazing Charlatans is a compilation album by the American psychedelic rock band the Charlatans that was released in 1996 by Big Beat Records. The album is a collection of demos, tracks that appeared on singles, and previously unreleased sessions that the band recorded between August 1965 and early 1968, at a variety of different San Francisco studios.
Joel Selvin is an American San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle, which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music—including the No. 1 New York Times best-seller Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock with Sammy Hagar—and has interviewed many musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Billboard, and Melody Maker, and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll singer.
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together. The band incorporated fantasy elements and surreal characters into the album's song titles and lyrics, and worked with a variety of session musicians to create Triangle's psychedelic musical style. The Beau Brummels were reduced to a trio—Valentino, Elliott, and Ron Meagher—at the time Triangle was recorded, as former group members Don Irving (guitars) and John Petersen (drums) left the band following the release of the group's previous album, Beau Brummels '66.
The Daily Flash are an American folk rock and psychedelic band founded in 1965, active until 1968 and reformed in 2002. originally based in Seattle and later in Los Angeles. The group was composed of guitarist/singer Steve Lalor, lead guitarist Doug Hastings, bass player/singer Don MacAllister and drummer Jon Keliehor. According to Mike Stax, they "had become a major force in the growing Seattle underground scene by 1965." Their sound, which incorporated elements of folk music and jazz as well as rock stood in contrast to the garage rock sound typical of the Pacific Northwest at the time, anticipating the sound that came to be identified with San Francisco.
Jeffrey M. Carp was an American blues harmonica player, He is best known for his work with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin' Wolf. He played harmonica on numerous charting blues albums. He was also for a period of time, a side man in Earl Hooker's band.
Dave's Picks Volume 43 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 2, 1969 at the Family Dog at the Great Highway in San Francisco, California, and on December 26, 1969 at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in University Park, Texas. It was released on July 29, 2022, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
