The Other Half | |
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Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1966 | –1968
Labels | Acta Orlyn |
The Other Half was an American psychedelic garage rock band, based in San Francisco, and active in the mid-to-late 1960s. The band gained interest after one of the Nuggets compilations in the 1980s included their single, "Mr. Pharmacist".
The Other Half formed in Los Angeles California, United States, but later moved to San Francisco. [1] They played several shows at Chet Helms Family Dog shows at the Avalon Ballroom. [2] Their music was strongly influenced by the Yardbirds and Rolling Stones. Guitarist Randy Holden had been offered the chance to replace Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds before joining The Other Half. [3] The Other Half were at their peak when the music scene was at its height in San Francisco and the Flower Power movement in full swing in Haight Ashbury. Their style changed from an earlier vocal based garage band, to the loudest big stage band sound of the time, taken in that direction by former The Sons of Adam guitarist Randy Holden. Their sound has been compared to the Yardbirds, and contained elements of blues, hard rock, and Eastern melodic influences. [3] Holden left the band after their debut album was recorded, dissatisfied with the recording and the guitar he was playing at the time, later stating "I was trying to accommodate everyone else, at the expense of my own soul and happiness". [3] Despite Holden's misgivings, the album has been described as "awesome incendiary rock". [4]
Holden went on to join Blue Cheer before embarking on a solo career. [1]
The band's "Mr. Pharmacist" was included on one of the Nuggets compilations in the early 1980s, Volume 12: Punk Part Three, [5] and was later covered by The Fall, becoming a number 75 UK chart hit. [1] A collection of their recordings, titled Mr. Pharmacist was issued in 1982. This included their entire 1968 album and several tracks from singles. [6] Two songs, "Bad Day" and "Oz Lee Eaves Drops" appeared in the 1968 pilot episode of The Mod Squad .
Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that emerged In the late 1950s but flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as often unsophisticated and occasionally aggressive lyrics and delivery. Its name derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional.
Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psychedelic rock", acid rock also specifically refers to a more musically intense, rawer, or heavier subgenre or sibling of psychedelic rock. Named after lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the style is generally defined by heavy, distorted guitars and often contains lyrics with drug references and long improvised jams.
The Beau Brummels was an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino, Ron Elliott, Ron Meagher, Declan Mulligan, and John Petersen (drums). They were discovered by local disc jockeys who were looking to sign acts to their new label, Autumn Records, where Sylvester Stewart—later known as Sly Stone—produced the group's early recording sessions. Initially, the band's musical style blended beat music and folk music and typically drew comparisons to the Beatles, while their later work incorporated other music genres such as psychedelic rock and country rock.
Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds, or simply Having a Rave Up, is the second American album by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was released in November 1965, eight months after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton on guitar. It includes songs with both guitarists and reflects the group's blues rock roots and their early experimentations with psychedelic and hard rock. The title refers to the driving "rave up" arrangement the band used in several of their songs.
The Music Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Fronted by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell, the band cultivated a characteristically dark and rebellious image reflected in an untamed musical approach. Sometimes it made use of distorted guitar lines and hallucinogenic organ parts, punctuated by Bonniwell's distinctively throaty vocals. Although they managed to attain national chart success only briefly with two singles, the Music Machine is today considered by many critics to be one of the groundbreaking acts of the 1960s. Their style is now recognized as a pioneering force in proto-punk; yet within a relatively short period of time, they began to employ more complex lyrical and instrumental arrangements that went beyond the typical garage band format.
Kinks is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Kinks. It was released on 2 October 1964 in the United Kingdom by Pye Records. The original United States release, issued by Reprise Records on 25 November 1964, omits three tracks and is instead titled You Really Got Me.
"Shapes of Things" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. With its Eastern-sounding, feedback-laden guitar solo and environmentalist, anti-war lyrics, several music writers have identified it as the first popular psychedelic rock song. It is built on musical elements contributed by several group members in three different recording studios in the US, and was the first Yardbirds composition to become a record chart hit; when released as a single on 25 February 1966, the song reached number three in the UK and number eleven in the US.
Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page is a live album by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was recorded at the Anderson Theatre in New York City on 30 March 1968. At the time, the Yardbirds had been performing as a quartet with Jimmy Page on lead guitar since October 1966.
The Rising Storm is an American rock group that was active at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, United States, between 1965 and 1967. Their music is considered to belong in the folk rock and garage rock genres. The original members of the group were Bob Cohan (guitar), Todd Cohen (bass), Charlie Rockwell (keyboards), Tom Scheft (drums), Tony Thompson, and Rich Weinberg.
Ultimate! is a comprehensive career retrospective album by English rock group the Yardbirds. The 52-song two–compact disc compilation was released in 2001 by Rhino Records. The tracks span the period from the group's first demo recordings in 1963 to the last singles in 1968. They include all 17 of the group's singles, both A-side and B-sides, supplemented with more than a dozen album tracks, their performance for the film Blow-Up, and three early solo numbers by singer Keith Relf.
Ultimate Spinach was a short-lived American psychedelic rock band from Boston, Massachusetts which was formed in 1967. In terms of style and national recognition, the band was one of the most prominent musical acts to emerge from the "Bosstown Sound", which was a marketing campaign posing as a regional attempt to compete with the San Francisco Sound. During the group's existence, they released three albums, with their self-titled debut the most commercially successful.
"Heart Full of Soul" is a song recorded by English rock group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" reached the Top 10 on the singles charts in the UK, US, and several other countries.
Randy Holden is an American guitarist best known for his membership of the West Coast acid rock group Blue Cheer and performance on their third album, New! Improved! (1969). His solo album Population II (1970) is considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal. Holden is also a painter.
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.
Bradley's Barn is the fifth studio album by the American rock group the Beau Brummels. Released in October 1968, it contains the singles "Long Walking Down to Misery" and "Cherokee Girl." The album has received critical acclaim as an early example of country rock. Bradley's Barn is actually a recording studio in Nashville owned by Owen Bradley.
"Action Woman" is a song by the American garage rock band the Litter, written by their record producer Warren Kendrick, and first released as the group's debut single on Scotty Records in January 1967. The song also appeared on the band's first album Distortions. Although "Action Woman" never broke out on the national charts, it is now revered as a classic piece of the musical genre of garage rock. Accordingly, the composition has appeared on several compilation albums – most famously as the opening track on Pebbles, Volume 1, incorporating a skip in the recording – and has been the subject of cover versions.
"Bad Girl" is a song by the American garage rock band the Zakary Thaks, written by the whole group—Chris Gerniottis, Pete Stinson, Stan Moore, Rex Gregory, and John Lopez—and was first released for the band's debut single on J-Beck Records in July 1966. The song was an immensely successful regional hit in Texas, precipitating "Bad Girl"'s national release on Mercury Records later in the year. Since its initial distribution, the tune has received further recognition for its appearance on several compilation albums.
"You're a Better Man Than I", alternately listed as "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" or "Better Man Than I", is a song first recorded by the English rock band the Yardbirds. It was written by brothers Mike and Brian Hugg, and became the opening track to the group's second American album, Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (1965). Three months later in February 1966, it was released in the UK as the B-side to the "Shapes of Things" single.
The Oxford Circle was an American garage rock and psychedelic rock band from Davis, California, near Sacramento, who were active from 1964 to 1967. They became a popular garage rock act with a proto-punk sound influenced by Them and other blues-based bands of the British Invasion, that, in addition to heavy guitar feedback, came to encompass psychedelia. The group began to make appearances in San Francisco, where they became a top draw in venues such as the Avalon Ballroom. They taped a show at the Avalon in 1966 and, after lying in the vaults for years, it was rereleased in 1997 on the Nuggets from California: Live at the Avalon 1966 anthology. In 1967, they released the single, "Foolish Woman" b/w "Mind Destruction", which is also included, along with several other studio outtakes, on the Nuggets from California compilation. In 1967, drummer Paul Whaley left to play in pioneering heavy rock act Blue Cheer. Lead vocalist and guitarist Gary Lee Yoder and bassist Dehner Patten left to form Kak, who recorded for Epic Records. Yoder subsequently went on to join Blue Cheer in one of their later configurations.
Distortions is the debut studio album by American psychedelic and garage rock band the Litter. It was released on May 1, 1967, by Warick Records and includes the single "Action Woman".