Strawberry Raury

For a little more money, this 21-track CD compilation is a better deal than its American counterpart (One Way's Anthology), offering a slightly more extensive selection and extensive liner notes, and including almost all of the cuts contained on Anthology. Drawn from their four albums (with the accent, properly, on the first two), it also has a clutch of non-LP singles. "Incense and Peppermints" and the small follow-up hit, "Tomorrow," are by far the best things on here; much of the rest is trendy period pop/psychedelia, sounding at various times like a bush-league Doors, or a really spaced-out Association, with a bit of garage raunch tossed in on the B-side of "Incense" ("The Birdman of Alkatrash"). The two hits were included on Rhino's Nuggets compilations, which might be a better context in which to appreciate the group's fairly minimal contributions to psychedelia.

This is the debut long-player from the southern California-based Strawberry Alarm Clock – the title track of this album topped national singles charts in December of 1967. As the cover art might suggest, their image practically defined both the musical as well as peripheral aspects of the pseudo-psychedelic counterculture. However, below that mostly visual veneer, Strawberry Alarm Clock actually have more in common with other "Summer of Love" bands such as Love and Kak than the bubblegum acts they have long been associated with. Prior to Strawberry Alarm Clock, the band was initially named Thee Sixpence and issued a 45 – "In the Building" b/w "Hey Joe" – in the spring of 1966. As legend has it, none of the actual bandmembers sang lead on the hit single; the singer was in fact a vocalist named Greg Munford, who was attending the session as a visitor.

Another lost gem for lovers of Japanese psych and hard rock, this time from the inspirational ‘70s prog outfit, Strawberry Path. From its extremely cool front cover to the last track, this is an album that will appeal to garage fans, psych heads, mondo music lovers and acid freaks alike, merging as it does a variety of Western influences, ranging from Jimi Hendrix (check out Shigeru Narumo’s hard psych guitar) to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Originally relased in 1971, Strawberry Path were the forerunners of Japanese Flied Egg, one of the most influential Japanese prog bands to emerge in the ‘70s.

Strawberry Bubblegum is an album subtitled "A Collection of Pre-10cc Strawberry Studios Recordings 1969-1972". The album is a compilation of songs recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, by the four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who in 1972 would form the British pop band 10cc, along with occasional guest vocalists.

Goldenlane's CD release of Strawberry Letter 23: Live documents a special live performance by the Brothers Johnson. The Brothers performed live at radio station KBLX's Stone Soul Picnic in Oakland, CA, on Memorial Day 2003, and that's the performance documented here, While the Brothers are long past their prime here, it's nice to have this special performance documented, especially for longtime fans hungry for additional material. This particular performance is most noteworthy for its covers: a pair of Sly & the Family Stone classics ("Family Affair," "If You Want Me to Stay") and Cameo's "Word Up." Overall, this is a nice addition to the Brothers Johnson catalog, even if it's far from essential.

This is a collection of 18 songs written in March, April and May of 2020. The beginning of a new world. The unraveling of an old one. A wildly strange time where we’ve found ourselves collectively holding our breath, learning how best to exhale again. Up until this point, I hadn’t finished a song in quite some time. Like many have before and I suppose many will after, I feared I might not write one again. But then they came and they came quickly. Almost as quickly as we recorded em. Keep it simple I’d tell myself. I keep telling myself that. Mat was in Austin and Paul down the street at home in Nashville. All of us doing our best versions of a quarantined life amidst a global pandemic. I called the boys and they were down to play. If that ain’t brotherhood I don’t know what is and I started to exhale a bit.