The Best of John W. Campbell

At first glance, this otherwise grand career-spanner seems frustratingly incomplete: What a logistically fastidious, but regrettable decision to ignore leader Michael Head's lone "solo" LP as Michael Head & the Strands, 1997's incomparable The Magic World of the Strands. All longtime fans know that it is 1) really no different from the other Shack LPs, in style or in personnel since both crucial Head brothers were present, and 2) universally regarded as their best record. And Shack have released only five LPs otherwise over their two decades, one of which, the 1988's debut Zilch, was all but disowned as it's banished from here.

This obscure folk-rock artist from the late '60s left a track record of a few albums and a handful of obscure single releases, including the languid "Lyanna" and the demanding "Don't Leave Me Now." Campbell first came to prominence as a singer/songwriter on the folk club scene. He signed a contract with the interesting Fontana label, which released much cutting edge folk-rock and psychedelic music. He recorded one album and three singles for them before switching dizzily to the Vertigo label. The resulting album took a proud place in this label's catalog, right between the largely forgotten Dr. Strangely Strange and the grandly remembered Paranoid by Black Sabbath. It was definitely Campbell's most famous album, entitled Half Baked with just a note of derision. The album's title track is in turn the most well-known cut by this artist.