The Lemon Tree

This may be more Move than the casual fan wants, but it's not just another rehashed collection. From the remastered sound to the presence of various outtakes (including lost live tracks), the 30th anniversary triple-disc Movements is as definitive a set as we'll ever have on this band, containing everything except for the Message From the Country album. Disc one consists of the group's early singles plus The Move album and one outtake ("Disturbance"), all sounding really clear and tough, the loudest psychedelic pop music you'll ever hear out of England. Disc two contains the complete Shazam album, as well as alternate stereo or undubbed mixes of such songs as "Cherry Blossom Clinic," "(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree," "Fire Brigade," and an Italian-sung version of "Something." The sound is OK, with brilliant delineation on the guitars and basses…

This may be more Move than the casual fan wants, but it's not just another rehashed collection. From the remastered sound to the presence of various outtakes (including lost live tracks), the 30th anniversary triple-disc Movements is as definitive a set as we'll ever have on this band, containing everything except for the Message From the Country album…

This may be more Move than the casual fan wants, but it's not just another rehashed collection. From the remastered sound to the presence of various outtakes (including lost live tracks), the 30th anniversary triple-disc Movements is as definitive a set as we'll ever have on this band, containing everything except for the Message From the Country album. Disc one consists of the group's early singles plus The Move album and one outtake ("Disturbance"), all sounding really clear and tough, the loudest psychedelic pop music you'll ever hear out of England. Disc two contains the complete Shazam album, as well as alternate stereo or undubbed mixes of such songs as "Cherry Blossom Clinic," "(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree," "Fire Brigade," and an Italian-sung version of "Something." The sound is OK, with brilliant delineation on the guitars and basses…

There's a good reason why the Move's eponymous 1968 debut album sounds like the work of two or three different bands - actually, befitting a band with multiple lead singers, there's more than one reason. First, there's that lead singer conundrum. Carl Wayne was the group's frontman, but Roy Wood wrote the band's original tunes and sometimes took the lead, and when the group covered a rock & roll class, they could have rhythm guitarist Trevor Burton sing (as they did on Eddie Cochran's "Weekend") or drummer Bev Bevan (as they did on the Coasters' "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart"). Such ever-changing leads can lend excitement but it can also lend confusion, especially when the group enthusiastically mixes up Who-inspired art pop with three-chord rock & roll oldies and more than a hint of British eccentricity…

The Lemon Pipers were somewhat of an anomaly in the 1960s bubblegum community because the group actually had creative aspirations. Unfortunately, their high-water mark came with their first single, the infectious "Green Tambourine" (written by the team of Paul Leka and Shelley Pinz), which hit the number one spot on the pop charts in 1968. The follow-up singles (also written by Leka and Pinz) "Rice Is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle" added in interesting orchestrated Baroque pop elements, but ultimately failed to attract much attention. This compilation from Camden Records includes the Lemon Pipers' only two albums, Green Tambourine and Jungle Marmalade, and is the most complete single-disc collection of the group available (the Lemon Pipers recorded 26 tracks in their short history, and 20 of them are here).

The Lemon Pipers' Golden Classics is a mid-priced collection spotlighting several of the bubblegum band's late-'60 tracks, including "Rice Is Nice," "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)," and their number one hit from 1967, "Green Tambourine." This Collectables compilation alongside Buddah's Best of the Lemon Pipers: Green Tambourine are just about equal in sound quality and definitive track listing.

The Lemon Pipers' Golden Classics is a mid-priced collection spotlighting several of the bubblegum band's late-'60 tracks, including "Rice Is Nice," "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)," and their number one hit from 1967, "Green Tambourine." This Collectables compilation alongside Buddah's Best of the Lemon Pipers: Green Tambourine are just about equal in sound quality and definitive track listing.

Unlike the majority of bubblegum bands, the Lemon Pipers' albums are actually quite good, not least because they were one of the few bubblegum bands who were a proper band with their own songwriters (although outside writer/producers did provide the two hits, the inescapable "Green Tambourine" and the actually even better "Rice Is Nice," a sweet, harp-laden depiction of a wedding day). Even the album tracks are pretty groovy, like the Cat Stevens-like character sketches "Shoeshine Boy" and "The Shoemaker of Leatherwood Square," which effectively use trippy string sections and playful harmonies. The snottier folk-rock of "Ask Me if I Care" and the far-out "Fifty Year Void," to say nothing of the nine-minute freakout "Through With You," give Green Tambourine a harder edge than most bubblegum albums, though it's still closer to, say, the Cyrkle than Cream. Seek it out, bubblegum snobs: you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.