Mccoy's

Some rock & roll acts slid easily into the psychedelic era, and did well with it – the Beatles, the Pretty Things, the Who, the Rolling Stones (overlooking Satanic Majesties'), even the Rascals (sort of). Unfortunately, the McCoys weren't one of them – the band that turned "Hang on Sloopy" into a teen anthem just wasn't that good mixing psychedelic rock, blues, country, and jazz, with brass and saxes in their instrumental mix. This CD combines all but two songs off of the 1968 vintage Infinite McCoys and Human Ball albums. There is some good playing by Rick Zehringer (aka Derringer) and keyboard man Robert Peterson, and some interesting jazzy moments too ("Resurrection"), where it is just them, but you've got to be patient to get to them and listen to some really pretentious crap in the meantime, not to mention ignore the trumpets, trombones, and saxes (arranged by Fred Lipsius) that get you there. There is a near-absence of decent tunes ("Open Your Eyes" is an exception), or memorable hooks, and the best piece of blues here ("Stormy Monday Blues") isn't worth the wait to get to. For completists only.

Hang On Sloopy: The Best Of The McCoys is an official 1995 compilation by The McCoys of Union City, Indiana. This was released by Legacy via Epic Associated.

This extravagant six-CD set documents the astonishing life span of the first pop independent label in the U.K., Immediate Records. Founded in 1965, Immediate flipped, flopped, and staggered its own way, competing against unhip American labels like EMI and Decca until late 1969. The label, and the documentary CD set, showcases in particular the Small Faces, who enjoyed a brief U.K. number one hit, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. More familiar to American listeners will no doubt be the three-chord sock-hop favorite "Hang on Sloopy" by the McCoys, and a number of covers of familiar American folk-rock hits are present as well. The esoteric collector will appreciate inclusions by such café balladeers as the Poets and Les Fleurs-de-Lis, also signed by Immediate before the advent of the swinging London sound, marked by the Rolling Stones revolution and other mod developers influencing the pants off the tiniest studio cover bands. Immediate also helped sculpt the success of anguished bellower Chris Farlowe, soon to be joined by the similarly throaty vibrato of PP Arnold and, of course, manager/producer Andrew Oldham's best toss of the dice, the Small Faces, whom he ripped away from Decca. By the fourth disc, you are, in fact, in the throes of swinging London, featuring Farlowe's heart-stopping "Yesterday's Papers" and Arnold's "The First Cut Is the Deepest," written by the much-in-demand Cat Stevens. Most of the music is minimal and often out of tune, production at an early-time low, replete with tinny echoes and accidental outtake moments.

'Pushin' Too Hard' is a 94-track celebration of 1960s garage punk, a retrospectively named genre first compiled on Lenny Kaye's seminal 1972 collection 'Nuggets'. This is raw, exciting music with tons of attitude - fuzz guitars, swirling organs, wailing harmonicas, thumping drums and tough vocals are plentiful. In the mid 1960s, teenage rock 'n' roll groups proliferated throughout the USA, often inspired by 'British Invasion' bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds as well as US styles including surf, blues and folk rock. Most towns and cities had local scenes revolving around dance parties, clubs and 'battle of the bands' contests and many of the bands here were regional royalty but never broke nationally. Key bands featured include The Seeds, The Sonics, The Standells, The Shadows Of Knight, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Love, The Electric Prunes, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, We The People and ? & The Mysterians. There are national US Billboard Hot 100 hits from Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - 'Wooly Bully' (#2), The Strangeloves - 'I Want Candy' (#11), The Castaways - 'Liar, Liar' (#12), The Beau Brummels - 'Just A Little' (#15), The McCoys - 'Fever' (#7), The Bobby Fuller Four - 'I Fought The Law' (#9), Paul Revere & The Raiders - 'Just Like Me' (#11), The Barbarians - 'Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl' (#55), Love - 'My Little Red Book' (#54), The Knickerbockers - 'One Track Mind' (#46) and The Seeds - 'Pushin' Too Hard' (#36) presented here in a longer unedited version. Rarities from The Blue Beats, The Dirty Wurds, The Apparitions, The Bedlam Four and The Jackals are released here on CD for the first time while many other tracks have never been released in the UK before.