Watch Your Step: The Beat Era, Vol. 1

A real mish-mash, this, throwing together 21 tracks recorded for Pye Records at the pinnacle of the British Invasion without any thematic thread. You get big British hits by The Honeycombs and the Rockin' Berries, a minor British hit by the Sorrows, obscure tracks by major groups like the Kinks and Searchers, flops by acts featuring famous people before or after their ascent to stardom, and obscurities ranging from Merseybeat to nasty British R&B to straightahead pop. There are a fair number of worthwhile curiosities. These include (deservedly) unknown mid-'60s singles by future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and future star producer/engineer Glyn Johns. More satisfyingly, there are decent Merseybeat songs by the Boys, who later evolved into the respected mod group the Action, and Revolution, which featured Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason in their pre-Traffic days. You also get a solo single by ex-Searcher singer Tony Jackson, a track by Episode Six, which featured future members of Deep Purple; and the original version of the soulful ballad "I Stand Accused" (by Tony Colton), later covered by The Merseybeats and Elvis Costello. Then there's some downright unknown, decent R&B and Mersey sounds by the likes of The Clique and the Beatmen. There's a fair amount of decent material for the British Invasion specialist here, but it's an erratic and haphazardly assembled collection. ~ Richie Unterberger