Dream In My Mind - Anthology 1967-1999

Ruperts People were one of the many excellent but obscure British bands exploring psychedelic rock in the late 60s, producing just a few singles in 1967 and 1968, but evolving before and after that time under various other guises. Dream in My Mind: Anthology 1967-1999 is perhaps the most comprehensive look at this fascinating and short-lived group, collecting more of the bands material than any of the various collections that have come before it. Whats most striking about Ruperts People is how many various styles they attempted. Almost every song takes a different approach, often sounding very similar to other popular bands of their time. The flanger-coated mix and mellow tonality of "I Can Show You" is strikingly close to early Small Faces, while "A Prologue to a Magic World" is completely different, going in the direction of whimsical and childlike psychedelia, with hints of both later Beatles (theres even a lyric about seeing "the walrus") and the dreamy chamber pop of the Canterbury scene. "Hold On" is swaggering Hendrix-styled biker rock, and "Reflections of Charles Brown," one of the groups most well-known songs, is dangerously close to Procol Harums ubiquitous hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Both songs were released around exactly the same time, and both base their arrangements around classical pieces, but its impossible to say if Ruperts People arrived at their composition on their own, or if it was directly influenced by Procol Harum. "Reflections of Charles Brown" was allegedly a reworking of "Charles Brown," a song by a pre-Ruperts band Sweet Feeling, which is also included here and bears almost no likeness to the song that followed it. Ruperts People disbanded around 1968, quickly moving on to other projects, so the 1967-1999 timeline in the title is a bit of a misnomer. This compilation does include live recordings from a 1999 reunion, some of them previously unreleased before now, but the majority of the bands activity happened in the late 60s when they were striking out in multiple directions looking for their sound. They hit paydirt on "Dream in My Mind," an energetic song that checks many of the boxes for peppy mod pop but maintains a moody edge that sets it apart and gives it a little more mystery than the rest of the groups catalog. Though a little too obviously reliant on their various influences in some cases, Ruperts People remain a cool and curious artifact of their time. With enough time having passed, even hearing the way they tried on various trends is enjoyable, especially when the sound doesnt quite fit and becomes something slightly stranger than planned. ~ Fred Thomas