Journey To The Center Of A Mind: A Mainstream Records '60s Psych Adventure

Mainstream Records was launched in 1964 by producer and record executive Bob Shad, and it began as a jazz label. Shad, however, was an early champion of the psychedelia and acid rock that was emerging by the mid-60s, believing the extended improvisation and willingness to experiment with song structure and performance was not too far removed from jazz philosophy. Mainstream Records released some of the first records from Janis Joplins group Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Amboy Dukes, the Tangerine Zoo, and other psychedelic acts of the mid- to late 60s, and Journey to the Center of the Mind: A Mainstream Records 60s Psych Adventure compiles ten albums from the labels peak times of releasing freaked-out psych rock. The set includes two albums from the Amboy Dukes: their self-titled 1967 debut and the following years Journey to the Center of the Mind, whose titular track is an anthem for self-guided consciousness exploration propelled by fiery guitars from a young Ted Nugent. The self-titled 1970 album from Ohio band Decembers Children is made up largely of greasy funk-rock grooves and complex vocal arrangements with multiple lead singers. The Tangerine Zoos eponymous 1968 album is messy, trippy garage rock, while the Jelly Bean Bandits offer a slightly cleaner reading of the same sound, with hints of folk-rock. The Orient Express is an outlier here, experimenting with a fusion of Middle Eastern and Western rock instrumentation, while the remaining bands -- the Tiffany Shade, Ellie Pop, and Nucleus -- all stick closer to trends in U.S. acid rock of their day, continuing ideas explored more popularly by the Byrds, Procol Harum, Buffalo Springfield, and the like. This collection focuses in on Mainstream Records contribution to how rock music was evolving in the late 60s. The majority of these bands remained in the shadows of more acclaimed acts, but they had strange ideas of their own beyond trying to emulate what those bigger groups were doing. Listening to the full album statements reveals some hidden gems from an explosive time when lots of weirdly wonderful music was overlooked. ~ Fred Thomas