Columbia staff producer Gary Usher was unable to get anyone to pick up 'My World Fell Down' so he recorded it himself with some session musicians, including Glen Campbell. The single and the album that eventuated is lightweight Beach Boys-inspired baroque pop-psych, with some hazy-dazy sound effects in places to liven things up.
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Bee Gees 1st The Bee Gees 1967 [Atco]
The Bee Gees went from their early days as a rough 'n ready Australian pop outfit to a classy act putting out some topnotch orchestrated psychedelia. For every hit ('Holiday'; 'To Love Somebody'; 'New York Mining Disaster 1941') there was also a cheesy bit of psych like 'Every Christian Lionhearted Man', 'Craise Finton Kirk' or 'Cucumber Castle'.
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The Story of Simon Simopath Nirvana (UK) 1967 [Island]
A typically pretentious early 'concept album' hung together by a narrative about a boy who wants to fly subtitled "A Science Fiction Pantomime". Laced with baroque chamber-style arrangements the main drawback is the short playing time - under 26 minutes. The CD release, however, is padded with lots of pretty good bonus tracks.
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The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack The Nice 1967 [Immediate]
Combining rock, jazz and classical into an arty psych mix, the Nice uncorked what is often considered as the first progressive rock album. Led by consummate prog keyboardist Keith Emerson, this record suffers only slightly from understandable debutant jitters. Dave Brubeck, Leonard Bernstein and Dvorak all get the treatment.
Arthur Lee's 60s psychedelic folk-rock outfit is singularly famous for this gem that regularly appears on 'all-time greatest' lists. Each song is pure perfection, although the album and its singles - 'Alone Again Or' and 'Andmoreagain' - were commercial flops. Lee subsequently sacked the band, leaving this as testament to greatness that could have been.
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The Move The Move 1968 [Regal Zonophone]
Debut from pop psychedelia Birmingham outfit that eventually morphed into ELO. Chief songwriter Roy Wood pens most of the tracks, including UK hits 'Fire Brigade' and the controversial 'Flowers in the Rain' - infamous for seeing the band lose a libel suit to then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson for promotional references to a sex scandal.
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Odessey and Oracle The Zombies 1968 [Columbia]
Although English, the Zombies enjoyed most of their early success in America with two smash hits. When hard luck hit they had disbanded by time this album was released, with the mesmerising 'Time of the Season' eventually hitting #3 in the US. A brilliant psych album, it is also notable for keyboardist Rod Argent's use of a Mellotron.
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In Search of the Lost Chord The Moody Blues 1968 [Deram]
The tripped-out record that set the Moody Blues on their somewhat formulaic path is a mesmerising synthesis of pop-psych. Dumping the orchestra in favour of Mike Pinder's Mellotron proved a good move, with flute and sitar from Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward on the 'Legend of a Mind' tribute to LSD guru Timothy Leary just perfect.
