Extremely limited numbered repressing of this box set that
features volumes one through ten of this exceptional series of Psych
compilations. Amongst the first and best Psych compilations ever put
together, each and every volume is a mind-blowing treasure trove of Acid
Rock and Pop from the late '60s, and comes housed inside a slipcase
card replica of the original LP artwork.
Originally appearing on LP from the Bam Caruso label in the 1980s, and
then on CD on the Past & Present imprint in 2003, these first ten
volumes (boxed) in the Rubble Collection were conceived and collected by
Phil Smee. For fans of the Nuggets series, both the two American
volumes and the British Nuggets, you won't find a lot of overlap. The
Nuggets comps were and are for people who want what was at least the
stuff of legend, if not readily available. The collection here digs deep
and are, for the most part, flawless in what they present. This set,
and its companion volumes 11-20 (a separate box), are very different
creatures. For starters, they dig a lot deeper into the hopelessly
obscure 45s and tapes of Brit psychedelia, freakbeat, Mod, and pop. For
every cut by Sharon Tandy & les Fleur de Lys, the Glass Menagerie,
Pretty Things, and Flying Machine and the Clique, there is at least one
to match from acts like Peter & the Blizzards, Skip Bifferty, Life
'N' Soul, and Factotums. You're getting the idea. This is for the
listener who wants to dig down and get virtually everything. There are
some things missing here (the second box picked up a lot of that slack),
and like other series' that go down into the underbelly of the '60s,
some of what's here is drek. But there are real gems, too -- ,check out
the Sharon Tandy cuts like "Hold On," on disc nine, or the Velvett
Fogg's "Lady Caroline," on disc ten, or Fairytale's "Lovely People" that
kicks off volume six. Then there's the completely cracked and whacked,
such as Dragonfly's "Celestial Empire," Orange Seaweed's "Pictures in
the Sky," and Focus Three's "10,000 Years Behind My Mind." In addition
to these ten handsome volumes in a single fold-in case, there is a
93-page booklet completely annotating tracks and offering discographies
for artists who actually had them. In 2007, Fallout in the U.K. reissued
this box again, in a limited numbered (on the bottom) limited license,
limited edition of 1000 copies at a more reasonable price than the
previous version.
