Various – Brown Acid: The Sixteenth Trip LP

Sixteen trips might fry the fragile psyche of the average teenager, but the hoary old heads at Brown Acid boiled their brain pans long ago! As such, Riding Easy is bringing even more hard rock, heavy psych, and garage rock rarities from the North American wasteland of the 1970s. From L.A. to Youngstown, OH, from Toronto to Charlotte, The Sixteenth Trip has got everything covered. As always, original copies of these 45s would cost a pretty penny—if one could find ’em in the first place. And by now one knows the drill: This ain’t no bootleg. All songs are officially licensed. This sixteenth installment kicks off with “Shuckin’ and Jiving,” a seven-minute power jam from L.A.’s kings of garage psych, the Seeds. The song appeared as a single in 1972 with “You Took Me By Surprise” on the flipside. It was the only release on Productions Unlimited, a label created by (or for) the Seeds at the tail end of their late ’60s / early ’70s run as Sky Saxon And The Seeds. Get shucked! Macbeth released their one and only 45 in 1978, with the steamrolling “Freight Train” as the b-side to “Didn’t Mean (To Come This Far).” Boasting a thick-ass riff, a tasty stereo-panned guitar solo and at least one space laser sound effect, this one should satisfy fans of Blue Cheer and Grand Funk alike. Macbeth’s bassist, Ned Meloni, went on to play with UFO guitarist Paul Chapman, Virgin Steele guitarist Jack Starr and do a brief stint with doom legends Pentagram. Formed by three brothers—David, Bruce and Barry Flynn, all GM factory workers—along with organist Tom Applegate, The Headstones (also known as simply Headstone) lent their 1974 garage boogie “Carry Me On” to The Fourth Trip. This time, the Midwest psych rockers return with their killer 1975 instrumental “Snake Dance.” One can hear echoes of this particular guitar style in the recent work of Swedish adventure rock overlords Hällas. The band Clinton might’ve been from Pennsylvania, but that didn’t stop them from writing about New York City. “Midnight In New York” is the flipside to their sole single, 1976’s “Falling Behind.” Stylistically and thematically, it’s not unlike something famous New Yawker Ace Frehley would’ve written for KISS around the same time.