I'm A Freak Baby: Journey Through British Heavy (CD)

Details: Three CD collection. Although vintage British psychedelia is viewed by many these days as an Alice In Wonderland-style enchanted garden full of beatific flower children innocently gathering flowers or chasing butterflies, there was always a more visceral element to the scene. Pointedly free of such fripperies as scarlet tunic-wearing gnomes, phenomenal cats and talismanic bicycles, the power trio format that was popularized by the likes of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience spawned a host of imitators. As the ‘60s drew to a close and pop evolved slowly but inexorably into rock, psychedelia gave way to a sound that was harder, leaner, heavier, louder. Across three discs and four hours of music, I'm A Freak, Baby: A Journey Through The British Heavy Psych And Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-72 investigates that largely under-documented period, incorporating everything from some of the biggest names in the burgeoning hard rock/proto-metal firmament (Deep Purple, Uriah Heep) all the way down to a significant number of provincial semi-pro bands who gigged extensively but were unable to land a recording contract during their lifetime. We feature some of British rock's pioneering acts (The Yardbirds, The Move), a handful of bands who travelled far beyond their blues boom roots (Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs), the infamous Ladbroke Grove scene (The Deviants, The Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, The Edgar Broughton Band), a smattering of inspired, where-the-hell-did-that-come-from one-shots like The Velvet Frogs and the mighty Egor, and a clutch of previously-unreleased recordings (The Kult, Hellmet, The Phoenix) that have even eluded the specialist reissue companies and bootleggers. Housed in a clambox featuring a lavishly illustrated and annotated 36-page booklet, I'm A Freak, Baby is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging anthology to appear thus far of an underground scene that, in addition to being responsible for some magnificent music, also acted as a signpost to the subsequent emergence of British punk and heavy metal.

Tracklist:

1. Stray - All in Your Mind
2. The Open Mind - Cast a Spell
3. The Mooche - Hot Smoke and Sassafras
4. Crushed Butler - My Son's Alive
5. Chicken Shack - Going Down
6. Cycle - Father of Time
7. The Deviants - I'm Coming Home
8. The Pink Fairies - Do It
9. Factory - Time Machine
10. The Groundhogs - Cherry Red
11. Wicked Lady - I'm a Freak
12. Charge - Rock My Soul
13. Hawkwind Zoo - Sweet Mistress of Pain
14. Stonehouse - Nightmare
15. The Iron Maiden - Falling
16. Barnabus - Apocalypse
17. Writing on the Wall -Bogeyman
18. Deep Purple - Fireball
19. Jerusalem - Primitive Man
20. Edgar Broughton Band -Love in the Rain
21. Hellmet - Trust
22. Second Hand - Rhubarb!
23. Little Free Rock - Dream
24. Iron Claw - Skullcrusher
25. Dark - Zero Time
26. The Velvet Frogs - Jehovah
27. The Move - Brontosaurus
28. Stack Waddy - Bring It to Jerome
29. Samuel Prody - Mr Make Believe
30. Bare Sole - Flash
31. The Phoenix - Street Walking Woman
32. Skid Row - Go I'm Never Gonna Let You
33. The Gun - Race with the Devil
34. Blonde on Blonde - Heart Without a Home
35. Third World War - Ascension Day
36. Egor - Street
37. Sam Gopal - Escalator
38. Uriah Heep - Gypsy
39. The Mickey Finn - Garden of My Mind
40. The Yardbirds - Think About It
41. Morning After - Trying to Find My Way Back Home
42. Velvett Fogg - Yellow Cave Woman
43. Andromeda - Too Old
44. Fleetwood Mac - the Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)
45. Sweet Slag - Twisted Trip Woman
46. The Kult - Occult
47. The Taste - Born on the Wrong Side of Time
48. Fusion Farm - Hollis Brown