I'M A Freak Baby: Journey Through British Heavy I'M A Freak Baby: Journey Through British Heavy CD

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 µ60s 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.

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