Try A Little Sunshine: British Psychedelic Sounds Try A Little Sunshine: British Psychedelic Sounds CD

UK three CD set. 1967 was undoubtedly the high-water mark of the era, but the psychedelic genre's influence lingered for some while afterwards. Nevertheless, there were significant changes during that period, and by the end of the decade the British music scene had largely polarized into two distinct camps: the influence of the counterculture saw the burgeoning college/university circuit grow as "serious" pop evolved into rock, while the more exploitative, commercial element of the industry reacted to the success of manufactured bands like The Monkees to instigate a sub-genre dismissively dubbed bubblegum. That dichotomy saw the British pop and rock scene exhibit a strong element of musical schizophrenia, as can be heard on Try A Little Sunshine: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1969, the latest instalment in Grapefruit's acclaimed late Sixties series. A significant number of great, heavily lysergic records were still appearing (if psychedelia was dead, clearly nobody had told the likes of The Factory, Fleur de Lys or Jason Crest), but the musical template did mutate. The Attack's chunky mod-pop vignettes gave way to Andromeda's power trio riffing, Status Quo moved from day-glo popsike to a looser, bluesier approach, The Pretty Things reluctantly left behind their neglected masterpiece S. F. Sorrow to explore more introverted territory, Grapefruit traded their gossamer-light harmony pop template for a relatively stripped-down sound, and Colin Giffin eschewed The End's psychedelic dreamscapes to dabble in post-'Eleanor Rigby' baroque pop. For other, more commercially successful bands like The Spencer Davis Group, Procol Harum and The Move, it was a case of attempting to maintain their high-profile status while also showing signs of progression. Housed in a clambox with a 44-page booklet that includes biographical information on every band as well as rare photos, Try A Little Sunshine covers every aspect of the 1969 British pop sound to provide not just four hours of vital late Sixties music, but a fascinating look at how the mode of the music changed as a tumultuous decade drew to a close.

1. Try a Little Sunshine - the Factory 2. Reputation - Shy Limbs 3. Little Boy - Beatstalkers 4. Letters from Edith - the Spencer Davis Group 5. Roundabout - the Montanas 6. Sister - Cliff Wade 7. Brother Thrush -Barclay James Harvest 8. (Vision in a) Plaster Sky -Wild Silk 9. The Day the Train Never Came - Consortium 10. Lifetime - the Bliss 11. This Is to a Girl - Strawberry Jam 12. River Boat Queen - Audience 13. Captain Reale - Gentle Influence 14. A Salty Dog - Procol Harum 15. Green Mello Hill - Angel Pavement 16. The Walrus and the Carpenter - Peter Howell ; John Ferdinando 17. This Time Tomorrow - the Move 18. Shine a Little Light Into My Room - Jason Paul 19. Stay Indoors - the New Formula 20. Running Wild - Fresh Air 21. Dogs and Cats - the Sorrows 22. We Built the Sun - Pussy 23. Baby and Me - the Hammers 24. Being Human Being (Alternative Version) - Paper Bubble 25. Child on a Crossing - Writing on the Wall 26. Dr Crippen's Waiting Room - the Orange Machine 27. Liar - Fleur de Lys 28. Seen Through a Light - the Mooche 29. It's Only Love - Sam Gopal 30. Deep Water - Grapefruit 31. Stop - Pan Pipers 32. Marrakesh - Fortes Mentum 33. Flaxen Hair - Marc Brierley 34. Changes in Our Time - Colin Giffin 35. Creeping Jean - Dave Davies 36. Who Wants Happiness - Tapestry 37. She Said, She Said - Grand Union 38. Only George - Scrugg 39. Summer Come Along - Ralph McTell 40. It Happened Two Sundays Ago - Nirvana 41. Doubtful Nellie - Tuesday's Children 42. Mindless Child of Motherhood - Ewan Stephens 43. Biography - Woody Kern 44. Alcock and Brown - Balloon Busters 45. Magic Car - Edwards Hand 46. How Does It Feel - the Good Ship Lollipop 47. No Reason - Shere Khan 48. Morning Way - Trader Horne 49. Black Mass - Jason Crest 50. Last Cloud Home - the Orange Bicycle 51. (Who Planted Thorns in) Miss Alice's Garden - the Explosive 52. Just What I Was Looking for Today - the Spectrum 53. The Price of Love - Status Quo 54. This Little Boy - 1984 55. Death of a Dream Machine - the Deviants 56. Day of the Change - Andromeda 57. Mr Rainbow - Homer's Knods 58. You Might Even Say - Pretty Things 59. Cry Baby Cry - Freedom 60. Saturday Roundabout Sunday - the Humblebums 61. We Want You to Stay (Demo Version) - Bill Fay 62. What a Groovy Day - Harmony Grass 63. Mr Beverly's Heavy Days - the Freshmen 64. Little Bird - Eyes of Blue 65. Tamaris Khan - the Onyx 66. The School Boy - Five's Company 67. Looking Towards the Sky - Davey Payne ; the Medium Wave Band 68. Fairground - Pure Gold 69. Petrol Pump Assistant - Fat Mattress 70. Good Old '59 (We Are Slowly Gettin' Older) - Second Hand 71. Counting Time My Way - Taxi 72. Burning the Weed - Bobak, Jons, Malone 73. Armageddon - Cape Kennedy Construction Company