ROCKADROME -Royal American 20th Century Blues (rare 60s pop psych) CD

Recorded in a time when creativity counted for more than commercial appeal, the album was recorded for the eclectic Sound Canada label. It sold poorly, but was rediscovered as part of the revival in interest in psychedelia; the only problem—copies of the original album were incredibly rare (and incredibly expensive!).

The album is a mixture of rock, psych (some of the tracks are definitely Beatles influenced), and a touch of blues.

The album opens with 'R.A.T.C.B. Teaser', which is used as a theme throughout the album, with a reprise at the end and the main song later on the disc. The first proper song is 'Very Strange,' a nice taste of psych with some fetching guitar-work, followed by the more bluesy 'Thirteen Miles Down' which includes the requisite blues guitar solo. The title track is split in two and done as a rock version and a psyche/pop version, both of which are very good, and 'There You Go Again' has a Byrdsian chime to it coupled with a Dylan-influenced vocal. 'Inside Out, Inside In' is one of the Beatles-y songs, but there is nothing wrong with that if it is done well, which this is. The intro to 'T.O. Town' has evinced comparisons with the Monkees as it is very similar to 'Last Train To Clarksville', but the song itself is a great garage rocker. 'Ain't It A Shame' is a little too close to goodtime pop for my liking, but put against the high quality of the rest of the album this can be forgiven.Studio owner and executive producer Art Snider (who had discovered and first recorded a young Gordon Lightfoot years earlier) was inspired enough by Rockadrome's first sessions to basically give engineer/producer Ray Lawrence free reign to carry the project in whatever direction it might go. Fortunately, it was an era of experimentation, studio clocks could mostly be ignored, (there was a belief that the best stuff was done after dark) and so Rockadrome was given an after-hours slot. All through that fall and winter, the songs were refined, recorded, tossed and replaced. Contemplated. Even the physical process became a strange routine. The guys would need to phone the studio by 5 pm to check that the evening schedule was open, then scramble into their cars east of Toronto & head down the 401. The results show that the band deserve their reputation. Extensively remastered, this is the first legitimate reissue.

Tracklist