New Riders Of The Purple Sage 'Dirty Business'

New Riders Of The Purple Sage 'Dirty Business'

Shady shenanigans going on at the mines in Cold Creek. America's premiere psychedelic cowboy band provide the ideal soundtrack for loafers seeking shade from the heat of the day, possibly under a tree with a jazz cigarette. Jerry Garcia's feral steel guitar transports the listener from mildly interested onlooker of dodgy dealings to carefree cosmic witness of the action.

Chico Magnetic Band 'My Sorrow'

Chico Magnetic Band 'My Sorrow'

In attempting to emulate the unique style of Jimi Hendrix, Chico and his band of facially fungified jam-bots stumbled across their own wild and dissonant style of rocking. Their album ingests and regurgitates all kinds of influences with indiscriminate hunger and makes its half hour duration linger firmly ringing in your cranium.

Traffic 'Dear Mr Fantasy' (Live)

Traffic 'Dear Mr Fantasy (Live)

Will let the music do the talking on this one. Just the most engaging, arse-kicking live performance from members of Traffic. Steve Winwood mentioned in an article the other day that they had to sack Reebop Kwaku Baah from the line-up after he repeatedly ignored their requests to leave the stage together with the other members of the band after live performances. Apparently he'd just keep bongo-ing on and on as if oblivious to the end of the gig. A bit more than just "in the zone" that.

Blue Cheer 'Rock Me Baby'

Blue Cheer 'Rock Me Baby'

In 1968 Blue Cheer divided opinion quite strongly between those who got annoyed at their full-blooded proto-metal pollution of the blues during the height of hippiedom and those who saw it as a welcome relief and arguably a punkish precursor to bands like the Stooges several years down the line. This is one of the more straight up and organised tracks off the album (which all kicks by the way) but still maintains the ham-fisted garage aesthetic that Blue Cheer are known for.

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 'Zig Zag Wanderer'

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 'Zig Zag Wanderer'

This blast of jagged blues sums up Captain Beefheart's idiosyncratic nature quite neatly, and no doubt there's more than a little of the artist in this song's protagonist. The Captain AKA Don Glen Vliet made some absurd claims during his lifetime such as remembering being born, allegedly refusing to talk till he was two years old and having lectured at the Barnsdale Institute of Art, Los Angeles at the age of eleven. 'Safe As Milk' is a bit easier to digest than Beefheart's later excursions into the avant-garde such as 'Trout Mask Replica' and provides a good starting point in getting to know this eccentric performer.

Harvey Mandel 'Long Wait'

Harvey Mandel 'Long Wait'

Sometime member of Canned Heat, Harvey 'The Snake' Mandel was one of the first electric guitarists to employ the two-handed fretboard tapping technique. His solo career allowed him to experiment more with his playing. This track is lifted off his first solo album 'Christo Redentor' from 1968 and Mandel's noodlings are backed by a nice boogie swing feel. Like flying over a traffic jam on a magic carpet, or something

Keef Hartley Band 'Leaving Trunk'

Keef Hartley Band 'Leaving Trunk'

A belting slice or raw and powerful blues from 1968. Whereas often the Keef Hartley Band strayed into slightly dodgy free-jazz territories, this cover of the Sleepy John Estes classic stays lean and mean. Vocals, guitar, organ and seismic drums battle to out-blues each other and the only real winner is your ears. Recently the Black Keys did a good version of this song too.