V.A. - That Driving Beat: UK Freakbeat Rarities vol.1-5

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https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=That+Driving+Beat%3A+UK+Freakbeat+Rarities+&type=release

       
Devoted to the hybrid of '60s mod, British Invasion, and psychedelia known as "freakbeat," the series That Driving Beat ran to five volumes in the first decade of the 21st century. This five-CD box set brings them all together, presenting around 150 rarities from the 1963-1967 era, most of them British (a few items from Continental Europe are also thrown in). Pinpointing who this should be recommended to is tough, because any passionate collector of freakbeat is already going to have some to a lot (but almost certainly not all) of it. At the same time, it's likely too much for the novice, for whom single-volume comps with a higher percentage of killer cuts make far better initiations. But make no mistake: this certainly is good value if you like the style and don't have the majority of the contents, and not just for the sheer quantity of the material. Odd tracks like the Poets' "That's the Way It's Got to Be" and Him & the Others' "She's Got Eyes That Tell Lies" aside, there aren't that many absolute undisputed monsters of the genre here, most of it's at least decent, and good percentage of it is quite good. To name just a few songs, the Plebs' "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," the Remo 4's "Sing Hallelujah," the Hi-Numbers' "Heart of Stone" (not to be confused with the High Numbers who became the Who), and the Mike Cotton Sound's "I Don't Wanna Know" are not only really good obscure British Invasion recordings, but not all that easy to find on other reissues.

On the other hand, a good number of selections are OK but nothing more, and there are too many covers of well-known songs, though even those do tend to be above average as those things rank. There are also a lot of songs that are frankly more Merseybeat than freakbeat, though really there's nothing wrong with that, unless you take the "freakbeat" label at face value and are expecting nothing but mod-psychedelia. If you approach this as an interesting survey of bands and songs that sort of floated between the major and minor leagues of mid-'60s British rock -- rather than a box set of similar size that that's going to be outstanding the whole way through, like Rhino's Nuggets extravaganzas -- it's certainly worth the investment. Though none of these songs were hits, it's astonishing how many records and bands had direct connections to bigger names, whether it's a cover of an altered version of the Who's "The Kids Are Alright" by the Rockin' Vickers (with a young Lemmy); obscurities produced by the Kinks' Dave Davies, Manfred Mann, and the Animals' Alan Price; no-hit groups including future members of Traffic, Manfred Mann, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, and Yes, and ex-members of the Hollies, the Walker Brothers, and the Pretty Things; and little-known productions by Shel Talmy and Joe Meek. (The Meek-produced efforts by Heinz ("I'm Not a Bad Guy") and the Outlaws ("Shake with Me") aren't hard to get elsewhere, but are both really tough British Invasion pop numbers..) And while the packaging isn't on the Nuggets scale, the track-by-track annotation by leading British collector/expert Richard Morton Jack has a lot of info on these obscurities.

VOL.1 - UK FREAKBEAT RARITIES

1. The Shots - Keep A Hold Of What You Got (2:08)

2. The Knack - She Ain't No Good (2:12)

3. Mal Ryder & The Spirits - Your Friends (2:37)

4. The Untamed - I'll Go Crazy (2:11)

5. The Worrying Kynde - Got The Flame (1:51)

6. Tony Knight & The Live Wires - I Feel So Blue (2:27)

7. The Mike Cotton Sound - I Don't Wanna Know (2:11)

8. The Llan - Realise (3:13)

9. The Eccentrics - What You Got (2:56)

10. Him & The Others - She's Got Eyes That Tell Lies (2:46)

11. The Plebs - Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You (1:52)

12. The In Crowd - Things She Says (1:45)

13. Screaming Lord Such & The Savages - The Train Kept-A-Rollin' (2:45)

14. Phase 4 - Think U'll Sit Down & Cry (2:32)

15. Ten Feet - Factory Worker (2:16)

16. The Koobas - You Better Make Up Your Mind (2:27)

17. The Mark Five - Baby What's Wrong (2:44)

18. The Attractions - She's A Girl (2:34)

19. The Primitives - How Do You Feel? (2:22)

20. The Remo 4 - Sing Hallelujah (3:39)

21. The Darwin's Theory - Hosanna (2:05)

22. The Favourite Sons - That Driving Beat (1:39)

23. The Mosquettes - Right String Baby, But The Wrong Yo-Yo (1:56)

24. The Hipster Image - Make Her Mine (2:16)

25. The Answers - It's Just A Fear (3:18)

26. The Cheynes - Respectable (1:54)

27.  The Poets - That's The Way It's Got To Be

28.  The Athenians - Louie Louie

29.  The Profile - Haven't That Got Better Things To Do

30.  The Souls Agents - Let's Make It Pretty Baby

31.  Tony's Defenders - Yes I Do

32.  The Meddy Evils - Ma's Place

VOL.2 - MORE UK FREAKBEAT RARITIES

1. The Deejays - In The Midnight Hour (3:19)

2. The Outlaws - Shake With Me (2:32)

3. The Cherokees - Dig A Little Deeper (2:34)

4. The Quakers - I'm Ready (2:44)

5. The Transatlantics - Louie Go Home (2:43)

6. The Shevells - Come On Home (2:34)

7. The Beat Buddies - Pins In My Heart (1:50)

8. The Jay-Jay's - Baldheaded Woman (2:35)

9. The Pack - Things That Bring Me Down (2:22)

10. The Regents - Bye Bye Johnny (2:15)

11. Brian Diamond & The Cutters - Shake, Shout And Go (2:24)

12. The Classmates - Pay Day (2:23)

13. The Whirlwinds - Baby Not Like Me (1:54)

14. The Zephyrs - She's Lost You (2:30)

15. T-Bones - How Many More Times (3:31)

16. The Loose Ends - I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore (2:10)

17. James Royal - Work Song (3:06)

18. The Hi Numbers - Heart Of Stone (2:19)

19. Carter-Lewis & The Southenders - Skinny Minnie (2:41)

20. The Mark Leeman 5 - Gather Up The Pieces (2:33)

21.  Gary Walker - She Makes Me Feel Better

22.  Haydock's Rockhouse - She Thinks

23.  The Sassenachs - That Don't Worry Me

24.  The Redcaps - Funny Things

25.  The Firing Squad - Bullmoose

26.  The Hellions - Think It Over

27.  The Slade Brothers - Peace In My Mind

28.  The Dukes - Try To Understand

VOL.3 - UK FREAKBEAT RARITIES

1. The Jynx - How (2:15)

2. The Blues Council - Baby Don't Look Down (2:03)

3. The Knack - Time, Time, Time (2:45)

4. The Laurie Jay Combo - Just A Little Bit (2:06)

5. Four + One - Don't Lie To Me (1:52)

6. Tony Knight's Chessmen - Surfer Street (2:47)

7. The Scorpions - Just Like Me (2:13)

8. The Bad Boys - That's What I'll Do (2:44)

9. The Mark Four - Work All Day (Sleep All Night) (2:57)

10. The Bobby Patrick Big Six - Sweet Talk Me Baby (2:09)

11. The Snobs - Buckleshoe Stomp (2:14)

12. The Shots - She's A Liar (2:21)

13. The College Boys - I'm Gonna Cry (1:54)

14. The Preachers - Too Old In The Head (1:56)

15. The Trekkas - Please Go (2:26)

16. Wayne Gibson & The Dynamic Sounds - See You Later, Alligator (2:23)

17. The Muldoons - I'm Lost Without You (2:46)

18. The Rockin' Vickers - I Don't Need Your Kind (2:30)

19. The Puppets - Baby Don't Cry (2:01)

20. The Nocturns - Carryin' On (3:22)

21. The Roadhogs - My Generation (3:13)

22.  The Quakers - Down The Road Apiece

23.  Herbie's People - Sweet And Tender Romance

24.  Rey Anton & The Peppermint Men - Don't Treat Me Bad

25.  The Fenmen - I've Got Everything You Need, Babe

26.  A Band Of Angels - Me

27.  The Rats - Parchman Farm

28.  Kingsize Taylor - Somebody's Always Trying

29.  The Chances - Tell Me

NOTE 

These tracks:

Track 4: The Regents - Words

Track 9: Miki Dallon - Gonna Find A Cave

were listed on the rear of the cover vol.3

 but are not included on the respective CD.

VOL.4 - UK FREAKBEAT RARITIES

1. Checkmates - It Ain't Right (1:57)

2. In Crowd - Stop Wait A Minute (2:06)

3. Paul's Troubles - You've Got Something (2:29)

4. Tony & Howard With The Dictators - Just In Case (2:51)

5. Sean Buckley & The Breadcrumbs - Everybody Knows (2:09)

6. Comanches - Missed Your Lovin' (2:22)

7. Gene Latter - Mother's Little Helper (2:41)

8. Rockin' Vickers - It's Alright (2:13)

9. Dennisons - You Don't Know What Love Is (1:59)

10. Bunch Of Fives - At The Station (2:07)

11. Mal Ryder & The Spirits - Slow Down (2:47)

12. Shevells - Oo Poo Pa Doo (2:26)

13. Jason Deane - Ain't Got No Love (2:45)

14. Shanes - I Don't Want Your Love (2:15)

15. Casual Four - I Can Tell (3:28)

16. Mike Rabin & The Demons - Head Over Heels (2:01)

17. Wayne Gibson & The Dynamics - Baby, Baby, Baby Pity Me (2:10)

18. Knack - It's Love, Baby (24 Hours A Day) (2:22)

19. Nicky James Movement - Stagger Lee (1:44)

20. Thoughts - Memory Of Your Love (2:07)

21. Rey Anton & The Pro-Form - Hold It, Babe (2:11)

22. Denny Seyton & The Sabres - Tricky Dickie (2:29)

23. Rats - I've Gotta See My Baby (2:23)

24. Valkyries - What's Your Name? (1:46)

25. meddyEVILS - Place Called Love (2:06)

26. Alex Harvey - Go Away Baby (2:25)

27.  Heinz - I'm Not A Bad Guy

28.  Brian Howard & The Silhouettes - Hooked

29.  Manchester Mob - Bony Maronie At The Hop

30.  Mark Leeman 5 - Going To Bluesville

31.  Thee - There You Go

VOL.5 - UK FREAKBEAT RARITIES

1. Junco Partners - As Long As I Have You (2:26)

2. Rattles - Say All Right (2:28)

3. Hot Springs - All I know About Love (2:32)

4. The Elcort - Searchin' (4:00)

5. The Outsiders - Keep On Doing It (2:35)

6. Brian Diamond & The Cutters - Bone Idol (2:36)

7. The Revolution - Shades Of Blue (2:30)

8. Bo ST Runners - Get Out Of My Way (2:41)

9. Corduroys - Too Much Of A Woman (1:38)

10. Stovepipe No. 4 - My Babe (2:29)

11. Soul Agents - Seventh Son (2:41)

12. Zephyrs - Sweet Little Baby (2:39)

13. Mark 4 - Going Down Fast (2:35)

14. Jimmy Royal & The Hawks - I'm Leaving You (2:07)

15. Moquettes - You Came Along (2:14)

16. Midknights - Just For Me (2:17)

17. Dave Davani - Tossin' & Turnin' (2:32)

18. Mel Turner & The Mohicans - Doin' The Ton (2:12)

19. Boston Crabs - Alley Oop (3:14)

20. Pentad - Silver Dagger (2:34)

21. Banshees - I Got A Woman (3:03)

22. Mike Cotton Sound - I Get My Eyes On You (2:24)

23. Jimmy Powell & The 5 Dimensions - I'm Looking For A Woman (2:23)

24. Long & Short - Love Is A Funny Thing (2:52)

25. Gary Farr & The T-Bones - Don't Stop & Stare (2:32)

26. Selfkick - Gosh! I'm Your Woman Not Your Wife (2:19)

27.  Just Four Men - Don't Come Any Closer

28.  Hustlers - Shick Of Giving

29.  Outlaws - Keep A Knocking

NOTE 

These tracks:

Track 1: Christians Crusaders-Honey Hash

were listed on the rear of the cover vol.5

 but are not included on the respective CD.

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