The Other Half - Mr Pharmacist (1982)

Biography by Richie Unterberger

Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968This obscure San Francisco (by way of L.A.) '60s band gained a degree of notoriety in the '80s when their punk-garage single "Mr. Pharmacist" was included on one of Rhino's Nuggets compilations and covered by the Fall. Actually, most of the Other Half's material was far less garage than psychedelic, featuring the sustain-laden guitar of Randy Holden, one of the best Jeff Beck-inspired axemen of the '60s. Boasting a just-out-of-the-garage approach to Haight-Ashbury psychedelia, the group cut a little-heard, fairly strong album, as well as a few rare singles, in 1967 and 1968. Holden, who had previously played in the L.A. psychedelic garage band Sons of Adam, went on to join Blue Cheer and record on his own.

The Other Half - Mr Pharmacist (1982) plus

https://www.discogs.com/Other-Half-Mr-Pharmacist/release/1907951

01. The Other Half - Introduction 

02. The Other Half - Feathered Fish 

03. The Other Half - Flight Of The Dragon Lady 

04. The Other Half - Wonderful Lady 

05. The Other Half - I Need You 

06. The Other Half - Oz Lee Eaves Drops 

07. The Other Half - Bady Day 

08. The Other Half - Morning Fine 

09. The Other Half - What Can I Do For You, First Half 

10. The Other Half - What Can I Do For You, The Other Half 

11. The Other Half - I've Come So Far 

12. The Other Half - Mr Pharmacist 

13. The Other Half - No Doubt About It 

14. The Other Half - It's Too Hard Without You 

15. The Other Half - I Know 

aka 

The Other Half ‎– The Other Half (1968) 

https://www.discogs.com/The-Other-Half-The-Other-Half/release/2221646

This album has been kicking around for ages, first in cut-out bins in the 1970s and subsequently on want lists, ever since "Mr. Pharmacist" (which was not on this long-player) turned up on Rhino's Nuggets, Vol. 12. It turns out to be not at all bad, if not exactly distinguished -- the Other Half were a much better garage band than they were a psychedelic outfit, their frantic, crunchy rockers (which dominate this record) being far more memorable and impressive than their efforts at trippy, spaced out, languid psych ("Wonderful Day"). "I Need You," and "Feathered Fish" give lead guitarist Randy Holden the opportunity to stretch out in the best Jeff Beck manner (circa the Yardbirds' Roger the Engineer), and even their more primitive numbers, such as "Oz Lee Eaves Drops," are good showcases for the group. Holden and rhythm guitarist Geoff Westen also get into some entertaining faux mandolin sounds on "Morning Fire," but when the band tries to get too serious, as on the two-part "What Can I Do for You," the results are fairly dire, which makes the last ten minutes of the original LP (which didn't even run 30 minutes) easily dispensable.

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