Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. 5 Volumes

 

Repost

Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. Volume 1

Richie Unterberger:

The idea of this compilation is to present obscure British recordings from the late '60s that had a definite psychedelic feel, but also had a lot of harmony pop influence at work as well. Often this led to a particularly precious branch of psychedelia dubbed (long after the fact) by some collectors as "toytown" music, in part because of a preoccupation with British character sketches, childhood nostalgia, and fantasy that was largely absent from American psychedelic rock.

There's some of that here, but fortunately this largely steers clear of excessively precious and twee material, though some of it does have the good-time bounce that leaked down to so many bands from the circa-1967 Beatles and Kinks. None of these were hits or anything close to it, of course, but some general '60s collectors might actually recognize some of the musicians, particularly the Searchers (represented by a fairly respectable, and seldom anthologized, late-'60s 45, "Umbrella Man");

Jackie Lomax, as leader of the Lomax Alliance; Los Bravos, of "Black Is Black" fame (here heard covering the Easybeats' song "Bring a Little Lovin'"); Ian Matthews, heard on the Pyramid's breezy "Summer of Last Year," recorded shortly before he joined Fairport Convention; and Hedgehoppers Anonymous and the Roulettes, both of whom had a little U.K. success on record in the '60s.

What's most impressive about this compilation, however, is that there's a fair amount of variety in the selections, encompassing an obscure Troggs cover (Barry Benson's "Cousin Jane"), almost raw folk-rock (Hedgehoppers Anonymous' "Daytime"), sub-Walker Brothers balladeering (the Virgil Brothers' "Look Away"), and nearly baroque moodiness with influence from both classical music and Beach Boys harmonies (Fred Lloyd's "Kissed Him," Dreams' "A Boy Needs a Girl," and Dave Christie's "Penelope Breedlove"). If you want more singsongy sugary stuff, that's here, too, but not so much so that listening to the CD gets to be an overly sickly sweet experience. It's definitely an anthology for deep U.K. psych specialists, but likely one of the better ones in this subgenre to ever be compiled.

Tracklist:

1. Summer Of Last Year - The Pyramid - 3:07

2. Bring A Little Lovin' - Los Bravos - 2:25

3. Kissed Him - Fred Lloyd - 2:04

4. See The People - The Lomax Alliance - 2:14

5. Cousin Jane - Barry Benson - 2:35

6. A Boy Needs A Girl - Dreams - 2:28

7. Mary Ann She - Grisby Dyke - 2:56

8. Fairy Tales Can Come True - San Francisco Earthquake - 2:29

9. Trees - Gallagher & Lyle - 2:28

10.Umbrella Man - The Searchers - 2:57

11.Penelope Breedlove - Dave Christie - 2:37

12.Nine To Five - Promise - 2:10

13.Keeping My Head Above Water - Peppermint Circus - 2:36

14.Look Away - The Virgil Brothers - 2:39

15.Upside Down Inside Out - The Snappers - 2:51

16.Pumpkin Mini - Katch 22 - 2:32

17.Just Another Wedding Day - Brian Connell And The Roundsound - 2:46

18.Saturday Town - Darlings - 1:55

19.Daytime - Hedgehoppers Anonymous - 2:28

20.Help Me To Help Myself - The Roulettes - 2:40

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                               Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. Volume 2

 

Tracklist:

 

1. Honey Do - Crackers - 2:33

2. Mr. Smith - The Foresters - 3:00

3. Meadow of My Love - The Youth - 2:35

4. Good Morning Mr. Milkman - The Starlites - 2:18

5. Look Out Girl - Lloyd Banks - 3:02

6. Never an Everyday Thing - Roek`s Family - 2:45

7. Saturday Night People - Scott Henderson - 2:07

8. I'm on My Way - Dave Andrews And The Sugar - 2:02

9. Spooky - Sasperella - 3:24

10.Driftwood - The Factotums - 2:45

11.Listen to My Heart - The Bats - 3:06

12.Unbrella - 14 - 2:12

13.Fantastic Fair - The Guards - 2:50

14.Holly Golightly - Fluff - 2:22

15.Values - Peter - 2:06

16.Fairy Cakes for Tea - Mike Quinn And The Breadcrumbs - 2:04

17.I Feel Like Going Out - Peter & Gordon - 2:38

18.I Thought You Thought - Chuckles - 2:28

19.People People - Oliver Norman - 2:42

                                               20.Gotta Find You - Rescue Co. No 1 - 3:07                                             

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Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. Volume 3

 

Tracklist:

 

1. Sight And Sound - Little Jackie Monday - 2:17

2. Winston G - Riding With The Milkman - 2:12

3. Hurbert Thomas Valverde And The HT`s - We Don`t Care - 2:31

4. Royalty - Let`s Ride - 2:51

5. Les Irresistibles - My Year Is A Day - 3:01

6. Stoics - Earth, Fire, Air And Water - 2:28

7. Grand Union - Slowly But Surely - 3:06

8. Barry Benson - I Can Wait - 2:21

9. Graham Bonney - Mixed Up Baby Girl - 1:44

10.Katch 22 - Don`t Bother - 1:59

11.My Kind Of People - Nobody Knows Why The Butterfly Died - 2:42

12.Mike Batt - Mary Goes Round - 2:15

13.The Chanters - Mississippi Paddleboat - 3:32

14.Des James - City Street - 2:24

15.Unit 4+2 - Booby Trap - 2:43

16.Tony Hazzard - The Sound Of The Candyman`s Trumpet - 2:38

17.The Newmens - What Ya Doin Down There - 3:01

18.Dave Christie - Love And The Brass Band - 2:36

19.White Lining - Back In the Sun - 3:22

20.Equipe 84 - 29th September - 2:26

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Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. Volume 4

 

Tracklist:

 

1. The Blue Sound of Love - Alan Dell - 5:00

2. Changes in Our Time - Colin Giffin - 3:18

3. The Maze of Yesterday - Projection - 2:27

4. Lonely Man - Justin's Timepiece - 2:28

5. Hiding Behind My Smile - Iberos - 2:46

6. Little Maid's Song - Sasha Caro - 2:54

7. Makin' Love to Him - Tim Andrews, Paul Korda - 2:10

8. Letter to Josephine - Haystack - 2:49

9. Heart Trouble - Eyes Of Blue - 2:33

10.I Feel No Pain - Newby - 2:34

11.Movie Star - Cherry Smash - 3:14

12.We've Got a Groovy Thing Going - Ola And The Janglers - 2:15

13.Latisha - Dave Berry - 2:31

14.Maker of Mistakes - Chris Andrews - 2:37

15.Wish You Were Here - Darlings - 3:03

16.Six Angels & Three Girls - Modus Vivendi - 2:34

17.We All Love the Human Race - Wayne Fontana - 2:02

18.She Does - Plastic Penny - 3:05

19.I Don't Want You (Any More) - John Burness - 2:06

20.Morning - Jack Carter - 2:17

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Various Artists - Fairytales Can Come True. Volume 5

 

Tracklist:

  01. Sleepy - Mrs. Bailey's Barbecue And Grill 

 02. Francis Lai - Keep It Cool 

 03. Mec Op Singers - Stop The Machine 

 04. The Rokes - Ride On 

 05. Pattersons - I Can Fly 

 06. Dorian And The Mackensies - Stay With Me 

 07. Love Affair - She Smiled Sweetly 

 08. Katch 22 - Baby Love 

 09. Spacetrack - Steppin' Through An Empty Time 

 10. Dave Anthony's Moods - Fading Away 

 11. Rifkin - Continental Hesitation 

 12. Crown's Clan - No Place For Our Minds 

 13. David McNeil - My Love 

 14. Merseys - The Cat 

 15. Sound Network - How About Now 

 16. Malcolm Holland - Dawning Of The Day 

 17. The Rattles - Mister, Keep Your Hands Off My Sister 

 18. Wishful Thinking - She Belongs To The Night 

 19. Keith Field - The Day That Was Broke Out 

 20. Montanas - Hey Diddle Diddle 

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