Welcome to Part Two of our RPM Records Round-Up!  Part One put a spotlight on the Cherry Red imprint's recent releases from Welsh-born vocalist Maureen Evans and the New Zealand pop-psych band, The Avengers.  Today, we're looking at Germany's The Boots, and a collection of Sweden's finest rockers circa 1964-1968!  Don't miss out on Part One, either.  You can read it right here!

RPM's international tour continues with a complete release from Germany's The Boots.  Beat! The Complete Telefunken Years collects, on two CDs, 38 tracks from the R&B-rooted rockers recorded between 1965 and 1967 on the Telefunken label including two albums and various singles.

After some early personnel changes, The Boots' line-up solidified with Bob Bresser (bass), Ulli Grün (keyboards), Heinz Hoff (drums), Werner Krabbe (vocals) and Jörg Schulte-Eckel (guitar) by the time of their debut album Here are the Boots in 1965.  Formed in West Berlin, the band attracted audiences through their blues-drenched live performances, inspired by The Rolling Stones and the Stones' own heroes, such as John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf.  Here are the Boots was recorded with no overdubs, capturing the raw, primal energy of their onstage appearances on songs from Doug Sahm ("She's About a Mover"), Them (Van Morrison's "Gloria" and the blues standard "Baby Please Don't Go"), John Lee Hooker ("Dimples" and "Boogie Children"), Bo Diddley ("Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut") and even the Gershwins ("It Ain't Necessarily So" from Porgy and Bess).  Disc One features this album in full along with garage-style reinventions of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," Bacharach and David's dramatic "Another Tear Falls," and the Pretty Things-esque original song "Gaby" - all of which were originally issued on 45.  "Hey, Hey, Hey," a 1966 recording first released in 1998, rounds out this disc.

The second disc of RPM's set opens with the complete 1967 album Beat with the Boots.  The LP showcased a new member (Jacques Eckhard, replacing Werner Krabbe), one fill-in member (Ingo Cramer, subbing for Jörg Schulte-Eckel) and an updated, mod-soul sound.  Five songs penned by Sanford Alexander were foisted upon The Boots by Telefunken, as Alexander was signed to the label's publishing department.   Songs by James Brown, Allen Toussaint, Wilson Pickett, and Booker T. and the MG's were also featured on this uptempo, storming set.  Unfortunately, The Beats were plagued by creative differences as Eckhard left the group.  Three singles were released by the Dutch branch of Philips Records with a new line-up in 1968-1969, and then Eckhard took the name of The Boots for another pair of singles after that.  But The Boots' story was basically over.  Disc Two completes the Telefunken years with three live tracks first issued in 1965 and one recorded that year but released in 1998.  The surviving members of The Boots reunited in 2005, but the most potent reminder of their legacy remains in the music they left behind.  This set has new liner notes from Kieron Tyler as well as remastering by Simon Murphy.

Moving over to Sweden, RPM has another 2-CD set: Svenska Shakers: R&B Crunchers, Freakbeat and Psych-Pop from Sweden 1964-1968.  This collection takes its cue from the 1984 anthology Searchin' for Shakes, a collection of Sweden's best and most rocking tracks from the mid-1960s.  Svenska Shakers reprises five tracks from that seminal LP and bolsters them with a further 36 songs from the same time period, all from the vaults of Warner Music/Parlophone.

Some of the bands included on this new anthology have already received their own collections from RPM, including The Lee Kings and The Hep Stars.  Compiler/co-producer Kieron Tyler notes in the booklet that "between 1954 and 1969, 187 bands and solo artists from Stockholm made records."  Svenska Shakers emphasizes the hard-edged R&B/mod stylings of these artists such as Annaabee-Nox, Namelosers, and Science Poption.  Many popular songs out of the U.S. and U.K. got the shakin' Swedish treatment, including The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" by Annaabee-Nox; Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Back Door Man" by The Shakers and The Best, respectively; The Great Society/Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" by The Cheers, and Chris Kenner's "Land of 1,000 Dances" by Namelosers.  The latter group also covered Andrew Loog Oldham and Keith Richards' "All I Want is My Baby."  Mikael Rickfors, later to replace Allan Clarke in The Hollies, wrote and sings "Touch" from his band Bamboo (one of two tracks from the group), while Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, later of ABBA, co-wrote The Hep Stars' "A Flower in My Garden."

Svenska Shakers shows the breadth and diversity of Sweden's young bands during this incredibly fertile creative period.  Simon Murphy has again remastered.   Both this title and The Boots' Beat! The Complete Telefunken Years are available now at the links below!

The Boots, Beat! The Complete Telefunken Years (RPM WRETRO D978, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Here Are The Boots (Telefunken SLE 14399-P, 1965) plus bonus tracks

1. She's About a Mover
2. Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
3. Gloria
4. It Ain't Necessarily So
5. Got Love If You Want It
6. But You Never Do It, Babe
7. Enchanted Sea
8. Baby, Please Don't Go
9. Whatcha You Gonna Do About It
10. I Remember When I Loved Her
11. Jump Back Baby
12. Dimples
13. Boogie Children
14. Remember (Walking in the Sand)
15. In the Midnight Hour (Telefunken single U 55 924, 1966)
16. Watch Your Step (Telefunken single U 55 924, 1966)
17. Gaby (Telefunken single U 55 947, 1966)
18. Another Tear Falls (Telefunken single U 55 947, 1966)
19. Aber Ich Blieb Kuhl (from Telefunken LP SLE 14439-P, 1966)
20. Hey Hey Hey (Der Sinn Des Lebens) (rec. 1966, rel. 1998)

CD 2: Beat With The Boots (Telefunken SLE 14457-P, 1967) plus bonus tracks

1. Searching Days
2. It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World
3. I Feel Good
4. It Was a Private Affair
5. I Can Not Believe
6. Barefootin'
7. Green Onions
8. Alexander
9. Do You Really Know
10. Get Out of My Life, Woman
11. Don't Fight It
12. I Don't Want to Go On Without You
13. Comin' Home
14. Out of Sight
15. Crazy Enough for Me (Spoonful) (from Live at the Liverpool No. 1, Telefunken SLE 14396-P, 1965)
16. You're Gonna Wreck My Life (from Live at the Liverpool No. 1, Telefunken SLE 14396-P, 1965)
17. I Wish You Would (from Live at the Liverpool No. 1, Telefunken SLE 14396-P, 1965)
18. One More Time (live at The Liverpool Hoop, 1965, rel. 1998)

Various Artists, Svenska Shakers: R&B Crunchers, Freakbeat and Psych-Pop from Sweden 1964-1968 (RPM WRETRO D981, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. The Man You'll Be Looking For - Tages (Bildjournalens flexidisc, 1966)
2. The Kids Are Alright - Annaabee-Nox (Columbia DS 2304, 1966)
3. Land of 1,000 Dances - Namelosers (Columbia DS 2286, 1965)
4. Let Me Show You Who I Am - Shanes (Columbia LP SSX 1011, 1964)
5. Hurt by Love - Deans (Telefunken US 441, 1966)
6. On My Way - The Lee Kings (Bildjournalens flexidisc, 1966)
7. Maybe by Love - IQ 69 (Decca F 44509, 1966)
8. Daddy Rolling Stone - Horanges (Odeon SD 5992, 1966)
9. Come On - Moonjacks (Decca F 44439, 1965)
10. Vat 66 Theme - Vat 66 (Olga SO 26, 1966)
11. Do-Ao - Namelosers Bildjournalens flexidisc, 1966)
12. Baby I Want to Know - Fools (Olga SO 26, 1966)
13. Hoochie Coochie Man - Shakers (Odeon SD 5976, 1965)
14. I'm Not Talking - Annaabee-Nox (Columbia DS 2290, 1965)
15. It's Gonna Work Out Fine - Yardleys (Decca F 44505, 1965)
16. I Guess So - The Acts (Olga SO 23, 1966)
17. Back Door Man - The Bests (Columbia DS 2292, 1966)
18. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - The Sleepstones (Columbia DS 2282, 1966)
19. Mister Mystified - Evil Eyes (Decca F 44524, 1967)
20. The Dog - Namelosers (Columbia DS 2261, 1965)
21. All I Want is My Baby - Shakers (Odeon SD 5985, 1965)

CD 2

1. Bo Bo Boogie Pack - Annaabee-Nox (Bildjournalens flexidisc, 1966)
2. I Want to Live - Mascots (Decca F 44581, 1966)
3. Monica - Science Poption (Glasyra 800EP 45, 1967)
4. Don't Run and Hide - Stringtones (Decca F 77502, 1966)
5. Misery is Such a Mystery - John Julian and Curt-Gorans (source unknown)
6. Smiling - Darling (Parlophone SD 6022, 1968)
7. Touch - Bamboo (Parlophone SD 6047, 1968)
8. A Flower in My Garden - The Hep Stars (Olga SOH 26, 1966)
9. I Set a Fire - Science Poption (Columbia DS 2360, 1967)
10. Fantasy Island - Tages (Parlophone SD 6036, 1968)
11. Anna Be Nice - Annaabee-Nox (Columbia DS 2388, 1968)
12. Don't Want You No More - Long Johns (Parlophone SD 6049, 1968)
13. Always on My Mind - Annaabee-Nox (Columbia DS 2388, 1968)
14. Let Love Come Between Us - Attractions (Columbia DS 2380)
15. Everybody's Gone Home - Bamboo (Parlophone SD 6031, 1968)
16. You've Got Me High - Science Poption (Columbia DS 2322, 1966)
17. No One Beside Me- Darling (Parlophone SD 6022, 1968)
18. James - T-Boones (Decca F 44533, 1968)
19. Somebody to Love - The Cheers (Decca F 44542, 1968)
20. I Want You - T-Boones (Decca F 44533, 1968)