I Said, She Said, Ah Cid: With this delightfully offbeat release, Cherry Red's Grapefruit label has turned in one of the year's most intriguing releases.  Ah cid, or acid, is in the air on this trippy 3-CD jaunt through the vaults of Alshire Records, the California-based budget label best known for the long-running 101 Strings series.  As the subtitle - The Exploito Psych World of Alshire Records 1967-1971 - indicates, this set is focused squarely on the brief period in which Al Sherman's company turned its attention to courting the counterculture.  While the records may have been cheap, the musicianship from the cream of L.A.'s session crop was certainly not, so the albums and tracks collected on this set have held up remarkably well.

The first disc of this collection brings together two efforts from the 101 Strings along with the self-titled LP by The Animated Egg.  The latter - an instrumental affair drenched in semi-psychedelic organ and electric guitar - was actually the work of Jerry Cole and His Spacemen, and according to some sources, derived from outtakes recorded for their RCA album The Inner Sounds of the Id.  If the LP isn't as mind-blowing it as sounds ("'T'omorrow" takes The Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" as its obvious starting point) it's an enjoyable romp through garage-style proto-psychedelic rockers. "Sock it to Me" actually comes close to anticipating real psychedelia.  But it gets better.  Alshire repurposed the Animated Egg's recordings as a 101 Strings LP in the wake of the success of the campy Jane Fonda sci-fi vehicle Barbarella.  Overdubbing strings, adding phase shifting, and retitling the songs in spacey mode ("Barrier X-69," "Trippin' on Lunar '07," "Re-entry to Mog," and "A Disappointing Love with a Desensitized Robot" among them), arranger Monty Kelly created Astro-Sounds from Beyond the Year 2000.  It was released in January 1969, just one month after the original Animated Egg LP - and both of these far-out confections are included here.  Adding to the fun is a second Living Strings affair, 1967's Sounds of Today, with a few original songs in between suitably groovy lounge renditions of "Ode to Billie Joe," "California Dreamin'," "A Whiter Shade of Pale," "Never My Love," and other pop hits.

The second disc focuses on The California Poppy Pickers, one of the most prolific (and intriguing) acts on the Alshire roster.  In a six-month period in 1969 and 1970, the group released four albums - even though the last of them wasn't the work of the same band.  The Bakersfield Poppy Pickers, as they were first known, were led by singer-songwriter Kenny Johnson under the aegis of maverick producer Gary S. Paxton in the country haven of Bakersfield, California.  Sounds of '69, Hair-Aquarius (cashing in on the hit Broadway musical) and Today's Chart Busters were all the work of the original group (an in-house band for Paxton's studio), and as was Alshire custom, featured both covers and original songs (vocals and instrumentals).

The quality of these albums was surprisingly high enough that Billboard even allotted coverage to Hair-Aquarius despite its budget origins.  Twenty tracks have been culled from these three LPs, including better-than-average covers of chart hits and favorites from the Beatles songbook ("Get Back," "Yellow Submarine," "Back in the USSR"), plus "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Hushabye" (sounding rather like Jay and the Americans), and, of course, "Hair" and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," the latter based on the 5th Dimension's arrangement but with a rock edge.  The Pickers get extra points for having covered the Fabs' "Why Don't We Do It in the Road," hardly an obvious selection.  But pop fans will likely be most excited to discover the strong originals that populated the albums such as the muscular, late Beatles-esque "Come Back," persuasive "Clean Up Your Own Backyard," effervescent "Sunshine Summer Days" and pretty "It's Written All Over My Face."

But when Gary S. Paxton fell out with Al Sherman, the impresario staked claim to the Poppy Pickers name, and assembled a new unit to record Honky Tonk Women, from which another four songs have been reprised here.  The new unit was the band called Wilson McKinley, and the sessions were produced by none other than ex-Raiders Phil "Fang" Volk and Drake Levin!  The name was occasionally revived thereafter by Alshire, including for a cover of "Spirit in the Sky" that appeared only on a compilation album.

Finally, the third disc is an Alshire and related label potpourri, as if the first two discs didn't already prove that pop gold could arrive in the unlikeliest of places.  Stylistically, these 25 tracks are all over the place, from freakout classical adaptations (the "Sabre Dance" and "Mozart's Dilemma" from John Bunyan's Progressive Pilgrims) to more pop covers (The Heads of the Family's - get it, Heads? - recording of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lodi," the 101 Strings' "All You Need is Love") and even an attempt to recast the late Hank Williams' songs into psychedelic rock style (The Modern Sound's "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and "Kaw-Liga").  Some songs are straightforward, like Autumn's harmony pop gems "My Little Girl" and "Sun Sunshine," while others, such as Jane and Eve and the Creations' "Street King," are suitably off-kilter.  Even the 101 Strings pushed the envelope a la Serge Gainsbourg with the steamy squeals during "Whiplash" and, tellingly, "Instant Nirvana."  Instead of Brigitte Bardot, the female vocalist was one "Bebe Bardon."  Many of these off-the-wall tracks were the work of Jack Dorsey, a Pye Records veteran from the U.K. who became Alshire's musical director and head of A&R in 1969.  Dorsey spearheaded releases under quirky names like Capt. Skid Marks (a pseudonym for the band Amalgamation utilized by Dorsey so the band wouldn't realize the music had been issued) and Doctor Marigold's Prescription (an actual group from East London).

This loving and exceedingly zany compilation, compiled and annotated by David Wells, ends at 1971, though Alshire Records pressed on, mainly as an outlet for 101 Strings.  It's been remastered by Simon Murphy at Another Planet Music.  The three discs are housed in a clamshell case along with a 30-page book boasting detailed information on the Alshire story and the artists represented.  I Said, She Said, Ah Cid is an enjoyable look at how one label's exploitative cash-ins became unwitting and often delightful art.  It's available now at the links below!

Various Artists, I Said, She Said, Ah Cid: The Exploito Psych World of Alshire Records 1967-71 (Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEGBOX042, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

The Animated Egg (Alshire LP S 5104, 1968)

1. A Love Built on Sand
2. Inside Looking Out
3. I Said, She Said, Ah Cid
4. "T"omorrow
5. Sure Listic
6. Sippin' and Trippin'
7. Dark
8. Down, Down, and Gone
9. Sock It My Way
10. That's How It Is

101 Strings, Sounds of Today (Alshire LP S 5078, 1967)

11. Ode to Billie Joe
12. I'm a Man
13. Karma Sitar
14. California Dreamin'
15. Stone Baroque
16. San Francisco (Flowers in Your Hair)
17. A Whiter Shade of Pale
18. Blues for the Guru
19. Never My Love
20. Strings for Ravi

101 Strings, Astro-Sounds from Beyond the Year 2000 (Alshire LP S 5119, 1969)

21. Flameout
22. Re-Entry to Mog
23. Space Odyssey
24. Astral Freakout
25. Orbit Fantasy
26. Barrier X-69
27. A Disappointing Love with a Desensitized Robot
28. Trippin' on Lunar 07
29. Where Were You in 1982?
30. A Bad Trip Back to '69

CD 2: The California Poppy Pickers

1. Wipe Out '69
2. Come Back
3. Clean Up Your Own Backyard
4. Crystal Blue Persuasion
5. Bun Buster
6. Why Don't We Do It in the Road
7. Sunshine Summer Days
8. Get Back
9. Do Ya Do Ya
10. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
11. Hair
12. It's Written All Over My Face
13. Horsefly
14. Special Delivery
15. Back in the USSR
16. Augie from Bakersfield
17. Hushabye
18. Yellow Submarine
19. With Vigor
20. Narrow People
21. Blues for Berkeley Street People
22. Spirit in the Sky
23. Born on the Bayou
24. Get Together
25. Brick Walls
26. Honky Tonk Women

CD 3

1. Sabre Dance - John Bunyan's Progressive Pilgrims
2. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It - Modern Sounds
3. My Little Girl - Autumn
4. Troubled People - The Heads of the Family
5. Visions of a Hobo - Dr. Marigold's Prescription
6. Golden Gate Freakout - The Mustang
7. Thing's Thing - Icarus
8. Street King - Jane and Eve and the Creations
9. Mozart's Dilemma - John Bunyan's Progressive Pilgrims
10. Chick-a-Boom - Capt. Skid Marks
11. Land of Fusan - Dr. Marigold's Prescription
12. Pigeon - Brownhill Stamp Duty
13. Sun Sunshine - Autumn
14. Space Out - John Bunyan's Progressive Pilgrims
15. Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Modern Sounds
16. Lodi - The Heads of the Family
17. Haight Ashbury Time - The Mustang
18. Can't You See That I'm Right? (Get Along Without Me) - Dr. Marigold's Prescription
19. Love is a Thing - Icarus
20. Apricot Brandy - John Bunyan's Progressive Pilgrims
21. Kaw-Liga - Modern Sounds
22. More Than Now - Jane and Eve and the Creations
23. Time Me Down (Casanova) - Dr. Marigold's Prescription
24. Whiplash - 101 Strings and Bebe Bardon
25. Instant Nirvana - 101 Strings and Bebe Bardon
26. All You Need is Love - 101 Strings

CD 2, Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 19 from Sounds of '69, Alshire LP S 5152, 1969
CD 2, Tracks 3, 7, 10-12, 15, 20 from Hair-Aquarius, Alshire LP S 5153, 1969
CD 2, Tracks 4, 8, 13-14, 16-17, 21 from Today's Chart Busters, Alshire LP S 5163, 1969
CD 2, Track 22 from Top Chart Hits of Today Vol. 4, Alshire LP S 5197. 1970
CD 2, Tracks 23-26 from Honky Tonk Women, Alshire LP S 5167, 1969
CD 3, Tracks 1, 9, 14, 20 from Apricot Brandy and Albatross, Alshire LP S 5154, 1969
CD 3, Tracks 2, 15, 21 from Famous Songs of Hank Williams - A Return Trip with Modern Sound, Alshire LP S 5136, 1969
CD 3, Tracks 3 & 13 from Pye single 7N 45090, 1971
CD 3, Tracks 4 & 16 from The Heads of the Family Play and Sing, Alshire LP S 5166, 1969
CD 3, Tracks 5, 11, 18, 23 from Dr. Marigold's Prescription Play and Sing, Alshire LP S 5159, 1969
CD 3, Tracks 6 & 17 from Organ Freakout! A Happening with the Mustang!, Somerset LP SF 28600, 1968
CD 3, Tracks 7 & 19 from Grit single G 102, 1971
CD 3, Tracks 8 & 22 from Alshire A/S single 4501, 1967
CD 3, Track 10 from Pye single 7N 45083, 1971
CD 3, Track 12 from Grit single G 103, 1971
CD 3, Tracks 24-25 from The Exotic Sounds of Love, Alshire LP A/S 201, 1970
CD 3, Track 26 from Hits Written by The Beatles, Alshire LP S 5111, 1968