People think all the music ever made can be found online. Sorry to say: It just ain’t true. For one reason or another, tons of great shit ends up falling through the cracks of time and landing in the dustbin of history.
Thankfully, the crate-digging fanatics behind this series are here to help. They rescue some of the choicest rock obscurities from the late ’60s and early ’70s, clean them up and compile them into the essential Brown Acid collections. Like its 13 predecessors, The Fourteenth Trip is a mega-dose of awesomeness — in the form of nine long-lost nuggets of top-shelf hard rock, heavy psych and proto-metal. Unless you spend most of your life (and money) sifting through used-record bins and listings looking for sonic needles in historical haystacks, I doubt you’ve heard any of these tracks. I know I haven’t. But trust me, you need to. From the Hendrix-inspired wah-wah funk-rock of The Legends’ Fever Games and the organ-topped propulsion of Liquid Blue’s Henry Can’t Drive to the hard-hitting choogle of San Francisco Trolley Co.’s Signs and Raven’s shapeshifting epic Raven Mad Jam — complete with drum solo! — every one of these cuts is a quintessential example of fringe-vested, head-banded, bell-bottomed hippie-rock magnificence. And, perhaps more importantly, another gem saved from the dustbin. Turn on, turn up, etc.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “One of the best thrills of the Internet music revolution is the ability to find extremely rare music with great ease. But even with such vast archives to draw from, quite a lot of great songs have gone undiscovered for nearly half a century — particularly in genres that lacked hifalutin arty pretense.
Previously, only the most extremely dedicated and passionate record collectors had the stamina and prowess to hunt down long-forgotten wonders in dusty record bins. Those who did often hoarded them in private collections or sold them at ridiculous collector’s prices. Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, etc. ad nauseam, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks collected on Brown Acid.
Lance Barresi, owner of L.A.’s Permanent Records and the Permanent Records Roadhouse, has shown incredible persistence in tracking down a stellar collection of rare singles from the ’60s and ’70s for the growing compilation series. Partnered with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, the two have assembled a selection of songs that’s hard to believe have remained unheard for so long.
“I essentially go through hell and high water just to find these records,” Barresi says. “Once I find a record worthy of tracking, I begin the (sometimes) extremely arduous process of contacting the band members and encouraging them to take part. Daniel and I agree that licensing all the tracks we’re using for Brown Acid is best for everyone involved,” rather than simply bootlegging the tracks. When all of the bands and labels haven’t existed for 30-40 years or more, tracking down the creators gives all of these tunes a real second chance at success.
“There’s a long list of songs that we’d love to include,” Barresi says. “But we just can’t track the bands down. I like the idea that Brown Acid is getting so much attention, so people might reach out to us.”
