Oldish Psych and Prog

Side one
"Martin Luther King's Dream" (Dave Cousins) – 2:53
"The Antique Suite" (Cousins) – 12:12
"The Reaper"
"We Must Cross the River"
"Antiques and Curios"
"Hey It's Been a Long Time"
"Temperament of Mind" (Rick Wakeman) – 4:50
Side two
"Fingertips" (Cousins) – 6:14
"Song of a Sad Little Girl" (Cousins) – 5:28
"Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth" (Cousins) – 9:07
Bonus tracks on the A&M re-issue:
"The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake" (Cousins) – 10:03
"We'll Meet Again Sometime" (Cousins) – 4:17
"Forever" (Cousins, Tony Hooper) – 3:32

Dave Cousins – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dulcimer
Tony Hooper – vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine
Rick Wakeman – piano, organ, harpsichord, celeste
John Ford – vocals, bass guitar
Richard Hudson – vocals, congas, percussion, sitar

1. Glimpse Of Heaven (3:53)
2. Witchwood (3:26)
3. Thirty Days (2:55)
4. Flight (4:27)
5. The Hangman And The Papist (4:14)
6. Sheep (4:16)
7. Canon Dale (3:49)
8. The Shepherd's Song (4:35)
9. In Amongst The Roses (3:50)
10. I'll Carry On Beside You (3:11)
Bonus tracks (A&M re-issue only)
11. Let's Keep The Devil Outside (3:05)
b-side of withdrawn Witchwood single and Benedictus single, previously appeared on Halcyon Days (UK version).

Dave Cousins / vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, dulcimer, recorder
Tony Hooper / vocals, acoustic guitar, autoharp, tambourine
Rick Wakeman / organ, clavinet, piano, electric piano, harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog, celeste
Richard Hudson / drums, sitar, vocals, snare drums
John Ford / bass, vocals, guitar

This Glendale, California-based band was originally known as the Irridescents, a surf combo with one 45 in 1963, and later as Thee Sixpence who issued several 45s under this name. The name change came with the release of the 45 Incense And Peppermints because of other similarly-named groups. This was picked up by UNI and the rest is history as they say. Strawberry Alarm Clock were very much a product of their era and their commercial brand of psychedelia was more acceptable to the general public than that of the more interesting underground bands. Like The Seeds they were very much geared to the flower power scene, and both bands were featured in a cult movie of that era, Psych-Out. One advantage they possessed over The Seeds was their catchy name, although later with the demise of flower power, this would prove to be more of a disadvantage. Efforts the band made to tailor themselves a 'psychedelic' image are evident from the apparel they wore on the front cover of their best album Incense and Peppermints, which was released on Pye (28106) in the UK. Aside from the ultra-commercial title track, this contained a number of prominently instrumental quasi-psychedelic jams, with Mark Weitz's organ usually to the fore.

Further albums and more hits followed before The Strawberry Alarm Clock became a victim of the changing times. Ed King later played with Lynryd Skynyrd. A 1981 line-up was reported gigging around California. A good introduction to the band is the 1987 compilation Strawberries Mean Love.

(Vernon Joynson / Max Waller)

Stories were formed after Michael Brown had left the Left Banke and Montage. After two album, he left Stories, who disbanded after one further album. Ian Lloyd then went solo, Bryan Madey would play with the Earl Slick Band and Stephen Love went on to join Rick Nelson and later the New Riders Of The Purple Sage.

(Stephane Rebeschini)