Spaced Out: The Story Of Mushroom Records is two-disc CD collection released in 2017 that serves as a retrospective for London's Mushroom Records label. It features a track by The Liverpool Fishermen, and was released by Grapefruit Records, a division of Cherry Red Records Ltd.
The CDs are accompanied by an 19-page booklet that features the entire history of the label, as well as album artwork and related advertisements.
The tracks "Dandelion Blues" by Jon Betmead, "Lark in the Morning" by Heather, Adrian & John, "The Ould Triangle" by The Liverpool Fishermen, and "Hi Germany" by Mappa Tandi appear on The Mushroom Folk Sampler LP.
"The Ould Triangle" by The Liverpool Fishermen also appears on Swallow the Anchor.
"Hi Germany" is mistakenly credited as "High Germany."
- MSRP: £11.99
Spaced Out: The Story Of Mushroom Records is available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon, and iTunes Apple Music.
Official Description[]
MUSHROOM RECORDS was founded in London’s Chalk Farm district in 1970 by producer Vic Keary, an experienced industry veteran who’d spent most of the 1960s working as Maximum Sound Productions.
Over the course of three years, Mushroom issued a dizzying variety of records, embracing a broad range of music styles from Prog Rock (Second Hand, Chillum) to Singer-Songwriters (Simon Finn, Andreas Thomopoulos), Traditional Folk (Callinan-Flynn, The Liverpool Fishermen), Indian music (Pandit Kanwar Sain Trikha, Nitai Dasgupta), avant garde jazz (Lol Coxhill) and world music (Les Flambeaux). And in Magic Carpet, Mushroom hosted a group who reflected most of the above genres on one album.
SPACED OUT is the first-ever compilation to tell the story of Mushroom from its roots in the psychedelic era and its evolution across the early 1970s. With a foreword and involvement from label boss Vic Keary, this double-CD set reveals how Mushroom epitomised the excitement and diversity of the progressive era.
While Disc 1 offers a cross-section of Mushroom’s eclectic output, the second CD dips back into Mushroom’s pre-history with an exhaustive mix of music overseen by Maximum Productions. From Swinging London tunes by Tuesday’s Children to Mod classics from The Attraction, Psychedelia from future Mushroom act Second Hand, as well as Felius Andromeda and Denis Couldry, funky soul from Mel Turner, several Femme Pop rarities (Angelina, The New Faces, The Carolines) and post-Mushroom curios from the likes of Andromeda, this is the ultimate tribute to this cult British label.
Artwork comes courtesy of noted designer Phil Smee, whose impressive collection of Mushroom Records ephemera is reproduced in the booklet. And the sleeve-notes by Grapefruit’s own David Wells finally tell the story of this hitherto undocumented chapter from the underground scene.
Tracklisting[]
Disc One: Mushroom Label[]
| Track | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Folk Piece in Kharwa | Pandit Kanwar Sain Trikha | 4:38 |
| 2 | Evil Ways | Les Flambeaux | 4:10 |
| 3 | Hangin' on An Eyelid | Second Hand | 4:21 |
| 4 | Fortune for the Finder | Callinan-Flynn | 3:43 |
| 5 | Dandelion Blues | Jon Betmead | 3:59 |
| 6 | Where's Your Master Gone? | Simon Finn | 3:15 |
| 7 | Or Alternatively Nine | Lol Coxhill | 3:29 |
| 8 | Lark in the Morning | Heather Adrian & John | 2:44 |
| 9 | False Eyelashes | Andreas Thomopoulos | 4:25 |
| 10 | Cham Cham Cham Cham | Nitai Dasgupta | 3:41 |
| 11 | Funeral | Second Hand | 3:02 |
| 12 | We Are the People (The Road to Derry Town) | Callinan-Flynn | 3:55 |
| 13 | Report to the Sad Lady | Andreas Thomopoulos | 4:21 |
| 14 | The Ould Triangle | The Liverpool Fishermen | 1:47 |
| 15 | High Germany | Mappa Tandi | 2:34 |
| 16 | Land of a Thousand Dreams | Chillum | 1:23 |
| 17 | Puckaree | Urban Clearway | 5:12 |
| 18 | Don't Wait Till the Morning | Gordon, Ellis & Steele | 4:54 |
| 19 | The Phoenix | Magic Carpet | 3:19 |
| 20 | Take to the Skies | Second Hand | 2:07 |
| 21 | Jerusalem | Simon Finn | 6:45 |
Disco Two: Vic Keary's Maximum Sound Productions[]
| Track | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Party Line | The Attraction | 2:23 |
| 2 | Summer Leaves Me with a Sigh | Tuesday's Children | 2:45 |
| 3 | She's That Kind of Woman | John Williams | 2:29 |
| 4 | See See Rider | Alexis Korner (also credited as Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated) | 2:18 |
| 5 | James in the Basement | Denis Couldry | 2:50 |
| 6 | Cheadle Heath Delusions | Felius Andromeda | 2:46 |
| 7 | The World Will End Yesterday | Second Hand | 3:51 |
| 8 | Rainbow Chasing | Andromeda | 2:46 |
| 9 | Knock on Wood | Oliver Bone | 2:33 |
| 10 | Wishing My Life Away | Angelina | 2:11 |
| 11 | My Ways Are Set | John Williams | 2:35 |
| 12 | A Strange Light from the East | Tuesday's Children | 2:25 |
| 13 | Love Made a Fool of Me | The Carolines | 2:36 |
| 14 | Jungle Harlem | Mel Turner | 2:19 |
| 15 | She's a Girl | The Attraction | 2:38 |
| 16 | Taboo Man | Alexis Korner | 2:20 |
| 17 | Ramblin' Boy | John Williams | 4:27 |
| 18 | After the Storm | Andromeda | 3:34 |
| 19 | I Am Nearly There | Denis Couldry & the Next Collection | 3:19 |
| 20 | Meditations | Felius Andromeda | 4:10 |
| 21 | Never Gonna Love Again | New Faces | 2:49 |
| 22 | Chasing Shadows | Mark Leeman Five | 2:11 |
| 23 | Come on, Be Mine | The Cherokees | 1:53 |
| 24 | White Christmas | Mel Turner | 2:43 |
| 25 | Reality | Second Hand | 8:15 |
Back Cover Text[]
One of the most collectable British labels of the early Seventies, the North London-based Mushroom Records was responsible for issuing an eclectic blend of acid folk, free jazz, Indian music and progressive rock that reflected the freedom and diversity at the heart of the local underground community. This first-ever anthology of the label features vital music from the highly-regarded likes of Magic Carpet, Second Hand, Simon Finn and Andreas Thomopoulos, while the accompanying booklet details the full Mushroom story with extensive quotes and a forewrod from label/studio owner/producer/engineer Vic Keary. The package also includes a bonus disc of Vic's most essnetial non-Mushroom productions, largely dating from the mid-to-late Sixties, and featuring contributions from such collector-friendly names as Felius Andromeda, Tuesday's Children, John Williams, The Mark Leeman Five and Alexis Korner.
Feature[]
This item was featured in the Redwall Collectors Community series.
Spotify[]
Stream Spaced Out: The Story Of Mushroom Records on Spotify below, or by clicking here.
Note: The track "See See Rider" by Alexis Korner does not appear in the streaming version.
Stream "The Ould Triangle" by The Liverpool Fishermen on Spotify below, or by clicking here.