Though these second & third albums from the Watchband include tracks reportedly not featuring the band, whoever did play on them still produced a real psychedelic experience and here it is, off master tape and on CD, for the first time
Formed in 1964, the Chocolate Watch Band were initially a tough band playing gritty British style R&B. By the time they made their second and third albums - 1967s Inner Mystique and '69s One Step Beyond (both originally on Tower Records) their sound fell somewhere between the punk of San Jose and the psychedelia of San Francisco. Following the release of their third album, the band promptly split up and, though, they attempted a revival in 1970, barely lasted a month together before calling it a day for good. The band's own mystique, of course, has been helped by this untimely denouement. Also, the low-key artwork, vague or non-existent personnel and production credits on album covers like Inner Mystique (this, too, in an era of flamboyant design and excessive name-checking). Even, more bizarrely, they do not appear on many of the recordings issued under their name (in fact, the band did not appear at all on the first side of Inner Mystique, which comprises 2 mood-cum-raga instrumentals, written by Ed Cobb, and a cover version of We The People's In The Past). Did somebody say the'60s were weird or what?! Whatever, the Chocolate Watch Band are fab and groovy and always One Step Beyond and this CD pulls together 2 great albums on this big value 2-on-l CD.
