By this fifth installment, it had already become quite clear the logic that reissue label
Gear Fab
used to put together the CDs in its
Psychedelic States
series. The modus operandi entails recovering as many obscurities and unknowns as possible from the maw of the '60s on a regional basis and presenting them, for better or worse, to the public no frills. If rather more than fewer of the songs tend to lean toward the "for worse" side of the spectrum, so be it. Even the stinkers tend to be loveable in their hormonal, beetle-booted, eczematous mediocrity, instant time capsules to transport the listener to a halcyon
rock
era when virtually every suburban garage and Elks club came stocked with its own
Beatles
or
Rolling Stones
manque no matter how remote or unlikely the region in which they were situated. In the case of this entry in the series, those garages were located in tumultuous Alabama, a hotbed for political turmoil during the era, yes, but not usually considered a haven for
. With this album, though, Alabama teens quite famously make a case for their state. There are really no out-and-out lost classics here as on other
CDs, but the hack, adenoidal, insolent misses are actually fewer per capita than the intriguing-to-wonderful cuts (tracks by
the Versatiles
,
the Rites of Spring
Randy & the Holidays
the Seeds of Time
, and
the Rockin' Rebellions
are particularly worthwhile, if not all
psychedelic
), a nice flip-flop of prevailing
States
ratios. One can almost listen to the album clean through, a high recommendation indeed. More than the other CDs in the series, this collection has a heavy
R&B
and
blues
flavor, quite natural for music that originates in the Deep South, which perhaps accounts for its maintenance, for longer stretches of playing time, of a more distinct and gritty spunk. Finally, it should be said that
provides the featured artists with compensation and credit, often for the first time. That in itself makes
Alabama in the 60,s, Vol. 1
a worthwhile relic for those dedicated to the
music of the era. ~ Stanton Swihart