Rock Icons: Psychedelic High

While Thunderclap Newman ("Something in the Air") might be an appropriate choice for a collection entitled One Hit Wonders, neither "rock icon" nor "psychedelic high" (the "something" isn't even weed, it's revolution) seem quite accurate, nomenclature-wise. Of the 11 early performance clips collected here, a few acts qualify as verifiable head trip bands: Crazy World of Arthur Brown ("Fire"), Small Faces ("Itchycoo Park"--on my personal all-time favorite list), and Blue Cheer ("Summertime Blues"--I confess my early adolescent black light illuminated room was a semi-shrine to Blue Cheer). Beyond that the argument gets a little shaky, jake: The Byrds ("So You Want to Be a Rock 'n Roll Star" and "Eight Miles High"--although on my pre-release copy, what's called "Eight Miles High" was nothing of the sort but some unrelated instrumental), Moody Blues ("Nights in White Satins"), The Who ("Happy Jack"), Manfred Mann ("The Mighty Quinn"), The Nice ("Hang on to a Dream") and Donovan ("Atlantis"). But where's The Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, etc.? Like they say, Dave's not here, man. A strong optional purchase for the primary source footage (certainly not for the tinny sound or the short running time of 45 minutes), Psychedelic High is joined by a pair of companion discs in the Rock Icons series, Guitar Gods (Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, and Joe Walsh, among others) and Hard Rockin' (Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and--what?--New Riders of the Purple Sage!?!, among others). Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)