Being born in England mainland European Rock is alien to me. It wasn’t until, what us English in our comic/insulting way call, Krautrock, that band names like Can, Tangerine Dream and Amon Düül II became familiar, but the music remained mostly unheard. This new collection of 1960/70’s Rock from European bands called So High I’ve Been - A European Rock Anthology 1967-1973 attempts to correct that with the 55 tracks spread out over 3 CDs.
Surprisingly I found that some of the tracks are very familiar to me, having been hits in the UK. Focus with Sylvia, Golden Earring and Radar Love, Ekseption doing Sabre Dance, and The Witch from The Rattles. What I found interesting was in the 48 page booklet that accompanies the CDs is information stating that due to licensing issues there were several acts that could not be featured “Can, Neu!, Amon Düül and Aphrodite’s Child were just a few of many names to be denied”. This is a shame because there is music that should be represented and would really make this a “must listen” when, unfortunately, unless you are already au fait with the music, the anthology, in its current make-up, is just an interesting aside.
You can hear some of the songs in The Groove Yard visit 201
And for a full track listing, and other information, go to the Cherry Red Records website.