Peabody Co. – Peabody Co. LP Out-Sider (Spain)

Famous for their freaked-out ride down “Tobbaco Road” (included on the now legendary A Fistful Of Fuzz comp), Peabody Co. were a mysterious US band who left behind a set of 10″ acetates, collected here for the first time. Late ’60s acid-punk/garage-psych, featuring seven self-penned songs plus three terrific cover versions of “I Can’t Explain” (The Who), “Let’s Live For Today” (Rokes/Grass Roots) and the aforementioned “Tobbaco Road” (based on the Blues Magoos cover, but including an extended crazed theremin/drum freak out!) RIYL: The Bachs, Blues Magoos, Mystery Meat. Carefully remastered sound by Tim Warren.

NYC psych collector Mike Ascherman recalls how he came to acquire the acetates: “Pyramid Records was a classic small used record store that opened in 1982 or 1983 and was open for about ten years. It was a gold mine for psych and private press LPs in a time when there was virtually no competition in the city for those. On the day it opened, psych collector/dealer Paul Major walked in and found a copy of Gandalf the Grey. That was but the tip of the iceberg. Not long after, I made my first trip there one day after work, and it immediately became my favorite store. Over the years, I became friends with both owners. As a result, I was often given the opportunity to see the new psych arrivals before they were placed in the bins in addition to my usual digging through the store. This led to me being able to buy the first known copies of such gems as Daybreak on RPC and the first BLO LP. One day in 1990, I came into the store and was shown a set of 10″ acetates that one of the owners had just unearthed in one of his well-guarded secret digging spots. He asked me if I’d ever heard of a band called Peabody Co., to which I replied I had not. He then played their cover of ‘Tobacco Road’ and I was instantly hooked. He then offered the set to me at a moderately hefty but very reasonable price. It took me about two seconds to hand him the cash. The rest is, as they say, history, leading up to now, when they are finally being given the LP release they should have had over 50 years ago.”