THE COLLECTORS

When one thinks of North American West Coast psychedelic rock of the 60s most of our thoughts go directly to California, in particular the fertile scene in the San Francisco Bay Area but one doesn't have to dig too far to find out there were bands popping up from all of the place. THE COLLECTIBLES were one of Canada's most interesting bands of the 1960s and released two albums before lead vocalist Howie Vickers left the group and the rest of the members morphed into the band Chilliwack.

Formed in 1966 in Vancouver, British Columbia by drummer Ross Turney, THE COLLECTIBLES released four psychedelic pop singles, two of which cracked the Canadian top 40 before releasing its outrageously experimental and early example of progressive rock long before that term was en vogue. Perhaps one of the most sophisticated and mysterious examples of the psychedelic 60s, THE COLLECTIBLES were well ahead of their time in both lyrical delivery and technical songwriting skills.

This first self-titled release featured Howie Vickers delivering a uniquely passionate vocal style, Bill Henderson on guitar and recorder, Claire Lawrence on tenor sax, flute, recorder and organ, Glenn Miller on bass and Turney on drums. Three guest musicians provided piano, cello and vibes. While clearly inspired by albums such as The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club" and The Doors early albums amongst many othrers, THE COLLECTORS managed to maintain several degrees of separation and crafted an interesting array of stylistic approaches teased out into their own idiosyncratic delivery system. 
Musically speaking the band generated the same kind of guitar fuzz fueled psychedelic rock that many other bands were cranking out but offered an advanced dramatic effect of the organs which earned the band a spot as sessions musicians on The Electric Prunes album "Mass In F Minor." The band also incorporated Gregorian chants as well as jazz and folk into their style and the addition of the myriad wind instruments prognosticated many of the progressive rock soundscapes that would emerge in the 70s.

The band was in the thick of the psychedelic scene of the era having worked with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and even the Doors, the latter of which played a significant role in the influencing of the many musical motifs on the side long "What Love (Suite)" which is credited as being the longest piece of rock music released at the time at a running time of over 19 minutes. Despite all this schmoozing with the big names of the day, Canadian bands of the 1960s have remained unfairly obfuscated by their US neighbors to the south.

Despite the influences on board, THE COLLECTORS were quite adventurous in how they crafted this debut. Sure some parts do bring various aspects of The Doors to mind but most of the album sounds nothing like anything else that i've heard. Much of the album is on the mellow side with Vickers delivering soft tender vocals along with influences from not only psychedelic bands of the day but also Indian ragas, Christian liturgies, spiritual jazz and catchy pop.

Generally speaking the album's two sides were quite distinct with the first side providing gussied up psychedelic pop rock songs and the second the sprawling prog behemoth. As for the shorter tracks, the most notable is the outstandingly creative "Howard Christman's Older" which narrates the tale of a talented alchemist. The band was quite gifted in poetic prose and although the comparisons to The Doors are valid, showcased an equal but different approach in its stylistic delivery even if a few moments do indicate a bit of hero worship. The other notable track is "Lydia Purple" which features an intricate display of Baroque pop and one of the most instantly catchy pop hooks. Excellent story as well.

While the first side grounds the album into the more "normal" aspects of the 60s psychedelic scene, side two's "What Love (Suite)" offers one of the earliest completely matured progressive rock compositions. This track is one of dramatic extremes offering both the mellow controlled aspects as presented on the first half of the album along with unhinged expressions of energetic outbursts which find Vickers screaming. Starting with a sitar and a hypnotizing atmosphere, the track features jittery time signature rich guitar chords in tandem with Gregorian chants, classical music and bluesy jazz guitar licks. Sounding as if the band had gone down the rabbit hole in Jefferson's Airplane's "White Rabbit" song and then got lost once the special tea came on.

The suite flows smoothly with effortless transitions from various styles with ominous organ assaults and equally pacifying bass grooves laced with floating flute runs. Certain vocal outbursts do stray a bit too much into Jim Morrison styled rants but luckily Vickers' vocals don't delve into clone territory. The suite is also laced with sudden hairpin turns such as cacophonous uproars of all the instruments crafting a startling din in unison and then back to slow sensual motifs. This 19-minute in many ways encapsulates the zeitgeist of the lysergic 60s in all its moodiness, uncertainty and escapist attempts gone awry. This was easily the most outrageous and adventurous piece of rock based music that had ever been attempted at this stage in history.

THE COLLECTORS was absolutely brilliant in how the group crafted this woefully under the radar gem of the 1960s. The album walks a tightrope act between many of the elements on board and never summons a bad trip by piling on too much at once or sustaining anything too freaky beyond its appropriate effect. Both Vickers and the musicians show an extraordinary command of the music at hand and its easy to hear how this album must've been influential for many of the prog acts that were birthed out of the psychedelic 60s. This is what true innovation was all about and although The Beatles and other popular bands are often credited for inspiring artists who followed, albums like this debut from THE COLLECTORS demonstrates that there were bands who were equally talented and took the concepts even further into the misty haze of psychedelic dreams. Perhaps not perfect due to the few moments The Doors influences are worn to loosely on their sleeves but honestly not far from it.