Fab Gear: British Beat Explosion & Its Aftershocks 1963-1967 / Various

god there is so much across these 6 cds that this box set is just fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this box set pretty much represents what was going on in the uk in the mid 1960s during the ultimate era for rock n roll and what many of these bands would craft that so many artists that came after them would follow, there are other box sets like this out there that have been released over the past 20 years but this is one of the better ones, so many artists here with those amazing songs that did not exceed 3 minutes and all as this was the pre prog rock era!!!!!, disc 6 has one very obscure track by the flies wich featured peter dunton ( neon pearl,the please, british bulldog, T2) and as stated in the other review there is a lot of real obscurities on disc 6, i have many of the tracks that are featured here on all 5 of the remaining discs but at the same time there are still many tracks i am getting here for the first time, this is a beautiful box set that features an amazing booklet with photos from this era, a really great essay on the whole british beat/psyche/mod and acid rock scene of this era, it is nice to see cherry red felt it worthwhile to release a really nice box set like this that focuses on this era as the label is putting out a lot of box sets the past few years from different eras and genres that took place in the uk from THIS ERA all the way up to the new wave era of the early 1980s, again many of the recordings here have been released before but some tracks on here i am only hearing for the first time, this is a fantastic collection from an amazing era that helped shape the rest of the 1960s as well as the 70s, 80s 90s and all the way up to today in some respect................ i must add that this box set is very well made with a really nice hardcover as well, not a cheap thrown together set like some labels do..............also again you will love the book w/ the photos and all

"If you listen, you can hear little moments of youthful exuberance, snippets of musical exhilaration, and not a little amount of enthusiastic talent. It's fab...it's gear!"Another great box set (how perfect--it begins with "Yesterday's Gone") focusing on the '60s British Beat period during the years 1963-1967. With tracks arranged in chronological order by year beginning in the mid '60s this box set includes well known groups like Chad & Jeremy, Mickey Finn, Bo Street Runners, The Artwoods, The Kinks, The Rockin' Berries, The Searchers, Alan Price Set, The Action, and many others. And by including lesser known bands like the Mike Cotton Sound, Jimmy Royal, Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers, Buddy Britten, The Quiet Five, The Sorrows, Ronnie Jones, The Truth, The Tomcats, and others plus a number of little known groups, this set does a good job of showcasing Beat music in the mid '60s after The Beatles, whose influence can easily be heard. Two early tracks--"My Whole Life Through" by The Nomads, and "Bye Bye Johnny" by Buddy Britten and the Regents--are just two good examples of some pretty tough sounding Beatles influenced pop music. Included are tracks on larger labels like CBS, Parlophone, Decca, and others plus smaller labels like Oak, President, and Ember. Four "stars" for the music and booklet and a fifth "star'' for a label with the chestnuts to release a 6 CD set in the present time of groups and performers (Twinkle), many who never really "made it" beyond a single or two, or if they were lucky, an album, before fading from view.The packaging is a trade size hardcover book style using thick board stock, with pockets for each disc. The thick attached booklet with glossy paper stock has complete band information and recording details, plus photos and other ephemera. If you own earlier sets similar to this from the Cherry Red label, you know how encompassing the booklet is. The sound varies some which is to be expected from tracks recorded in different studios and with varying budgets. Disc 6 contains tracks not previously issued at the time of recording and haven't been heard until now. Depending on how big a fan you are for this disc's collection of unheard music, some tracks may not excite you too much--to each his own on that subject. But listen to "Louie Louie" by The Changing Times as just one example of some good rarely heard Beat music. All in all--for fans (like me) of this sort of thing, this collection can sit alongside other collections of music from this era. Listening to this music is like a time machine back to that period--if you were lucky enough to be around then. The Cherry Red label has produced a nice looking substantial package for the music that other labels could emulate.

Seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in Feb. ’64 literally changed my 12 year old life. I’d stay up late in bed with my transistor radio pressed to my ear, listening to the powerful AM stations from NY and Chicago, waiting to hear the next newest gem from England. This 6 disc, 2018 RPM U.K. box set is an ABSOLUTE MUST for everyone fitting that description!! Most will at most recognize a dozen songs here (although many more songs will be familiar by different artists, plus many artists will be known, but maybe not the particular song selection). The song styles are not limited to British Beat; everything that may’ve been popular over there during the time-frame is here – Chuck Berry style rock, R&B, “girl group”, British blues, rockabilly, Beatles’ covers, Merseybeat, covers of U.S. stuff like Brill Building – nearly everything here would’ve fit into the “British Invasion”. All songs are mono, except Disc-1, Track 9; D-5, Ts 8, 23, 28; & D-6, T 7 are stereo. Disc-1 is 32 Tracks, 78:25 Min., covers 1963 – 3/65; D-2, 33 T, 77:05 M, 3/65-8/65; D-3, 30 T, 77:52 M, 8/65-end of ’65, has some BBC live tracks; D-4, 31 T, 77:54 M, 1/66-8/66; D-5, 29 T, 70:59 M, 8/66- 5 songs from ’67; D-6, 30 T, 76:37 M, all from the era but previously unreleased or not released until the mid-90s to present. Overall sound is excellent, especially considering the age, w/consistent playback volume between tracks. The box is like a hard-cover book, 8 ½” H, 6” W, ¾” D; song artists & titles listed on back cover. I don’t care much for the presentation: each disc VERY snuggly slides into its own “page” (easily scratched?), and there’s a 55 page non-removable booklet in between (hard to read with the disc pages on each side). The booklet is filled w/each artist & song info w/great pictures of nearly every group; most artists’ city of origin is also listed. If interested, Windows Media Player recognizes nothing. Please Cherry Red/ RPM – keep these sets coming!!!

In the early years of this century, Sanctuary Records released five double volumes of songs from the ‘Beat’ era of 1963-1965. Signed to the Pye label (and its subsidiaries), other than a couple of notable exceptions, it was all [mainly] obscure artists. Now, courtesy of reissue specialist RPM records, another 185 tracks have been re-activated for this six CD set to carry on that series.Bear in mind that what’s included here isn’t exactly wonderful; if it was, it wouldn’t be on these CDs. When record companies suddenly shouted ‘Klondike’ in the aftermath of the Fab Four’s early success, both EMI and Decca had already signed the era’s biggest sellers and Pye lost its shirt in an attempt to breathe the air around The Beatles. Even though most are remembered only by those involved, there is the odd beacon of light amongst the mire and these discs do contain a plethora of songs that were all part of the country’s biggest musical explosion. (There are a few non-Pye releases included.)Whilst some of the artists heard here went on to bigger things such as David Bowie, The Spectres (who morphed into Status Quo), Marmalade, Moody Blues, future members of Deep Purple, and half of Led Zeppelin, the rest either phoned their old boss and returned to their previous jobs or found gainful employment elsewhere. The main problem was that there were too many groups and not enough songs, and no one could match John and Paul in the writing or vocal stakes. The booklet is a cornucopia of photos of the artists, labels, one-off acetate pressings and some fine notes on the groups and singers.As a collection of [now] expensive singles, single pressing acetates and ten unreleased songs, this is an essential purchase for collectors and scholars of the period. That few of the singles came anywhere near the charts at the time, and had sales figures less than the words in this review (and a fair proportion were covers of Ray Davies songs), is irrelevant; it’s what they were part of that matters. It’s a set of youthful enthusiasm in more innocent times.And you know that can’t be bad.

CD compiler, John Reed, takes us on a rather lengthy journey through some of the less well-known avenues of British Beat and covers the period from 1963 to 1967. Although some of the artists will probably be familiar to you a bit of care has been taken to unearth some of their tracks you may not have heard before – and there are also plenty of acts you will not know at all. This six CD collection is presented like a small hardback book with 55 pages of notes, track and artist information plus many illustrations, in the middle of the book, with three of the CDs in individual sections before them and the other three CDs at the back of the book – a format that works well for me and makes the set very easy to deal with. Each of the six CDs contain around thirty tracks apiece and Amazon has published a track listing on the product page – you get around 180 tracks in total and these are compiled in chronological order to illustrate the evolution of the British Beat style of music. However, the bonus disc six features recordings that were not issued at the time and includes many tracks which have never been heard before. This FAB GEAR compilation was released on the RPM label on the 27th April 2018 with the tracks remastered by Simon Murphy – sound quality is good, all things considered, but remember the age of the source material used. Currently around forty pounds from Amazon this set is very good value and offers an education for anyone who thinks they know their sixties music. It is just a shame that Brian Matthew is no longer around to give some of the tracks a spin on his much-missed BBC Radio 2 show.

I received this eagerly awaited box set todayThere is no point saying what are the good tracks and what are not so good, as everyone has different taste and opinion.Whether you buy Mindrocker, Nuggets,Pebbles, there is always "a mix"I'll keep this brief....this is a fantastic box set!I have the original "Beat Beat Beat " double CDs, this box set follows on nicely.It's very well put together, the sound quality is excellent, great 55 page book included as part of the structure. 6 CDs with over 180 tracks, all for £40 !!Highly Recommended.

You are presented with fantastic records of the times of the British invasion of music. These were unique and unique times. Then the Mersibite era reigned supreme. Here are the excellent tracks of the sixties in excellent quality. Many new songs that were previously unavailable for the listener of music. Registration in the form of a book. The design is simply fascinating and pleasing. I really want RPM to release many more music records from the mid-sixties that never came out on CD. There are many more unreleased records of the sixties: Freddie Starr And The Midnighters, This Is Mersey Beat, Freddy Starr And The Star Boys - Live, The Liverpool Beats - The Liverpool Beats !, The Federals Solist: Tony Bolton. Thank you RPM for the pleasure! Amazon is the best store in the world!

A brilliant insight on the era that started it all off. From smart suits to flower power with flowers in their hair.I’d definitely recommend this.I heard about it on Paul Gambocinis “Sounds Of The Sixties on BBC Radio 2 that Gambos producer Phil The Collector Swurn has been given this fantastic box set.Wish I could be given music items to add to my very own vast collection