The Tea Company

The Tea Company from New York City was one of the early birds from the US psychedelic underground scene with an LP on the market by 1968 originally released on Smash Records. This album marks the evolution of the 45 rpm teen-psych-garage band market to the upcoming LP-generation with extended improvisational parts. “The Naturals” formed in 1963 with Joe Meek influence and evolved into the Tea Company which showcased a more psychedelic sound. Opening up big ballrooms for such acts as; The Mamas and the Papas, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Bob Dylan, Ritchie Havens, and many others, the Tea Company became popular in the US underground, also in San Francisco for spectacular live shows and lyrical hippie statements. Influenced by and using the same equipment as the Beatles, the controversial and intense “East-Indo Sound” reflects “an assemblage of possessed rock performers; retinue preparing the unusual; alternating with the roots of soul…whose purpose is to cause sensation, due to stimulation of the auditory centers of the brain!” Played with lots of freaked-out-echo-organ/-guitar noises on a 12-string Rickenbacker and various-stereo madness, reminds strongly of Syd Barrett´s spirit but more driven by hard hittin´ drums. You will find an outrageous 9 min. cover version of Vanilla Fudge “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, which is celebrated among 60s collectors as a true milestone. The album is a mindblowing and freaky production (LP includes 3 bonus tracks by the NATURALS). This LP-release (remastered) captures the end 60s stereo sound-experiments in a fresh and intense way! The insert contains a nice bio and photos. A must for those who wanna feed their minds with unusual heavy-psychedelic Rock-ROOTS! Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.