The Complete Recordings by Central PA's Legendary Rock Band

Some people know 'em as the spawning ground for Dan Hartman of Edgar Winter Free Ride/I Can Dream About You fame. Other people know 'em for their four excellent singles. But until you've heard Arf! Arf! Records' new double-CD High Towers compilation retrospective, you haven't gotten the full perspective on the Legends. From '64 to '73, the Legends were as synonymous with Central Pennsylvania as a Hershey Bar with almonds, and every bit as tasty. They got the audiences dancing with their mix of pop, rock and soul in the mid-'60s, freaked 'em out with heavy psychedelia in the late '60s, then rocked 'em back outta their shells with even harder rock in the early '70s. All phases are documented on High Towers, which traces the rise of the Legends from their garage band roots playing teen hops and fire halls into seasoned rockers blowing the doors off larger venues. Featuring their four locally released singles and a promotional-only flexi from 1970, the first CD documents the Legends from 1967 to 1973, their most renowned era. But the listening pleasure doesn't end with rare 45 sides like the stompin' freakbeat cover of Baby Get Your Head Screwed On from '67 and the quirky wah-wah piano of High Towers from '69. CD number one is rounded out by a bevy of previously unreleased material, including seven more power-trio psych-outs from 1969, three pounding hard rockers from 1973 that should have the stoner rock crowd in air-guitar heaven, and even a CD-ROM of a video made by band ally Jerry King Musser in 1972 to promote Rock and Roll Woman, a regional smash (later licensed to Epic Records) that almost got the Legends on American Bandstand. And then there's the second CD, which throws a life preserver to those '60s fanatics who abandon ship when the captain's into psychedelia or hard rock. Fear not, garage fiends, as CD number two completes the Legends' voyage with 26 previously unissued cuts from 1965 and 1966, including a few band originals and teen-fueled renditions of Shakin' All Over, You Really Got Me I Need You, Don't Bring Me Down and even the Shadows of Knight's fuzz ripper, I'm Gonna Make You Mine. Perhaps the coolest garage vault find of all, however, is a pair of cuts by the Donshires (featuring future Legend Joe Caloiero) from 1965, Sad and Blue and Tripeline, which would be lighting up eBay if the songs had ever been pressed on a single. The musical experience is only enhanced by a 24-page booklet lined with pictures, memorabilia and a detailed band history (including interviews with six former members) by Doug Sheppard of Discoveries/Ugly Things. Whether you're into garage, psych, hard rock or even Dan Hartman himself, High Towers is guaranteed to scale the rock and roll heights for you.

Additional Details

Label: Arf

Genre: Pop/Rock

Run Time: 146 mins

Release Date: 03/15/01

UPC: 737835508622