Decca Records signed The Rolling Stones in 1963, but passed on The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks, and gained a reputation for being a bit square. And so, in late 1966, they formed a hip subsidiary label, Deram, which hoovered up all manner of psychedelic, underground and progressive acts, including Detroit band Frijid Pink. They had formed in 1967 and in 1969 scored a surprise hit with their fuzzed-up version of House Of The Rising Sun, then already something of an old chestnut.
Sometime Motown producer and artist Michael Valvano produced their 1970 debut album Frijid Pink, but made them sound like a garage band, exciting but very rough and ready. While some of the bluesier offerings such as I’m On My Way come across as rather generic, the best songs break this mould. On the lengthy, episodic I Want To Be Your Lover and End Of The Line, the combination of Gary Thompson’s fiery double tracked guitar attack – one fuzz, one wah-wah – Tom Harris’ roaming
bass and Rich Stevers’ mantric tom-tom patterns reminds of The Electric Prunes, but the drummer is unsteady at times and is ill-served by a flat kit sound.