Middle Earth: The Soundtrack Of London's Legendary Psychedelic Club 1967-1969 / Various

Three CD collection featuring the halcyon days of the legendary London venue. Starting out briefly as The Electric Garden, Middle Earth opened it's doors in 1967 and immediately became the most happening club in London. More than just a home for UK bands that were pushing the boundaries of rock music, Middle Earth also attracted some of America's finest exponents of Psychedelic Rock such as Captain Beefheart, The Byrds, The Fugs, Jefferson Airplane, and many more. Fledgling UK acts that would go on to great things such as Soft Machine, Tomorrow (The In-Crowd), David Bowie (The Riot Squad), Yes, The Incredible String Band, Ten Years After, and Free were joined by more established acts like Traffic, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, The Pretty Things and The Yardbirds. Cult favourites, who would never attain the commercial success of those just mentioned but are revered by those that know, include The Deviants, Dantalion's Chariot, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, Third Ear Band, and Mabel Greer's Toyshop, among others. The club only last a few years but it's timeline coincided neatly with the rapid and ever- developing rise of psychedelic rock in the UK and as such this compilation serves as the perfect guide to how the genre evolved. Jeff Dexter, the house DJ and main man at Middle Earth, has been interviewed exclusively for this release and deep image research has thrown up many unseen images to round out what is the definitive document on the UK's ultimate psychedelic rock club.