THE LEAVES
...Are Happening - The Best Of (Sundazed)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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One of the coolest of the US garage bands of the mid-60s, The Leaves are probably best remembered for their break-neck version of "Hey Joe," which is included here in three different incarnations. DIY in the purest sense of the phrase -- they bought their instruments and declared themselves a band BEFORE they learned to play -- they soon had it down and joined the Sunset Strip crowd that included The Byrds, Love, The Doors, Iron Butterfly and the Mothers, to name just a few. That they didn't achieve mainstream success is probably down to the schizophrenic tendencies of the band: sometimes they seemed to be in the Pretty Things/Stones R&B camp ("Hey Joe," "Dr. Stone"), yet they saw themselves as Byrds disciples ("He Was A Friend Of Mine") and could sometimes be as harmless as Herman's Hermits ("Just A Memory"). Fact is, they did all of it pretty well. The Leaves Are Happening collects all of their recordings for Mira, a label that signed them on the recommendation of the band's manager... Pat Boone. I kid you not. Unlike most garage bands of the 60s, The Leaves left behind a body of material that was uniformly strong and not just one or two gems and a bunch of filler. Which is to say that this disc is highly recommended.

© 2000 - DJ Johnson