{"id":706104,"date":"2026-01-19T09:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T09:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/706104\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T09:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T09:42:18","slug":"the-complete-trip-collects-psychedelia-from-englands-orange-bicycle-plus-david-huckfelt-americana-highways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/706104\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Complete Trip\u2019 Collects Psychedelia from England’s Orange Bicycle, plus David Huckfelt \u2022 Americana Highways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The career of England\u2019s Orange Bicycle<\/a> was as commercially unsuccessful as it was brief. Thanks to a mistranslation of the text on a French EP\u2019s cover, the psychedelic pop sextet has often been said to have had a chart-topping single in that country. In fact, Orange Bicycle had no hits, much less chart-toppers, anywhere on earth.<\/p>\n

The group formed in 1967, though its members were already performing together as Robb Storme & the Whispers for several years before that. They released only one full-length album, an eponymous LP that came out in 1970, the year before they broke up.<\/p>\n

However, they produced more music than this suggests. The Complete Trip<\/a>, a new three-CD box, contains 63 remastered tracks, including both sides of the group\u2019s Columbia singles, the French EP, and assorted other material unearthed in the decades since they disbanded. Despite all this, the album\u2019s subtitle, The Complete Recordings 1967\u20131971, is a misnomer. Among the missing are tracks from BBC sessions, such as covers of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cShe Belongs to Me\u201d and Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cA Hazy Shade of Winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The box comes with a 28-page booklet that details the band\u2019s history and the management and promotional blunders that contributed to its demise. The music itself, however, reveals the primary reasons the group never gained traction. At the same time, it suggests why Orange Bicycle deserved more attention than it received.<\/p>\n

To say that the group never established a trademark style would be an understatement. In fact, The Complete Trip sounds more like a multi-artist anthology than the work of one band. Besides dabbling in umpteen genres with its original material, Orange Bicycle covered everyone from Richie Valens (\u201cDonna\u201d) and the Rolling Stones (\u201cSing This All Together\u201d) to the Fifth Dimension (\u201cCarpet Man\u201d), the Byrds (\u201cRenaissance Fair\u201d), and Leonard Cohen (\u201cSo Long, Marianne\u201d), and its approach was as varied as its sources.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

So was its artistic success rate. On the negative side, three Elton John covers, while competently performed, largely just ape the originals, though the group does deserve credit for releasing \u201cCountry Comforts\u201d before John himself put it on a record. Also here are fluffy, inane instrumental covers of the Beatles\u2019 \u201cPenny Lane\u201d and Herman\u2019s Hermits\u2019 \u201cNo Milk Today.\u201d An enervated version of the Beach Boys\u2019 \u201cFarmer\u2019s Daughter,\u201d meanwhile, sounds like something you\u2019d hear in an elevator or over a supermarket\u2019s audio system.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, \u201cHyacinth Threads,\u201d the group\u2019s first single and best-known number, occupies a satisfying space somewhere between Syd Barrett\u2013period Pink Floyd and the Left Banke. Another winner is \u201cIt\u2019s Not My World,\u201d which feels like a cross between psychedelia and the groove that powers the Velvet Underground\u2019s \u201cRun Run Run.\u201d (That number is credited just to multi-instrumentalist Wil Malone, one of Orange Bicycle\u2019s three vocalists, who went on to become a music producer and arranger for acts such as the Who, Black Sabbath, and Todd Rundgren.). Among the other winners are \u201cHallelujah Moon,\u201d which finds the group dabbling in baroque rock, and a reading of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cTonight I\u2019ll Be Staying Here with You\u201d that could be mistaken for a Joe Cocker track.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of late 1960s psychedelic pop, you\u2019ll likely find more than a few of the tracks on The Complete Trip to be as likable as they are obscure. Just be prepared to find them interspersed with less laudable material.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A Covers Set from Indie Folk Singer David Huckfelt<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

Minneapolis-based David Huckfelt<\/strong><\/a>, whose vocals evoke a folk-music version of Willie Nile<\/a>, has previously interpreted the work of other composers, such as on his excellent sophomore solo album, 2021\u2019s Room Enough, Time Enough<\/a>.\u00a0However, on the new I Was Born, But\u2026<\/strong><\/a>, his third LP, he takes a break from songwriting to deliver nothing but covers.<\/p>\n

The production values, vocals, and musicianship on most of the CD\u2019s 15 tracks recall Huckfelt\u2019s former group, the indie-folk trio the Pines, which underscores what a large role he played in that outfit. Recorded live in a studio in Tucson, Arizona, the LP features producer Gabriel Sullivan on multiple instruments, including synths and guitar; former Bob Dylan accompanist Winston Watson on drums; Tucson\u2019s Connor Gallaher on pedal steel, electric guitar, and dobro; and Giant Sand member Thoger Lund on bass. Subsequent overdubs by several musicians in Minneapolis helped to flesh out the performances.<\/p>\n

The program encompasses material as varied as Jackson Browne\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Alive,\u201d George Jones\u2019s \u201cThe Race Is On,\u201d and Bo Diddley\u2019s \u201cWho Do You Love.\u201d \u00a0The Jones and Diddley tracks don\u2019t play to Huckfelt\u2019s strengths, but the lion\u2019s share of the numbers here are engrossing.<\/p>\n

Highlights include \u201cChanging of the Guards,\u201d from Dylan\u2019s underrated Street Legal; a version of Gordon Lightfoot\u2019s \u201cEarly Morning Rain\u201d that emphasizes its protagonist\u2019s dire straits; a lilting rendition of the traditional \u201cLittle Satchel\u201d; the affecting \u201cAnything,\u201d by Adrianne Lenker, lead singer and principal songwriter of the folk group Big Thief; and \u201cNON Kars,\u201d by indigenous artist Keith Secola, who guests on the track.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

______________________<\/p>\n

Jeff Burger\u2019s website,\u00a0byjeffburger.com<\/a>, contains more than four decades\u2019 worth of music reviews and commentary. His books include\u00a0Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters<\/a>,\u00a0Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon<\/a>, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters<\/a>, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The career of England\u2019s Orange Bicycle was as commercially unsuccessful as it was brief. Thanks to a mistranslation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[39538,212032,2866,77,269,212033,26420,4162,9942,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-706104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-bob-dylan","9":"tag-david-huckfelt","10":"tag-elton-john","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-orange-bicycle","14":"tag-pink-floyd","15":"tag-the-beatles","16":"tag-the-rolling-stones","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115921115134549007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}