Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S Bounty

After cutting some fine folk-rock and psychedelia on ultra-rare records with his group <a href="spotify:artist:2x1vc0G4Wst2qoOuZhQFBZ">the Exiles</a>, guitarist, singer, and songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:4AVykVFQJm655y68Q1b2TH">Merrell Fankhauser</a> moved to Los Angeles, retitled his backing group H.M.S. Bounty, and recorded a fine, if obscure, slice of pop-psychedelia in 1968, Things. The diverse offerings on the group's sole LP recalled such fellow Californian heavyweights as <a href="spotify:artist:1PCZpxHJz7WAMF8EEq8bfc">the Byrds</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3eskO5m0H4yiF64vRySBjr">Buffalo Springfield</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0NHSh9S0VQiFfsEFbvhRXN">Moby Grape</a>, and even <a href="spotify:artist:2ebK4ueGwhVaXUm060m1BS">Captain Beefheart</a>. They weren't quite in the same league as those legends, but the album has a light and enigmatic air all its own, and is well worth investigation by fans of late-'60s West Coast psychedelia. The group evolved into the interesting mystical avant-garde/blues/progressive rock group <a href="spotify:artist:6jG3Uo2PMsKgsPwOfyraa4">Mu</a> in the early '70s. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi