Turkish beat and garage

Turkish Delights



For those record collectors fascinated over the years by the various attempts (often quite successful) to combine rock'n'roll with the music of the Middle East (i.e. the American bands Kaleidoscope and Devil's Anvil, England's L'Habibbiya, Israel's the Churchills, Lebanon's Cedars, etc) this release is an absolutely essential artifact of another '60s rock scene (from '65-'71) unknown to the western world (until recently) - that of Turkey, where the first rock band was formed in 1956 by a 16 year old Erkin Koray.



You'll hear lots of fuzz guitar and minor key folkloric melodies, ancient lyrics, and cool covers of '60s garage tunes: Mavi Isiklar do an excellent version of the Raiders' "The Great Airplane Strike of 1967" and the Shocking Blue's "Send Me a Postcard" ("Ask Cicegi"-with great raga rock guitar). Meanwhile, you get to hear the BEST EVER version of "Land of a 1000 Dances" as done by Erkin Koray ("Sana Ber Seyler Olmus"). There are three great freakbeat tracks from Mogollar; a Cedars' cover from Selcuk Alagoz; a couple of high school bands: Istanbul Erkek Lisesi cover "In the Deepings" (sic) by The Artwoods (a major influence on the Turkish scene) and Izmir Ozel Karsiyaka Lisesi's revved-up version of "Over Under Sideways Down;" the fuzzed-out Turkish psych of Baris Manco's magnificent "Derhule;" Beybonlar's heavy version of a traditional kiddie tune (and featuring an 11 year old drummer); the first single by Bunalimlar (Turkey's top underground band of the '60s) "Tas Var Kopek Yok;" the intense psychedelic folk of Apaslar's "Anadolu Oyun Havasi;" and more.



The sound quality ranges from good to excellent (some tracks have been digitally cleaned up). The CD version of Turkish Delights has an additional 10 tracks not on the LP version (reviewed last issue). Only two of the 26 tracks are duplicates of those on Dionysus's Hava Narghile comp and while a third track appears on both (Baris Manco & Kaygizizlar's psych East/West gem "Trip") they are different versions recorded the same year: the TD version recorded in Istanbul the HN version recorded in Paris. Where Hava Narghile emphasized the psychedelic side of the Turkish rock scene, Turkish Delights stresses the beat and garage aspects and is highly recommended.