The Blues Magoos sound less like psychedelic visionaries than a solid garage band with a taste for the blues on their debut album, Psychedelic Lollipop, though the lysergic reference of the title certainly put them ahead of the curve in 1966, when LSD was still obscure enough to be legal in much of the United States. The album leads off with the group's first and only major hit single, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," and unlike most albums released by one-hit wonders of the mid-'60s, the single isn't the most exciting song here. That honor goes to the Magoos' cover of J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" (which Lenny Kaye selected for his iconic garage rock compilation Nuggets), featuring some gutsy guitar work from Mike Esposito and Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm and impressive organ swells from Ralph Scala as the tune leans into a major rave-up midway through…

Basic Blues Magoos (1968) – the final long-player with the lineup of Ralph Scala (keyboards), Ronnie Gilbert (bass), Emil "Peppy" Thielheim (guitar), Mike Esposito (lead guitar) and Geoffrey Daking (drums) – is arguably their best and easily most progressive outing. Perhaps this can partially be credited to the combo's retreat from creating in the comparatively uninspired environs of a studio. Instead, they essentially cocooned themselves into their legendary Bronx, New York digs, which at one time had been inhabited by none other than Gram Parsons. The autonomy paid off, as did their sizable influence from the U.K.-derived mod and freakbeat scenes, kick-started no doubt by a recent tour with the Who.