Beautiful losers

For some, including John Peel, they ranked among the greatest bands of the 60s. But just as they were to cement their place in history, the US Army intervened. With the help of frontman Rick Brown, Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills recounts the sorry tale of The Misunderstood, the pioneering psychedelic Californians who followed their dream to London – only to watch it fall apart

The sizeable and indelible impact of 60s UK psychedelia is often heralded within the pages of Record Collector. Yet for every Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, Odessey & Oracle, or SF Sorrow, there are the singles from the bands that didn’t quite make it to long-format plastic.

The highly-regarded 1982 Cherry Red collections of The Misunderstood (Before The Dream Faded and Golden Glass) may lead to some fans thinking that the band released albums, yet during their brief career they too only issued singles. Depending on opinion these are: a) one single that was released when the important line-up was still active, b) two, which consisted of the 1966 recordings from their defining psych period – the second released in 1969 after the band split, or c) four, if you include a further two 1969 releases from the MKII line up.

Whichever way you look at it, The Misunderstood made music that rivals anything cut by Jimi Hendrix, Cream or The Yardbirds in the three heady years of 1966-68. Yet their initial promise was all but stillborn.

During the early 80s, both UK psychedelia and American garage were undergoing something of a resurgence in popularity. As an antidote to synth-pop, the music of 15 years earlier somehow seemed fresh, cool and exciting to many record buyers too young to have witnessed it first hand. In the case of The …

by Rick Brown, Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
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