Benzedrine Beat! Sixties R&B Rave Up

Not to be confused with other bands called The Purple Hearts (like a late-'70s English mod-revival quartet or a '80s Los Angeles mod-pop outfit), this '60s Australian garage-rock group specialized in freakbeat and R&B. But more importantly, The Purple Hearts featured future members of The Coloured Balls—an incredibly innovative hard-rock band that who'd go on to produce hard-rock that braided prog, blues, pub, and acid-rock into a ferocious and intimidating sound. Benzedrine Beat! is an outstanding compilation that features 14 Purple Hearts songs and seven previously unreleased recordings from The Coloured Balls’ original 1969-1970 lineup. Notable Purple Hearts songs here include a hard-driving take on Chuck Berry’s “Talkin’ ‘Bout You” and a raunchy rendition of J. Williams’ “I’m Gonna Try” that boasts some searing hot fuzz leads. As Aussie mods morphed into skinhead-derived “sharpies,” The Coloured Balls arrived with a readymade audience. Their epic 10-minute cover of The Steve Miller Band’s “Living in the USA” is much harder, as is their take on Fleetwood Mac’s “Long Grey Mare.”