The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band is a psychedelic rock band formed in Los Angeles at the end of the 1960s, remembered by rock history as "having sold its soul" to producer Bob Markley> who directed completely the formation, from the choice of the name to the way of playing musicians.
It was during an evening in August 1965, when the Yardbirds of
Jeff Beck play in his own living room, that Markley offers the most
"Faustian" in rock history since Robert Johnson returned from
Crossroad: "I want to be in your group. I will pay you
instruments and all the material and you'll just have to play me
tambourine. Or whatever you want. "
This meeting could have resulted in a cynical project, aimed at
only mercantile. But not at all: West Coast Pop Art etc (what name ...)
will give birth to a unique, avant-garde, psychedelic and pop music,
today adored by the new generation of rockers: Jack White, Courtney Love, Ty Segall, Coral, The Kills, TV Guests, Spankrock.
The WCPAEB records a very lo-fi first album simply named
"Volume One". The FIFO micro label in 1966 publishes it at only 100
copies, which makes him today a true Grail for
collectors. This record, where we hear Jeff Beck on some tracks,
essentially consists of well-resumed covers (Kinks, Dylan) and
some compositions in a garage style.
