VA - An A-Square Compilation (2019)

A-Square (Of Course): The Story of Michigan's Legendary A-Square Records is a collection of garage rock songs originally recorded in the 1960s for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based A-Square label, which has been compiled for this release by Big Beat Records. Michigan had one of the most active garage rock scenes in the country and Jeep Holland was one of its prime movers, as the owner of one of the city's most premier record stores and founder/proprietor of the A-squared label. This collection focuses on the pivotal period in the later half of 1960s as garage rock began encompass psychedelic influences and gravitate towards heavier sounds, typified by groups such as MC5, two of whose pre-Elektra songs are showcased here. All of the tracks are taken off of source tapes from A-Square's vaults. Noted rock journalist Alec Palao compiled the set and wrote its liner notes.