Various Artist - I Said, She Said, Ah Cid - The Exploito Psych World Of Alshire Records 1967-71 (2018)

• Probably the most prolific budget label of the Sixties, California-based Alshire was also the most interesting, with owner Al Sherman and his equally notorious sidekick Dave Miller, employing leading LA session men and local studio auteurs to supply finished masters that were then issued (and endlessly repackaged) in a variety of fictitious group names.
• Initially a US-only concern, by mid-1969 Alshire had become something of an Anglo-American enterprise after Sherman hired Pye producer Jack Dorsey - who, in addition to taking over the label’s long-running 101 Strings series, brought in a number of English pop and rock bands who contributed (often without their knowledge) to Alshire’s bulging release schedules.
• A 3CD set, I Said She Said Ah Cid gathers together the cream of Alshire’s late 60s / early 70s roster, incorporating key LPs (The Animated Egg and the extraordinary Astro-Sounds...); an entire CD of music from scandalously overlooked psych/rock band The California Poppy Pickers and highlights from elsewhere in the Alshire catalogue and an attempt to update the music of Hank Williams for the acid-rock generation. .
• The result is the first-ever anthology of Alshire’s work, while the accompanying 32-page booklet includes many rare photos, band quotes and a 10,000 word essay that examines in detail the murky, labyrinthine world of Alshire for the first time.