Considered by some to be a "genius" and dismissed by others as "a freak", Kim Fowley went over to Britain in 1964 to check-out the music scene there. He was largely responsible for getting the Birmingham group The Rockin' Berries to record He's In Town - their biggest hit in the U.K. The eccentric producer soon played a major part in the discovery and development of various other British groups - some who would become very well known later in the 1960s.

Ace Records Ltd. have just released Impossible But True - The Kim Fowley Story (CDCHD 888) - a new CD compilation of Kim Fowley's 1960s recordings which includes two rare tracks by a couple of West Midlands groups. The first of these entitled Security is an Otis Reading cover version by the Wolverhampton band The 'N Betweens. Kim "discovered" the band playing at the Tiles Club in London during 1966 and attracted by their raw energy, promptly whisked them off to a recording studio - convinced they would be the next "big thing". The resulting sessions produced a 45 single You Better Run/Evil Whitchman that sold well in Wolverhampton but was ignored by the rest of the country. The 'N Betweens Security track, recorded during the same session, was issued on a single in the U.S.A. but soon withdrawn due to lack of promotion. The 'N Betweens line-up at that time was Dave Hill, Jim Lea, Don Powell and Noddy Holder - later to become one of the most successful British groups of the early 1970s after changing the band's name to Slade.

The other West Midlands related track on the CD is called Daydreaming Of You and was recorded by The Hellions, a group that originated in Worcester. The track was composed by hit songwriter Jackie DeShannon and originally released as the Hellions first single. Kim Fowley gave the recording a distinctive American west coast sound but despite its commercial appeal, neither this or subsequent records by The Hellions made any impact on the British charts. The Hellions line-up consisted of Jim Capaldi, Dave Meredith, Gordon Jackson, and Dave Mason. Capaldi and Mason went on to form the internationally known band Traffic along with Steve Winwood from the Spencer Davis Group and Chris Wood who was in the West Midlands bands Chicken Shack and Locomotive.

This new Kim Fowley collection is crammed with a total of 32 tracks that span Kim Fowley's career during the 1960s and includes many rare recordings by groups he produced from both America and the U.K. The CD comes with a massive 36 page booklet of photos and extensive notes written by compiler Rob Finnis. For more information about this incredible collection, visit the Ace Records website at www.acerecords.co.uk

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