So Glad I Found You (CD - 1999)

Personnel: Bob Cuff (vocals, guitar); Ron Nagle (vocals, piano, Clavinet, organ); John Luby (vocals, drums); John Gregory , Larry West (guitar).

Liner Note Author: Alec Palao.

Author: Frank Werber.

The Mystery Trend have been more a legend than a band since their dissolution, although some lo-fi unreleased tapes have made the rounds on the collectors' circuit. This 21-song compilation finally presents their legacy properly, including all of their 1966-67 Trident studio recordings, as well as some demos and even a solo demo apiece by Ron Nagle and guitarist Bob Cuff. Although some of the tunes are run-of-the-mill period rock, more often they're intriguing oddball art-pop-rock with a dash of psychedelia. "Words You Whisper" and "Ten Empty Cups" have a wistful, keyboard-grounded air that will seduce any Zombies fan, while the similar but poppier "There It Happened Again" is something like L.A. sunshine pop played with guts and imagination. Other cuts give you more of the weirdness you'd expect from a mid-1960s San Francisco band, as in the anxious melody, dread-infused words, and constant stops and starts of "Mercy Killing"; the lovely, lilting jazzy instrumental "Mambo for Marion"; and the ominous but tuneful "What If I" and "Lose Some Dreams" (which are like a darker Zombies). It's too bad that more of the pre-Trident demos that have been heard by collectors on unreleased tapes were not included, as some of them are quite up to par with the Trident sessions in the quality of the songwriting (if not fidelity), although a couple of them do appear on the CD. ~ Richie Unterberger

They preferred alcohol to acid, tight arrangements to lengthy jams, and went to college while others dropped out. So what were they doing on the mid-'60s San Francisco rock scene? Named after a misheard lyric from Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," the Mystery Trend paid infrequent visits to the studio, releasing only one single during two years together, but gained the respect of fellow Frisco ballroom bands such as the Great Society. This collection of all of Mystery Trend's known studio recordings and usable demo performances documents the brief history of one of the great lost bands of the '60s.

The Trend's precision-arranged two-minute masterpieces were mostly self-penned, the two exceptions being Smiley Lewis' "Shame, Shame, Shame (Miss Roxie)" and a quaint Americanized version of "Substitute"-where the band takes great pains to avoid Townshend's lyric about the subject's dad being black! "There it Happened Again" has an almost Bacharach-like middle eight; "House on the Hill" has sinister undertones lurking behind that whimsical facade. A little ragged on the harmonies, perhaps, but up there with the best of the '60s garage set. The only mystery about the Mystery Trend is why these nuggets weren't issued the first time around. minimize