33 minutes of music approximately. The sound is very good-clean and with some of the warmth associated with the original vinyl pressing (which I still own). The disc is snapped inside a tri-fold cardboard holder, which contains a short but informative essay on the group and the album by Dominic Priore. The original b&w back cover is also here inside the tri-fold holder. This album is actually somewhere between 3-3 1/2 or 4 "stars", depending on your nostalgia level and how highly you rate the music.

Well, a small wrong has been finally righted. Instead of the previous releases which were a collection of tracks from various albums, we have the original album with all the tracks in straight order. Never a first run band, THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK were (and continue to be) known primarily for the one track (a number 1 hit in 1967) we all know-"Incense and Peppermints"-a song that comes to mind when you think of the late 60's and the "Summer of Love", Hippies, tie-dye shirts, love beads, and all the rest.

One look at the wonderfully evocative, period cover photo will tell you a lot about the music and the era. The music was a mix of fuzz-toned guitars, cheesy organ, vibraphone, flute, and some close harmony singing-all wrapped up in the pop/psychedelic sound of the era . That and the fact that their one hit record was sung by a non-band member (Chris Mumford from SHAPES OF SOUND), who was hanging around the studio that day. But all that adds up to some fun, cool music-even if it was a bit lightweight. But if you listen to "Unwind With The Clock", a jazzy instrumental/vocal (a track that is always left off compilations), or "The World's On Fire", you hear another side to this band-they had more chops than many thought.

For a short time THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK were one of the main attractions in the L.A./Sunset Blvd area. A number of people started digging their music, hoping the psychedelic vibrations would continue a while longer. But it wasn't to be. The whole Sunset Blvd. club thing was outlawed, and everybody scattered to new places for their musical fix and everything else. But, finally, we have one of the original artifacts from that wonderful, exciting, weird era. Listening to this does bring back some good memories of growing up during that period when everything was seemingly new and vital. And that makes this release of the original album all the more important. Admittedly if you weren't there you'll hear it with slightly different ears, but this band/music/ Single was a part of the times.

As I said-a small wrong has been made right-it's good to know that I now own one of the small but important musical artifacts of that time, when it seemed there was something new to hear every week. A small but important piece of the puzzle is now in place. Enjoy!