The Factory - Complete Recordings (Reissue) (1996)

UK group The Factory recorded two effects-laden psychedelic singles in the late 1960s which combined psychedelia with pop harmonies.

Originally named Souvenir Badge Factory, the Surrey-based group comprised three members including a sixteen-year-old drummer (Bill MacLeod) and seventeen-year-old guitarist (Ian Oates).

Their first single, Path Through The Forest b/w Gone (MGM, 1968) was a mind-bending piece of psychedelia which had a home in John Peel‘s box of favourite records. The B-side is actually a cover of a song by Paul Revere & The Raiders. A copy of the single in mint condition today is valued at over £650.

The Factory’s only other single, Try a Little Sunshine b/w Red Chalk Hill (CBS, 1969), was reminiscent of The Who with its crunching guitar chords and vocal harmonies, but like its predecessor, it was heard by very few.

The B-side was a Bee Gees-style ballad. The single brought the multi-talented John Pantry into the studio as writer and lead vocalist, thus effectively reducing The Factory to the status of backing band on their own record.

Disillusioned, the young group disbanded shortly afterwards.

Both singles and a number of unreleased demos (including covers of Fairport Convention‘s Mr Lacey and Family‘s Second Generation Woman) were released on a mini-CD (also titled Path Through the Forest) in 1995.