Count Five – Psychotic Reaction

This is " PSYCHOTIC REACTION " (1966) by COUNT FIVE available as both a MONO and STEREO release . I have listened to both MONO and STEREO versions and there are some 'minor' differences in both recordings . The MONO recording of " PSYCHOTIC REACTION " is the straight-up radio version . The STEREO version of " PSYCHOTIC REACTION " is " FAKE STEREO " ( versus " TRUE STEREO " ) with some slight 'flanging effects / phasing effects' added , if I remember correctly . You can listen to " PSYCHOTIC REACTION " as a DES ( DIGITALLY EXTRACTED STEREO ) STEREO recording on youtube .

This is a fake stereo mix with the low frequencies in one speaker and the high in the other.

speaking of classic : Brilliantly groovy widely adictive *****

Members of The Count Five met while attending Pioneer High School in San Jose, California. The original band was called The Squires, not to be confused with the other psychedelic group of this time out of Bristol, Connecticut. Two friends, John Michalski and Roy Chaney, founded the band in 1964. The band first lineup consisted of Roy Chaney (bass), Skip Cordell (drums), Kenn Ellner (lead vocals, harmonica), Phil Evans (keyboard) and John Michalski (lead guitar). Soon after forming, Cordell left the band to become a jazz musician and was replaced by Craig “Butch” Adkinson. As Kenn Ellner has put it, “Craig sat down and played the songs like he had played them forever.” Being so, the band thought that they had found a good personnel fit for the group. Soon after, Phil Evans also left the group and a neighbor of Ellner’s, John Byrne, an immigrant from Ireland, was added on rhythm guitar. At this point, due to the consistent personnel changes in the group, the band decided to change their name to The Count Five. Byrne and Elmer chose the name for the band because of their infatuation with Count Dracula. This may have had to do in part because of the bands photo session in front of the now famous Winchester Mystery House, whom was built by Sarah Winchester, widow of William Wilt Winchester, who built up the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
The Count Five were very active performers in their native San Jose, California. They were regular performers at music venues such as The San Jose Recreation Department Teen Club, The Continental Roller Rink and The Cinnamon Tree, where the group eventually became the house band. They would also befriend members of bands that would later go on to leave being their own psychedelic footprint such as The Chocolate Watchband, The Syndicate of Sound and The Golliwogs, of which members would later go on to form the legendary group Credence Clearwater Revival. During this time, The Count Five began auditioning for record labels in order to press a long-playing record. Turned down by both Mirror Records and the famous Capitol Records, they found that the small record label Double Shot Records, from Los Angeles, were interested in recording and producing their first album, which they ultimately would. Hal Winn, president of the company would be present during the recording sessions while Sy Mitchell would engineer the recording process. This would ultimately lead to the release of their sole full-length record, Psychotic Reaction in 1966. Along with singles released on Double Shot Records, they would also release a single on the Mexican label Gamma and one on the French label Disc’AZ during the same year.
The bands biggest hit during their tenure, as a group was the garage rock classic, Psychotic Reaction. This would land the group many memorable performances, Dracula capes and all. One of the fondest memories that Kenn Ellner recalls is the night they played at the Santa Barbra Fair grounds opening up for Van Morrison’s’ Them, and also sharing the opening slot with a then unknown and undiscovered band of gentlemen from Los Angeles called The Doors. As Ken Ellner would later put it, “We were sandwiched in between Jim Morrison. Morrison had lost his leather jacket at the concert and we had lost our snare drum. We both went looking for each others items and when having discovered where they were, we exchanged Morrison’s’ jacket with him for our snare drum.”
After the bands album hit the market, they would go on perform at larger venues throughout California such as The Coconut Grove, The Carousal Ballroom, The Longshoreman’s Hall and the famous Fillmore West. The band had as much opportunity as they would have liked to pursue larger stardom
Rock Journalist Lester Bangs, who wrote for the magazine Creem, highly popularized The Count Five with his fictitious novel about the group from 1971, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. The book dramatized the group’s history and even wrote about fictitious album releases. The ironic aspect of Lester’s novel was the fact that he wrote the piece because of his dislike of the band and their hit song, Psychotic Reaction. However, Lestor’s piece heavily popularized the group after its publication, possibly more than the band had themselves after the release and commercialization of their Psychotic Reaction album. The song ultimately became more popular after Lester Bangs death in 1982, which marked continuous irony over the history of the group. Much of the plot of Bangs’ book had been taken literally initially by music fans, but was later to be revealed as being fictitious. Apparently, despite Lestor’s personal opinion of the group, fans and rock enthusiasts would continue to enjoy the music of the band for years to come and their album would become a highly coveted remnant of the psychedelic/garage rock era of the 1960’s.
Unfortunately, for fans of their music, The Count Five called off touring so that members of the group could attend college. Kenn Ellner ultimately attended Foothill Community College in California and later transferred to The University of Oregon and then Santa Clara University where he received his Juris Doctor. Craig Adkinson would go to San Jose State University where he eventually became a naval pilot and flew commercially for Delta Airlines. John Michalski would also go to San Jose State University to get his bachelors degree in accounting.
This being said, they have not forgotten about their time in The Count Five and look back on the days fondly. Unfortunately, both John Byrne and Craig Adkinson have both deceased, yet their memories live on. The three remaining members are enjoying their lives with family and working fulfilling careers, often getting calls from fans asking questions about their history with The Count Five and telling them how much influence they have had on their lives. It appears that the members of the group have truly left their footprint on history, and will not soon forget about their time with the group as they look back on the days fondly.