Long ago and far away, way back before we were a glimmer in our own eye, much less anybody else's, it's true, there was no Drag City. But there were others like us, and if you're not blown away when you see the work done by labels like International Artists (who brought The Red Crayola into the marketplace) and ESP-Disk who did the first and for a long time, only Ed Askew record), then get out! These were true indies - and when, in 1967, Pearls Before Swine's debut album One Nation Underground, sold 30,000 copies over the course of a year, this was a big deal. Epitomizing the true freedom of the hippie dream, they went on to sell a lot more records on ESP-Disk before signing to Warner Bros in 1970. On the downside of hippie (and indie) dreams, their two classic psych-folk records on ESP went into alternative ownership in the early 90s, at which point, quality control went out the window. For this 50th anniversary edition (how time flies) of One Nation Underground, the band are back in control of the material, and with the assistance of the original (and legendary) engineer Richard Alderson, they've restored the mono mix that the album was always intended to have. And it sounds sweet. Complete with notes from Alderson and Tom Rapp, One Nation Underground is candidate for reissue of the year!