The Tea Company - Come And Have Some Tea With ... (1968) [US Stereo LP]

The Tea Company – Come And Have Some Tea With The Tea Company

Original 1968 Smash Records SRS-67105 (Discogs)

~ThePoodleBites Rip in 96kHz / 24bit FLAC + full high-res scans!~

We all owe a debt of thanks to @PsychTrailMix for this one, as he both introduced me to this album and put up the funds to get a copy of this to rip. Thanks, man! A rip of the sole CD is also necessary for the bonus tracks.

**NOTE**: This is an older rip and some vinyl noise will be heard on the recording. I'd initially removed it from the blog entirely, but I've decided to allow it here for the time being since it still has much better sound quality than the CD. However, I may redo this rip with superior sound in the future. 

This is a very interesting album. One can tell at first listen that these guys were quite well-versed in the music of their day; while “Come And Have Some Tea With Me” (along with most of the material) is certainly original, the chord progression and melodic motif from “Flowers” is a clear nod to the Experience’s “Hey Joe”, but somehow devolves into an “Interstellar Overdrive”-esque psychedelic soundscape. “Love Could Make The World Go Round” directly references the Beatles and Bob Dylan (and Lincoln?), and after a returning introduction on the B-side, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” gives the Fudge a run for their money. The only possible throw-away track here is “Don’t Make Waves”, subtitled “Water Sound Effects”, which pretty much explains itself; even saying that, I can’t deny that it is pleasurable to listen to with a bag of fresh tea. The final track, “Make Love, Not War” has gotten stuck in my head way too many times. This album is actually really quite good and has its own unique feel. It makes many unabashed drug references but manages to rock quite hard. One could argue the lyrics being dated and reminiscent of a strong “period piece,” but for lovers of the genre, this is an indispensable album of quality psych.

Scott Blackerby writes in the Acid Archives: "... exemplified by tracks such as the 10+ minute "Flowers" and "Don't Make Waves (Water Sound Effects)" the band displayed an awesome affection for sound effects. Having missed the '60s, I can only report that 'tea' was supposedly a reference to dope. However, the plant shown on the cover is not marijuana."

Track listing:
1) “Come And Have Some Tea With Me” – 3:32
2) “Flowers” – 10:09
3) “Love Could Make The World Go Round” – 3:36
4) “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – 8:50
5) “Don’t Make Waves (Water Sound Effects)” – 1:39
6) “As I Have Seen You Upon The Wall” – 2:46
7) “Make Love, Not War” – 2:36

Vinyl condition: VG+ (I’ve spent a lot of time carefully de-clicking, but some light noise remains)
Dynamic range: DR 10

Lineage:
– Audio-Technica AT150MLx Dual Moving-Magnet Cartridge
– Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB Direct Drive Professional Turntable (internal stock preamp/ADC removed)
– TCC TC-754 RIAA Phono Preamp (new regulated power supply, added LM7812 regulator)
– Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 MkII (96kHz / 24bit)
– Adobe Audition CC 2018 (recording)
– iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor (manual declicking, mono collapse, additional adjustments)
– Audacity 2.2.1 (fades between tracks, split tracks)
– Foobar2000 v1.3.17 (tagging, dynamic range analysis)

Full album available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8cuT9Fiv9s

MEGA: https://mega.nz/folder/6pI0BJIS#zSHQE_txrDA2BZr2PFdFQQ
Enjoy, and please feel free to leave comments!