English Freakbeat series

The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in the early punk, proto-punk, R&B, mod, and beat genres.

The AIP Records website describes the albums in the English Freakbeat series as being "[d]evoted to some of the more raw & rockin' UK nuggets that have been overlooked by England's more pop-obsessed compilers, [having an] emphasis on punk and R&B but with some volumes leaning toward mod-beat and art pop."

Though disparaged as "failed mod singles" by some on-line reviewers, these recordings are important in many respects, not least because many of the musicians enjoyed considerably more success and prominence in later years.

However, English recording artists continued to be influenced by the American blues and R&B musicians that helped give rise to the British Invasion in the first place; whereas, in the U.S., the music was in more of a rock direction.

One early review of the first volume in this series raved about "gems from groups like the Sheffields, the Loot, the Chasers, the Primitives and the Beat Merchants – basically, the kind of sounds that are liable to make me lose my marbles at any given moment!