Lee Michaels
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One of the most interesting second-division California psychedelic musicians, keyboardist Lee Michaels was one of the most soulful white vocalists of the late '60s and early '70s. Between 1968 and 1972, he released half a dozen accomplished albums on A&M that encompassed Baroque psychedelic pop and gritty white, sometimes gospel-ish R&B with equal facility. A capable songwriter, Michaels was blessed with an astonishing upper range, occasionally letting loose some thrilling funky wails. In 1971, he landed a surprise Top Ten single with "Do You Know What I Mean," one of the best and funkiest AM hits of the early '70s.
But Michaels was really much more of an album-oriented artist, from the time he began recording in the late '60s. Michaels started playing music in Southern California, where he was in a band with future members of Moby Grape, the Turtles, and Canned Heat. By the time he signed to A&M, however, he'd moved to San Francisco, joining the management stable of Matthew Katz (which also included, at various times, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and It's a Beautiful Day). Michaels was unusual for a San Francisco act in that he relied mostly on an organ-based sound, especially after the first pair of albums, when for a time he played, live and in the studio, with the mammoth drummer "Frosty" as his only accompanist.
"Do You Know What I Mean," ironically, was a throwaway tune that Michaels wrote hurriedly. Though Lee himself didn't think much of it, the song was a first-rate blast of white boy soul; around this time, the gospel influence that had often informed his sound come to the fore. His albums in the mid-'70s for Columbia, however, were both critical and commercial disappointments. Michaels moved to Hawaii for an extended retirement from the music business; aside from a self-released album in the early '80s, little's been heard from him since.

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The Collection - 1992

A good 18-track overview of his A&M work, drawing from all six of the albums he released between 1968 and 1972. Includes "Do You Know What I Mean," "Stormy Monday," "Heighty Hi," "Hello," "The War," and "Carnival of Life," as well as the 1969 non-LP B-side "Goodbye, Goodbye" and his only Top 40 single besides "Do You Know What I Mean," a cover of "Can I Get a Witness." - Richie Unterberger

01 - (4:31) Hello
02 - (3:05) Carnival Of Life
03 - (4:09) Sounding The Sleeping
04 - (2:25) If I Lose You
05 - (3:13) The War
06 - (2:30) Grocery Soldier
07 - (2:31) Goodbye, Goodbye
08 - (3:04) Heighty Hi
09 - (5:16) Stormy Monday
10 - (3:50) Mad Dog
11 - (3:37) Murder In My Heart For The Judge
12 - (4:10) Thumbs
13 - (3:05) Uummmm My Lady
14 - (3:17) Do You Know What I Mean
15 - (2:46) Keep The Circle Turning
16 - (2:34) Rock Me Baby
17 - (3:08) Can I Get A Witness
18 - (3:34) Hold On To Freedom