VA - Fill Your Head with Rock [1970] (2 x CDs)

ROCK

VA - Fill Your Head with Rock [1970] (2 x CDs)

Released in 1970 by CBS Records, Fill Your Head with Rock was the third installment in the UK’s influential Rock Machine sampler series, and the first to go double LP, signaling CBS’s ambition to dominate the contemporary rock market. Compiled by David Howell, who later helmed Pete Waterman’s PWL label, this set wasn’t just a promo tool, it was a statement.

The track list is a wild ride through American and British rock, with a heavy lean toward progressive, psychedelic, and folk-inflected sounds. You get Santana’s “Savour”, Chicago’s “Listen”, and Spirit’s “Give a Life, Take a Life” on one end, and UK acts like Argent, Steamhammer, and Skin Alley on the other. Laura Nyro, Leonard Cohen, and Janis Joplin bring lyrical depth, while Black Widow’s “Come to the Sabbat” injects occult theatrics that had teenage listeners raising eyebrows.

The cover art was unusually generous for a sampler, featuring photos of the artists with a key for identification. That inside spread became iconic, with Taj Mahal, Al Kooper, and Laura Nyro front and center. The included eight-page booklet added artist bios and album visuals, plus plugs for CBS’s extended roster (including Dandelion and Straight labels).

Internationally, the album saw wide release: retitled Llena Tu Cabeza de Rock in Spain and Latin America, Superb Super Pop Session N°2 in France, and pressed in Australia and South Africa with minimal changes. It even charted in France and Spain, proving sampler albums could move units beyond the UK.

For collectors, it’s a cornerstone, both for its rarity and its role in shaping the sampler format. It’s a prime example of how curation, packaging, and timing can turn a label promo into a cultural artifact. (B)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Chicago - Listen 3:20

02 Santana - Savor 2:46

03 Spirit - Give A Life, Take A Life 3:21

04 Steamhammer - Passing Through 5:11

05 Blood, Sweat & Tears - Smiling Phases 5:10

06 Flock - Tired of Waiting 4:39

07 Black Widow - Come to The Sabbat 4:54

08 Argent - Dance in The Smoke 6:19

09 Byrds - Gunga Din 3:04

10 Skin Alley - Living in Sin 4:39

CD2

01 Laura Nyro - Gibsom Street 4:44

02 Leonard Cohen - You Know Who I Am 3:29

03 Moondog (Louis Hardin) - Stamping Ground 2:29

04 Amory Kane - The Inbetween Man 2:52

05 Trees - The Garden of Jane Delawney 4:06

06 Al Stewart - A Small Fruit Song 2:00

08 Janis Joplin - Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) 3:57

09 Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis - One Room Country Shack 3:36

10 Taj Mahal - Six Days on The Road 3:01

11 Mike Bloomfield - Don't Think About It, Baby 3:33

12 Pacific Gas & Electric - Bluesbuster 2:57

13 Johnny Winter - I Love Everybody 3:45

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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