This obscure San Francisco (by way of L.A.) '60s band gained a degree of notoriety in the '80s when their punk-garage single "Mr. Pharmacist" was included on one of Rhino's Nuggets compilations and covered by
the Fall. Actually, most of
the Other Half's material was far less garage than psychedelic, featuring the sustain-laden guitar of
Randy Holden, one of the best
Jeff Beck-inspired axemen of the '60s. Boasting a just-out-of-the-garage approach to Haight-Ashbury psychedelia, the group cut a little-heard, fairly strong album, as well as a few rare singles, in 1967 and 1968.
Holden, who had previously played in the L.A. psychedelic garage band Sons of Adam, went on to join
Blue Cheer and record on his own. ~ Richie Unterberger