It's Smoke Time

by Richie UnterbergerBesides "My Friend Jack," other highlights of the Smoke's only album (all but one of whose tracks were group originals) include the beautiful mid-tempo ballad "Waterfall" and the bee-humming guitars and lilting backup vocals on "You Can't Catch Me." This Repertoire reissue of the original LP adds 14 additional cuts, including non-LP singles, a single issued in 1965 by the Shots (an earlier version of the group), a single puzzlingly issued under the alias the Chords Five, and an interesting alternate take of "My Friend Jack." A lot of these tracks pale in comparison to the 12 from the original album, but "Have Some More Tea" is a great Who-ish number, and "Sydney Gill" is a good stab at a more progressive mood. [Originally released in 1967, It's Smoke Time was reissued on CD in 2006 and contains the first 12 tracks of the original LP.]