The Leathercoated Minds were a Los Angeles studio-only group, formed for the express purpose of exploiting both the sound and image of the L.A. psychedelic scene circa 1966-1967. Their sole record, the LP A Trip Down the Sunset Strip, was issued on the small Viva label in 1967 because -- as Viva chief Snuff Garrett candidly remembered in the liner notes to the 2006 CD reissue -- "we had a real good (photo) shot of Sunset Boulevard and we needed an album to go with it." Accordingly, the LP featured hastily recorded covers of some of the hippest hits of 1966 -- "Eight Miles High," "Psychotic Reaction," "Over Under Sideways Down," "Sunshine Superman," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Along Comes Mary" -- as well as a few filler psychedelic instrumentals. The record has its interest for collectors, however, since those filler instrumentals were written by a young J.J. Cale, who also produced and played guitar on the album. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi