Monthly Archives: January 2022

316) Etta James — “Watch Dog” Big Mama Thornton and Elvis, please move aside. Etta James’s “Watch Dog” is R&B’s and rock ‘n’ roll’s true killer canine. The song — written by Don Covay — is “feverish” and “snarls with rock ‘n’ roll energy” (Charles Hughes, https://68comebackspecial.wordpress.com/2018/09/14/etta-james-tell-mama/). Dave Writz used it to epitomize James inContinue reading “Etta James — “Watch Dog”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 11, 2022″

https://www.discogs.com/master/53459-Syd-Barrett-Barrett/image/SW1hZ2U6NjAxMTQwNDM= https://www.discogs.com/master/210981-Faine-Jade-Introspection-A-Faine-Jade-Recital/image/SW1hZ2U6NTcyNTgwOA== As we learned yesterday, Bohemian Vendetta backed Faine Jade on his sole album — Introspection: A Faine Jade Recital— in 1968 (see #313). Today, we turn to that album, which has deservedly become a critical darling. Most interesting is that is that Faine Jade (real name: Chuck Laskowski) is often described as highlyContinue reading “Will the Real Syd Barrett Please Stand Up, Please Stand Up Special Edition/Faine Jade/Syd Barrett: Faine Jade — “A Brand New Groove”, Syd Barrett — “Baby Lemonade”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 10, 2022″

313) Bohemian Vendetta — “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” Who were the Vendetta? — a “quintet . . . from New York’s Long Island, who backed Faine Jade on his Introspection album in 1968. That same year, they recorded and released a self-titled album for the Mainstream label.” (Bruce Eder in All Music Guide). OneContinue reading “Bohemian Vendetta — “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 9, 2022″

312) Peter Sando — “Bird in the Hand” OK, after yesterday’s blog, featuring dirge-like music and bleak lyrics, I thought I would lighten the atmosphere by playing a song with upbeat/finger-snapping/funky-cool music . . . and bleak lyrics. Peter Sando, of the legendary psych group Gandalf, recorded “Bird in the Hand” as a solo artistContinue reading “Peter Sando — “Bird in the Hand”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 8, 2022″

311) Felius Andromeda — “Meditations” Anorak Thing says that “Meditations” is “[p]ossibly one of the oddest records of British 60’s psychedelia” (http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2010/12/and-with-death-of-my-comprehension.html). Damn straight. The song is also often derided as a Procol Harum copycat crime. For instance, Graham Reid writes that: [A]ny number of acts at the time [tried to replicate Procol Harum’s “WhiterContinue reading “Felius Andromeda — “Meditations”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 7, 2022”

Protestors carried placards saying “Peace on the Strip.” They weren’t referring to conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, they were protesting a 10 p.m. curfew on teens and the closure of the Pandora’s Box coffee house on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. The ’65-’66 Sunset Strip “Curfew” or “Hippie” Riots wereContinue reading “The Sunset Strip “Curfew/Hippie” Riots Special Edition: Terry Randall — “S.O.S.”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 6, 2022″

309) The Glass Family — “Sometimes You Wonder (Henry’s Tune)” Wonderful hypnotizing soft psych L.A. style ’67-68 (I love L.A.!). People got to be free to do as they please! Bob Koch talks of Electric Band, the album from which today’s song is drawn: Electric Band is way above average post-garage band era L.A. rock,Continue reading “The Glass Family — “Sometimes You Wonder (Henry’s Tune)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 5, 2022″

308) Parliament — “Little Ole Country Boy” As I have said, Osmium, the album from which this song is drawn, is where it all began for Parliament (see #249). Mark Montgomery French writes that: According to George Clinton, the five-man ex-doo-wop group Parliament performed polite music you could play for your mother, while their five-manContinue reading “Parliament — “Little Ole Country Boy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 4, 2022″

307) The Buzz — “You’re Holding Me Down” “You’re Holding Me Down” is the Platonic ideal of freakbeat. The only A-side by the (Edinburgh) Buzz, released in ’66 (of course) and produced by Joe Meek (of course), is “the stuff of legends” and an “insane slice of Joe Meek produced freakbeat mayhem” (Wilthomer), an “eternallyContinue reading “The Buzz — “You’re Holding Me Down”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 3, 2022”

306) Great Speckled Bird — “Love What You’re Doing Child” Canadian country-rock from the eponymous ’70 album by the folk-rock duo Ian & Sylvia and their new band. Randall Adams calls it “one of the best country rock albums of all time.” He goes on: [The album] immediately sank without a trace . . .Continue reading “Great Speckled Bird — “Love What You’re Doing Child”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 2, 2022”