Monthly Archives: December 2022

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 687) The Canterbury Music Festival — “First Spring Rain” Call this ’68 A-side baroque pop, call it soft pop, call it sunshine pop, call it pop psych, but call it a masterpiece by the CMF (see #358). If you are looking for ultra-rareContinue reading “The Canterbury Music Festival — “First Spring Rain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 31, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 686) Faine Jade — “Cold Winter Sun (Symphony in D Major)” Here is stunning psych from Long Island’s Syd Barrett (see #314). Cosmic Minds at Play calls it a “bona fide psychedelic wonder[]” (https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/classic-singles-51-the-bohemian-vendetta-enough-half-the-time-1967/) and Antonio Mendez says it’s “an excellent lysergic, laxContinue reading “Faine Jade — “Cold Winter Sun”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 685) Head West — “Some Day” A sinuous/funky/jazzy rock song by a future member of Fleetwood Mac. Vernon Joynson says the song’s “vocals have a haunting quality and the song . . . has a certain charm”. (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) It’sContinue reading “Head West — “Some Day”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 683) Alex Harvey — “Midnight Moses” Here is another magical selection from Alex Harvey’s ’69 solo LP Roman Wall Blues (see #440). Harvey redid the song with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in ’72 and its hard rock core became apparent. Eric KamauContinue reading “Alex Harvey — “Midnight Moses”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 683) The Human Expression — “Every Night” Mesmerizing and haunting ‘66 B-side by a hugely talented L.A. band whose music, as Mark Deming says, “lurked somewhere in between garage rock and psychedelia” and who had “imaginative songwriters with a clever, slightly bent approach,Continue reading “The Human Expression — “Every Night”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 682) Johnny Young — “Good Evening Girl” This delightful pop psych B-side from down under was “written by three of the Easybeats but never recorded by that group, although it’s easily up to the standards of their better songs.” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-generation-1960s-punk-from-down-under-mw0000660957) TheContinue reading “Johnny Young — “Good Evening Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 679) Bob Seger and the Last Heard— “Sock It to Me Santa” https://www.discogs.com/master/1419447-Bob-Seger-And-The-Last-Heard-Heavy-Music-The-Complete-Cameo-Recordings-1966-1967/image/SW1hZ2U6MzYwMTY0MjA= ‘66 A-side by Bob Seger (see #233, 234). Mark Deming says that it “is a Christmas novelty that burns like Mitch Ryder on trucker’s speed” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/heavy-music-the-complete-cameo-recordings-1966-1967-mw0003002528). The song makes NickContinue reading “Christmas Special: Bob Seger and the Last Heard/The Staple Singers/A440: Bob Seger and the Last Heard — “Sock It to Me Santa”, The Staple Singers — “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas”, A440 — “Santa Klaus Is Coming, Yeah!”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 24, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 678) The Collage — “Any Day’s a Sunday Afternoon” ‘67 A-side is a self-written soft pop psych masterpiece by the Collage (see #415). Richie Unterberger feels that the song’s “psych-pop-circus feel . . . might have made for the best attempt at aContinue reading “Collage — “Any Day’s a Sunday Afternoon”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 23, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 677) Ferguson Tractor — “12 O’Clock High” Here is a fuzz/riff monster post-garage era (‘69) garage track, the A-side of the only single by a pretty unknown band. SF Scene calls it “a great sounding fuzz-a-delic track”. (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mHJtTI8YZB0). So have a Fuzzy NavelContinue reading “Ferguson Tractor — “12 O’Clock High”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 22, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 676) The Quiet Five — “When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew” This gentle strummed ballad of “haunting folksiness” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-quiet-five-mn0000896096) originally meant for Marianne Faithfull, hit #45 in the UK. Richie Unterberger gives us some band history: [The Quiet Five] ma[d]eContinue reading “The Quiet Five — “When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 21, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 675) George Gallacher and the Pathfinders — “Dawn” How was this “[v]ery catchy, unknown psych gem with a great keyboard riff and beautiful vocals” (AldousLeary, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-4lhgFdGTBU) not a hit? Man, it wasn’t even released. George and the Pathfinders just recorded it “for aContinue reading “George Gallacher and the Pathfinders — “Dawn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 20, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 674) Appaloosa — “Bi-Weekly” “Bi-Weekly” is an absolutely gorgeous “folk-baroque” song off of Appaloosa’s sole album (see #463). Richie Unterberger calls it one of “the album’s standouts” with “soaring orchestration and distinctive [Al] Kooper organ”. (http://www.richieunterberger.com/appaloosa.html). Oldscreamo describes a “full orchestra reflect[ing] theContinue reading “Appaloosa — “Bi-Weekly”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 19, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 673) Thomas Edisun’s Electric Light Bulb Band Vaudevillian pop-psych ’67 A-side by Louisiana forerunners to power-pop band Zuider Zee. Igor Igorev tells us: [This is a] previously unreleased album from 1967 by [an] obscure US psychedelic band . . . . Thomas EdisunContinue reading “Thomas Edisun’s Electric Light Bulb Band — “No One’s Been Here for Weeks”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 18, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 672) Kippington Lodge — “Tomorrow Today” A groovy pop psych ode to living for today (or, “Tomorrow Today”) by the band that was to become Brinsley Schwarz. It was written by “the hitmaking team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway”. (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2011/07/08/nick-lowe-welcomes-you-to-kippington-lodge/).Continue reading “Kippington Lodge — “Tomorrow Today”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 17, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 671) Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures if Today” The last single by Paul and Barry as a duo (’68) should have been a double A-side triumph (“Madrigal” being the B-side (see #88)). Delightful “psych-pop experimentation” indeed. (liner notes to the Paul &Continue reading “Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 16, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 670) The Bar-Kays — “Yesterday” Like a phoenix, the post-disaster Bar-Kays rose and soared and released the phenomenal Gotta Groove album (see #416). Jason Ankeny calls it, the reconstituted band’s first album after the tragic plane crash that took the lives of OtisContinue reading “The Bar-Kays — “Yesterday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 14, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 669) Paul McCartney and Wings — “Tomorrow” After playing a song honoring each day of the week, I thought I’d play one for tomorrow. So, here is Paul McCartney and Wings’ wonderful “Tomorrow”. What, you thought I’d do “Tomorrow Never Knows”?! From theContinue reading “Paul McCartney and Wings — “Tomorrow”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 13, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 666) Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist” Yes, that Charles Manson. A song which does full justice to the moniker “acid folk”. Even more intriguing than the song is Manson’s relationship with the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, who transformed it into 20/20′s “NeverContinue reading “I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson/The Beach Boys/David Bixby: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”; The Beach Boys — “Never Learn Not to Love”, Dave Bixby — “666”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 12, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 665) The Spike Drivers — “Blue Law Sunday” Does anyone remember blue laws? Well, Chick-fil-A closes on Sunday, doesn’t it? Blue law Sundays were not quite immortalized by this folk psych song by the Spike Drivers. As Jason Ankeny says, “[m]id-sixties Detroit psych-popstersContinue reading “The Spike Drivers — “Blue Law Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 11, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 664) The Outsiders — “Daddy Died on Saturday” From the legendary Dutch rockers’ (see #615) last album, CQ, which is, as Richard Groothuizen says, the product of “a passionate band at the height of their creative powers.” (liner notes to CD reissue). AsContinue reading “The Outsiders — “Daddy Died on Saturday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 10, 2022”