Monthly Archives: May 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 843) Tom Dae Turned On — “I Shall Walk” This is what garage rock sounded like in Connecticut in ’70! — “Heavy Psych out of Hartford . . . by a guy who mostly recorded lightweight pop (hence the “Turned On”). Shoestring, https://www.45cat.com/record/hitt7002).Continue reading “Tom Dae Turned On — “I Shall Walk”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 31, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 842) Hipster Image — “Make Her Mine” OK, you may remember this ‘65 B-side from a classic Levi’s commercial starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. But before then, it was a mod dancefloor classic — “a staple of the 60s club scene (liner notes toContinue reading “Hipster Image — “Make Her Mine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 30, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 841) Herman’s Hermits — “Hold On!” Here’s the title song to Peter Noone’s teen flick Hold On!, a neat and peppy little number. “This is the West Coast meeting the U.K. in a very pleasant way, and the combination is impressive”. (Joe Viglione,Continue reading “Herman’s Hermits — “Hold On!”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 29, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 840) Paul McCartney — “Every Night” This “sweet, gentle” tribute to Linda McCartney “rank[s] as [a] full-fledged McCartney classic”, “full of all the easy melodic charm that is McCartney’s trademark”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/mccartney-mw0000194129) “[O]ne of [his] greatest solo accomplishments [see #28, 132,Continue reading “Paul McCartney — “Every Night”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 28, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 839) Bobak, Jons, Malone — “On a Meadow Lea” A “masterful” prog/psych number with a very “eerie mood [and] genuinely psychedelic” (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight/), “somewhere between Procol Harum and the early Floyd, with some more fractured wordplay, heavy-lidded vocals and monstrous fuzztone guitar”. (DavidContinue reading “Bobak, Jons, Malone — “On a Meadow Lea”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 27, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 838) Agincourt — “Dawn” This lovely gift of UK folk is a “jaunty and upbeat number with . . . lovely harmonies from the three charming singers.” (Psychedelic Paul, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7290) “Dawn” comes from an ultra-rare privately pressed album that Psychedelic Paul calls aContinue reading “Agincourt — “Dawn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 26, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 837) Ike & Tina Turner — “Workin’ Together” Tina, you’ve been through a lot and achieved even more. RIP. “Workin’” is the transcendent title track of Ike & Tina’s (see #212, 329) best and most successful LP, but when it had been releasedContinue reading “Ike & Tina Turner — “Workin’ Together”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 25, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 836) Barry Booth — “Mole” With lyrics by future Monty Python members Michael Palin and Terry Jones, here “is a nearly psychedelic deconstruction of the life of a, well, mole. . . . the strangest song on the album and one of theContinue reading “Barry Booth: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 24, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 835) The Bruthers — “Bad Way to Go” “We were just four brothers who learned some music, heard the Beatles and Stones and went ape.”  (Alf Delia https://www.freeformportland.org/2018/01/19/not-a-bad-way-to-go-a-story-about-a-killer-sixties-garage-band-called-the-bruthers/) The A-side of the Bros’ only single, “Bad Way” is a “one-shot masterpiece” (Greg Shaw,Continue reading “The Bruthers — “Bad Way to Go”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 23, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 833) Thorinshield — “Here Today” A song that is “chockfull of latent Beatlisms, with an occasional Boettcher-like Millennial quirky little detail or two” and an album that is “now rightly regarded as a minor classic of late 60s soft psychedelia.” (Garwood Pickjon, https://popdiggers.com/thorinshield-thorinshield/)Continue reading “Thorinshield — “Here Today” Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 22, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 833) The Who — “Sunrise” To be honest, I sort of forgot about this wonderful acoustic number at the tail end of The Who Sell Out. Shame on me. Richie Unterberger says it “shows introspective, vulnerable sides to [Pete Townshend — happy birthday,Continue reading “The Who — “Sunrise”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 21, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 832) Omega — “Utazás A Szürke Folyón”/”Journey on the Grey River” “Down the grey wild river there’s a road waiting for me. I must go and leave the one who gives me a home.” (courtesy of Google translate) Haunting prog from Hungary’s greatestContinue reading “Omega — “Utazás A Szürke Folyón”/”Journey on the Grey River”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 20, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 831) Olympic — “Dědečkův Duch”/”Grandpa’s Ghost” How do the Czechs mate? They turn up Olympic! Dad, enough with the dad jokes! Sorry. The great and pioneering Czech band (see #635)— going strong after 60 years! — gives us this great beat number aboutContinue reading “Olympic — “Dědečkův Duch”/”Grandpa’s Ghost”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 19, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 830) The Collage — “Driftin’” Ethereal B-side and album track from the Collage (see #415, 678). Unterberger gives us some history: Part of the idea behind the formation of the Collage was to emulate the Mamas and the Papas’ lineup with a two-man,Continue reading “The Collage — “Driftin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 18, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 829) H.P. Lovecraft — “The Drifter” This Chicago band put the LSD in Lake Shore Drive, and in a folk classic. Richie Unterberger says that “[t]he . . . vocal blend was particularly stirring on the[] cover[] of ‘The Drifter’ (penned by folkieContinue reading “H.P. Lovecraft — “The Drifter”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 17, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 828) Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends — “The Drifter” The Friends’ (see #631) final A-side (with “Trust” on the flip side (see #136, as covered by the Peppermint Trolley Co.)) “failed to make a commercial impact.” How it wasn’t aContinue reading “Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends — “The Drifter”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 16, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 827) Johnny Adams — “Real Live Living Hurtin’ Man” This ‘ 70 A-side was “ironically written by a pair of female songwriters, Margaret Lewis and Myrna Smith. . . . [It is] classic southern soul.” (The Vintage Soul Machine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJJNAWp-x5A) Michael Petitti saysContinue reading “Johnny Adams — “Real Live Living Hurtin’ Man” Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 15, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 826) Oscar — “Join My Gang” This ’66 A-side was a little ditty, “a light, jaunty little piece of pop” (Anorak Thing, https://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2016/04/great-obscure-uk-60s-sides-oscar-aka.html), that Pete Townshend penned for Paul Oscar Beuselinck/Paul Dean/Oscar/Paul Nicholas. Oscar’s father Oscar, was, for a time, The Who’s solicitorContinue reading “Oscar — “Join My Gang”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 14, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Three killer versions of a traditional folk tune. “900 Miles from My Home” is “a lament of a traveller far from home that is from the beginning of the last century or earlier” (https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/fivehundredmiles.html), “the old folk tale of the hobo roaming far,Continue reading ““900 Miles” Special Edition: Bob Dylan/Dion/Esther & Abi Ofarim: Bob Dylan and the Band — “900 Miles from My Home”, Dion — “900 Miles”, Esther & Abi Ofarim — “900 Miles from My Home”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 13, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 822) Ten Years After — “50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain” “Love me 50, 000 miles beneath my brain.” A cool number from Ten Years After (see #607) with insanely trippy lyrics. Guitars Exchange — or is it Guitar Sexchange? — calls it “classicContinue reading “Ten Years After — “50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 12, 2023”