Monthly Archives: June 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 877) The Truth — “Baby You’ve Got It” Roger Dopson calls this ’66 B-side a “fearsomely good — if wholly uncharacteristic [for the band] — slice of Freakbeat” (liner notes to the CD comp Freakbeat Freakout) while Vernon Joynson calls it an “uncharacteristicallyContinue reading “The Truth — “Baby You’ve Got It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 30, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 876) The Cops ‘n Robbers — “I’ve Found Out” This ‘65 B-side is a “Real UK Beat Group gem, a Subtle Soulful Ballad Gem with a Lotta Magic, Dreamy Psych mood.” (Vintage Vinyl Via Valves, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvybezASxLk) It inexplicably starts with a musical quoteContinue reading “The Cops ‘n Robbers — “I’ve Found Out”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 29, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 875) Tim Dawe — “Junkie John” This “catchy, psychedelic folk-rock tune” (Craig Harris, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tim-dawe-mn0001559315/biography) by a future nuclear physicist was a “masterpiece” from “a superb debut, full of psychedelic folk rock with lots of organ, harpsichord and brilliant acid guitar”. (Stephane Rebeschini, https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/penrod.html).Continue reading “Tim Dawe — “Junkie John”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 28, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 874) Tina & David Meltzer — “Hungry” Yesterday I featured a lovely song off of Serpent Power’s sole LP, and today we turn to Tina & David’s solo LP, not 69’s Poet Song, but rather the one that stayed in the can forContinue reading “Tina & David Meltzer — “Hungry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 27, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 873) Serpent Power — “Up and Down” This “gorgeous” (Alec Paleo, liner notes to the CD comp Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets: 1965-1970) and “winsome . . . lost [folk rock] classic” (David Fricke and Robert Christgau, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-essential-albums-of-1967-198515/the-beach-boys-smiley-smile-199475/) comesContinue reading “Serpent Power: “Up and Down”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 26, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 872) George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” Bob Dylan wrote but never recorded this “lost gem” (Andrew Grant Jackson, https://solobeatles.com/2015/06/02/harrison-revives-an-unfinished-gem-by-dylan/) about not wanting to go on the road and leave his family. Dylan gave it to George Harrison, who demoedContinue reading “George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 25, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 871) Nick Garrie — “Stephanie City” Another song about a prostitute (see #41) by Nick Garrie (see also #3, 19, 65, 104, 137, 245, 362, 493), unforgettable, wry and delightful. The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas is one of the great lost albums ofContinue reading “Nick Garrie — “Stephanie City”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 24, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 870) Perpetual Langley — “Surrender” How was this ’66 A-side not a hit?! It is a “rare R&B treat”, “sung . . . with raw passion” (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2017/07/07/anyway-anyhow-anywhere-ace-collects-shel-talmy-productions-from-the-who-david-bowie-more/) by a teenager from Belfast named Perpetual Langley (real name: Mary Langley). And theContinue reading “Perpetual Langley — “Surrender”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 23, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 869) Rare Earth — “Long Time Leavin’” Chris Rizik perfectly sums up Rare Earth in one extraordinary sentence: “Whereas a number of white acts spent the 50s stealing hit blues and soul songs and sanitizing them for pop audiences, Rare Earth largely madeContinue reading “Rare Earth — “Long Time Leavin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 22, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 868) Los Saicos — “Fugitivo de Alcatraz” Peru’s Los Saicos (see #746) — the Psychos in English, and, yes, pronounced “psychos” — very well may have been the world’s first punk band. The band was “[p]rimitive to the point of primordial” (Lindsay Hutton,Continue reading “Los Saicos — “Fugitivo de Alcatraz”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 21, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 867) The Original Caste — “Highway” This ‘70 B-side to the Original Caste’s Canadian hit “Mr. Monday” (see #659) is pure pop pleasure that gives the listener a portal into the Fifth Dimension. Band founder Bruce Innis says “I wrote it for DixieContinue reading “The Original Caste — “Highway”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 20, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 866) The Dovers — “What Am I Gonna Do” This is a song in “the pantheon of sixties garage rock classics. . . . [f]ew tracks of the decade are so plaintively innocent, and almost none are so perfect.” (Matt Ryan, http://strangecurrenciesmusic.com/on-distant-stations-the-dovers/) ItsContinue reading “The Dovers — “What Am I Gonna Do”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 865) The Kinks — “Mr. Pleasant” This “[i]nsanely catchy Music Hall whimsy” (Thomas Martinussen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwpJGewUyYk) by the Kinks (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753) displays Ray Davies “penchant for sarcasm. Even before the end of the song, with allContinue reading “The Kinks — “Mr. Pleasant”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 18, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 864) Mark LeVine — “Going to the Country” Today I will let my freak flag fly and spin a: Steve Simels says of “Going to the Country” — no, not the Steve Miller Band song! — that: My new favorite song. . .Continue reading “Mark LeVine — “Going to the Country”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 17, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 863) Embryo — “Opal” A “pure Krautrock masterpiece” (https://roundandroundrecords.com/products/embryo-opal-lp) by a band Miles Davis described as “crazy creative musicians playing really weird stuff” (https://www.jazzmessengers.com/en/87525/embryo/opal-gatefold-colored-vinyl) Maybe because “[b]and leader Christian Burchard was . . . hanging out with the Amon Duul commune of freaksContinue reading “Embryo — “Opal”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 16, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 862) The Knickerbockers — “One Track Mind” No Lies, the Knickerbockers’ follow-up single “sounds even more like a Beatles recording than its predecessor” (me-n-my45, https://www.45cat.com/record/hlh10013) and “gets even closer to Beatlemania. . . . teeter[ing] on the edge of hysteria, with moptop-shaking harmoniesContinue reading “The Knickerbockers — “One Track Mind”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 15, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 861) Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” The first of Maurice’s (see #353, 354, 466) two singles (the other not til ’84) is “an absolutely sensational little song” (Tim Roxborogh, https://www.roxboroghreport.com/2020/04/samantha-gibb-covers-her-dads-greatest-song-my-flashbacks-to-being-backstage-with-the-bee-gees-in-1999.html) and a wonderful “throwback to country-pop balladry”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-loner-mw0001053220 (though I don’t thinkContinue reading “Maurice Gibb — “Railroad”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 14, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Ah, the team of Pete Atkin and Clive James (see #263). It’s as if Gilbert and Sullivan woke up in Swinging London. And I’m not talkin’ Gilbert O’Sullivan! Christopher Evans: In the early ’70s, the songwriting partnership of Pete Atkin and Clive JamesContinue reading “All Aboard the Pete Atkin “Midnight Special” Edition: Pete Atkin— “Girl on the Train”, Pete Atkin — “The Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 13, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD John Williams (see #402, 784) was Jimmy Page’s partner in folk. As Corbin explains: John Williams was an artist in the mold of Donovan a sort of traditional folk artist with a twist. . . . He hailed from Bedford, England, a townContinue reading “All Aboard the John Williams “Midnight Special” Edition: John Williams — “C’mon Train”, John William — “Train”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 12, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 856) The Stone Poneys — “2:10 Train” The last song on the Stone Poneys’ (see #751) first album is a wondrous folk rock creation, a “particularly fine vehicle for the striking vocals of [Linda] Ronstadt . . . only 20” (Paul Sexton, https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/stone-poneys-stone-poneys-album/?amp),Continue reading “The Stone Poneys — “2:10 Train”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 11, 2023”