THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
966) The Action — “Climbing Up the Wall”
Here is a “[w]onderful track [– y]ou can hear the acid being dropped” (Dean Swift, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIZvFj8DBUM) from another top contender for the greatest lost album of the 60’s (see #393, 429). Matthew Sweet calls the album that never was “melodic mayhem … fueled by an emerging psychedelia … approached with a spirt of abandon” (liner notes to the Rolled Gold CD comp). It came from “[a] mod band made up of genuine mods” (Andrew Sandoval, liner notes to the Rolled Gold) that changed with the times. As guitarist lan King recalled:
Gone were the days of the pill-popping mods who seemed to rave all night long. Different drugs came onto the music scene . . . so attitudes and passions changed. We were no exception. We began to experiment with new ideas, writing songs even, which was very exciting. We wanted to play our own stuff, instead of doing covers all the time.”
liner notes to Rolled Gold
As to the album, Matt Collar says:
The term “lost classic” is applied liberally and often erroneously to unreleased recordings that resurface years later in a maelstrom of hype. However, for . . . the Action, the term is not only justified, it is painfully bittersweet. . . . [This] goes beyond “lost classic” — it is the influential masterpiece no one was ever allowed to hear. . . . By the time they recorded [Rolled Gold‘s] demo tracks in 1967, the band had grown weary of the musically limited mod scene, which was on its last legs. . . . Prefiguring the coming psychedelic movement, the songs were epic, heartfelt, melodic socks to the gut . . . think The Who’s Tommy meets The Byrds’ Fifth Dimension. Unbelievably, EMI — AIR’s distributor — was not interested, and the tracks were shelved. . . . Playing like the brilliant missing link between mod and psychedelic rock, [it] is experimental without being silly or twee and emotionally mature without being pompous and boring. . . . [Some t]racks . . . are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late ’60s . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/album/rolled-gold-mw0000661275
As to the Action, Bruce Eder tells us:
In the mid-’60s, the Action had a strong grassroots following among British mods. But despite the support of George Martin, they never managed anything close to a hit record. The Action were the most soul-oriented of the mod groups, favoring guitar-oriented covers of Motown tunes and R&B dance numbers of the day . . . . Martin’s production put the emphasis on Reg King’s impressive vocals and the group’s high vocal harmonies, in the process getting a unique sound. . . . The Action changed members and their sound as the decade progressed, and were reborn as Mighty Baby. The band started out in North London during 1963 as quartet called the Boys . . . . [who] went out of existence in 1964, but didn’t split up, instead reconfiguring themselves as a five-piece. . . . the Action. [T]hey developed a tougher, harder sound that quickly made them favorites among mod audiences. The Action had a sound similar to the Small Faces . . . . They were discovered by George Martin, who signed them to his newly founded AIR Productions in 1965 and got them a recording deal at Parlophone Records . . . . The Action debuted with an excellent single of “Land of a 1000 Dances” b/w “In My Lonely Room,” which failed to make the charts despite being an irresistible dance number and lovely ballad respectively, performed with genuine flair and inspiration, not to mention an authentic white soul sound from Reg King that was as credible as anything emanating from England at the time. The Action’s second single, “I’ll Keep on Holding On” . . . released in early 1966, was just as good . . . as their first, but saw no greater chart success. The Action maintained a serious following among the mods . . . but they couldn’t get a break with their records and were unable to get the exposure that would have bumped them to the next level. . . . [B]y late 1966 and early 1967, they were doing smooth soul-styled material . . . . [and] by mid-1967 the[y] had evolved . . . into a progressive folk-rock-based sound . . . . Though Martin still supported the music the Action were making, their lack of success meant that AIR could no longer keep them on the label and they were let go in 1967. They . . . soon were back in the studio cutting a new batch of songs that were all composed by the band and featured a heavier, more psychedelic sound. They sent the tape around to various labels, but were unable to drum up enough interest to sign a deal. . . . Reg King subsequently left the band to pursue a solo career, and . . . the outfit that remained, rechristened Azoth. . . . They eventually transformed themselves into a pure psychedelic outfit, Mighty Baby . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-action-mn0000029067/biography
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