Monthly Archives: November 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity* define Swinging London for me. “Sadly short-lived, but the combination of Driscoll’s vocals and sex appeal and Auger’s musicanship was stunning for a while.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) “Auger is one of theContinue reading “This Video’s on Fire! Special Edition: Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity: “Black Cat”, “Break It Up”, “Season of the Witch” — Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 30, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,030) Ralph McTell — “Bright and Beautiful Things” Dare I feature a wisp of a song whose lyrics are based on the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffett” (at least until they take an unexpected turn)? I do dare, especially since the song isContinue reading “Ralph McTell — “Bright and Beautiful Things”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 29, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,029) Los Vidrios Quebrados — “Una Manera de Vivir”/”A Way of Living” Los Vidrios Quebrados (The Broken Glass) (see #763) are “unanimously considered as the great lost band of Chilean rock and, along with Los Mac’s [see #123, 203] . . . theContinue reading “Los Vidrios Quebrados — “Una Manera de Vivir”/”A Way of Living”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 28, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,028) O.V. Wright — “Eight Men, Four Women” From a “truly incendiary deep soul performer” (Bill Dahl, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ov-wright-mn0000457807/biography) (see #71, 274, 773), comes a timeless ’67 A-side that reached #80 (#4 on the R&B chart). Ray Ellis tells us that “[a] ‘jury ofContinue reading “O.V. Wright — “Eight Men, Four Women”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 27, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,027) Embryo — “You Don’t Know What’s Happening” From Opal’s embryonic but seminal Krautrock/German prog (see #863), this “cool though dark dirge” (DangHeck, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1087) is “[i]introduced by a magma of sound, [and] varies between tribal style and sixties acid pop with a languidContinue reading “Embryo —  “You Don’t Know What’s Happening”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 26, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,026) John Bromley — “So Many Things” 60’s pop psych power ballad pop whose “childlike nostalgia” makes it “something of a lost British psychedelic classic”. (Rob Jones, https://thedeletebin.com/2014/09/01/john-bromley-sings-so-many-things/) English songwriter John Bromley has written “over 200 works with over 60 recorded and performedContinue reading “John Bromley — “So Many Things”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 25, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,025) Inez and Charlie Foxx — “Don’t Do It No More” Everybody have you heard, he’s gonna cheat on me! A cheatin’ lover slowburner from sister and brother Inez and Charlie Foxx. No one hit wonderbird, Inez was “one of the most underratedContinue reading “Inez and Charlie Foxx — “Don’t Do It No More”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 24, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,024) The Small Faces — “My Way of Giving” We should all give thanks for the Small Faces’ way of giving, pilgrim! First a Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane written Small Faces (see #969) demo that Decca released after the band left forContinue reading “The Small Faces — “My Way of Giving”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 23, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,023) Tina & David Meltzer — “Pure White Place” We got the beat! Well, at least we got the greatest 60’s beat(nik) musicians — Tina & David Meltzer (see #873, 874) — giving us a “truly great” song from an album [Poet Song]Continue reading “Tina & David Meltzer — “Pure White Place”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 22, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,022) Chapter Four — “In My Life” No, not John Lennon’s “Life”! Rather, the greatest British freakbeat ever laid down by Americans, two members of Jay and the Americans that is (who, of course, were Americans)! This, their only A-side, is “a viciousContinue reading “Chapter Four — “In My Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 21, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,021) Sonny Bono — “I Told My Girl to Go Away” Sonny’s sole solo album, his late ’67 psychedelic opus Inner Views (see #281) is not well known — Bruce Eder notes that it “disappeared without a trace of its passing.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-bono-mn0000036402/biography) “My Girl”Continue reading “Sonny Bono — “I Told My Girl to Go Away”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 20, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,020) Blue Cheer — “Pilot” From the “louder than God” Blue Cheer, comes a song that “is innovative, cosmic, intellectual — just well-threaded rock ‘n’ roll. . . . If the lyrics . . . are deficient, the music is distinct and original”.Continue reading “Blue Cheer — “Pilot”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,019) The Folklords — “Jennifer Lee” A haunting song from a rare “Canadian folk/psych classic” album (Light in the Attic Records, https://lightintheattic.net/products/release-the-sunshine) filled with “[d]reamy sunshine-infused-yet-with-clouds-passing-by pop psychedelia with a folk bent and a futuristic sound”. (Return to Analog, https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/copy-of-love-cry-want-s-t-lp) Transparent Radiation enthuses:Continue reading “The Folklords — “Jennifer Lee”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 18, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,018) Hayden Wood — “The House Beside the Mine” New Zealand’s Hayden Wood gives us “a brilliant psych ballad” (barrympls, https://www.45cat.com/record/564499), “a wonderful mid-tempo ballad with a fuzz-raga lead guitar and really cool phasing effects”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited). TheContinue reading “Hayden Wood — “The House Beside the Mine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 17, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,017) The High — “Begger Man Dan” Here is a boisterous, high-spirited ’69 UK B-side about Beggar Man Dan. This is no “Streets of London”! As to the High, Vernon Joynson writes that “[t]his long forgotten pop combo produced a cheery sound onContinue reading “The High — “Begger Man Dan”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 16, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,016) Maitreya Kali — “One Last Farewell” The strange, sad tale of a budding pop wunderkind who travelled down the hippie trail* and ended up an acid casualty in an Afghan insane asylum. He left us an album that is “[t]he psychedelic masterpieceContinue reading “Maitreya Kali — “One Last Farewell”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 15, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,015) Ray Brown and the Whispers — “Go to Him” This ’65 B-side is one of Brown’s crowning achievements and “one of the great hidden classics of ’60s Aussie pop” — “an incredible chunk of driving proto-garage-psych that stands out like the proverbialContinue reading “Ray Brown and the Whispers — “Go to Him”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 14, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,014) Ray Columbus and the Art Collection — “Kick Me (I Think I’m Dreaming)” From New Zealand with a stopover in San Francisco, comes “a classic piece of heavy psychedelic punk rock . . . with . . . monstrous fuzz guitars andContinue reading “Ray Columbus and the Art Collection — “Kick Me (I Think I’m Dreaming)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 13, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,013) Billy Preston — “Encouraging Words” Grand gospel funk from the Fifth Beatle/Beatle Whisperer #1’s (see #368) second Apple album, produced by George Harrison and with Eric Clapton and Delaney Bramlett on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums. About the album, Bruce EderContinue reading “Billy Preston — “Encouraging Words”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 12, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,012) Portobello Explosion — “We Can Fly” A “Wonderful Piece of Beatles like [UK] Psychedelic Pop” (German68, https://www.45cat.com/record/cns4001), a “charming slice of light psych from this one-off band, who developed from the ashes of Mirage. . . . [and] featured Elton John’s futureContinue reading “Portobello Explosion — “We Can Fly”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 11, 2023”