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). The song was one of the first songwriting credits for songwriter/producer/pastor Christos Demetriou, who co-wrote the Happy Mondays’ “Step On”. (https://www.discogs.com/artist/635085-Christos-Demetriou, https://garagehangover.com/chris-demetriou/)
Grant Gillanders gives us a sense of Wood:
Anthony Paul Jones [was born] in Lower Hutt . . . . [He] left school . . . and decided to travel the world, but he only got as far as Bondi in Sydney. At the weekly Surf Club dance, Jones was coerced on to the stage to sing with resident band The Echoes. Their front man . . . was about to leave the band and they were impressed enough to offer him a job as the lead singer. Jones took on the stage name Tony Summers. A short time later the group was spotted by Spin Records A&R man and producer Nat Kipner, who offered to record them. Tony Summers & The Echoes released “I’m On The Right Side” . . . in early 1966 . . . . [which] wasn’t a hit but received enough airplay to get the group a support slot on The Rolling Stones Australian tour in February 1966 . . . . A homesick Jones returned to New Zealand in 1967, staying for a year before deciding to head to the UK. There he had a chance meeting with Nat Kipner, who had arrived in London with John Rowles . . . . [who] was riding high on the UK charts with ‘If I Only Had Time’[. Jones and Kipner got busy writing songs for future projects including Rowles’ debut album. One of the trio’s collaborations was a song called ‘Make Time Stand Still’. Rowles’ manager . . . was impressed . . . and arranged for Jones to record the track . . . . [which was] released in September 1968. . . . [It] was well received and . . . Jones [signed with] NEMS Records. . . . [where] it was decided to change Jones’ stage name to Hayden Wood. [His] debut NEMS single ‘The Lady Wants More’/‘The House Beside The Mine’ was released in September 1969. . . . Work immediately started on an album at Abbey Road with a budget of £10,000, including a 30-piece orchestra and 10 backing singers. Wood [was] given first option on a batch of songs from the up and coming writers, Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Three of these, ‘The Greatest Discovery’, ‘The Ballad of A Well Known Gun’ and ‘Sixty Years On’, were chosen and Wood became the first person to cover an Elton John song. . . . ‘Sixty Years On’ was released as the lead single . . . . NEMS went into receivership the day after the single’s release, putting an immediate stop on activities including the album’s UK release. Wood managed to secure the master tapes, which he sent to New Zealand where the album was released in mid-1970. In the UK, Elton John’s publisher Dick James was impressed with Wood’s versions of Elton’s songs and he was quickly signed to James’ [label]. . . . In 1972 Hayden returned to New Zealand and established himself on the brewery circuit as a solo act . . . . [and] formed his own label Cherokee . . . .
https://www.sergent.com.au/music/haydenwood.html
Here are the Happy Mondays:
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