THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,063) The Vagrants — “I Can’t Make a Friend”
A classic NYC “raw, garage rock rave-up[]” (James Allen, https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968-mw0002082858) by a band out of Queens most of whose members went to Forest Hills High School along with Johnny and Tommy Ramone (who were huge fans). The Vagrants “offered a perfect marriage of blue-eyed soul mixed with fuzzy, raunchy garage rock built upon a foundation of squealing organs, rubbery bass lines, and rough and tumble guitar riffs.” (Matthew Hickey, https://www.turntablekitchen.com/2011/03/musical-pairings-the-vagrants-i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968/)
Hey, I think I lived in Forest Hills at the time!
James Allen tells us:
Though they never released an album and were only around for a short time, the Vagrants had a crucial place in rock & roll history. In the 1960s New York music scene, they were the missing link between the rockin’ soul of the Young Rascals and the slow-burning psychedelia of Vanilla Fusge, having come up under the wing of the former and provided a direct, overt influence on the latter. The Vagrants’ brief run of mid-‘60s singles was also the first to feature the sounds of guitarist Leslie West, who would soon attain celebrity status as the driving force behind power trio Mountain, alongside Vagrants producer/songwriter Felix Pappalardi. . . . [T]he band’s organist and occasional singer/songwriter, Jerry Storch, went on to release some fine solo work.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968-mw0002082858
Ed Ward adds:
The Vagrants, between 1964 and ’68, rose from a bunch of New York high-schoolers rehearsing in a basement in the Forest Hills section of Queens to playing for thousands of kids in clubs. . . . [They] started when Peter Sabatino and his buddy Larry Weinstein saw The Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in August 1964 . . . and he and Weinstein decided that this was what they wanted to do. Weinstein’s older brother Leslie was a good guitarist, so he joined up. Jerry Storch . . . revealed one day that he played piano and had some songs, so they invited him to join. . . . [By] early 1965 they were playing one of New York City’s coolest clubs . . . . and by the summer of 1965 they were approached by two guys with a label, Southern Sound, who asked them if they wanted to make a single. . . . They got a summer-long gig in Hamptons Bay, on Long Island, and became friendly with a band working one of the other clubs, The Young Rascals.
https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134174281/the-vagrants-a-hot-60s-band-for-exactly-four-years
Finally, Richie Unterberger:
One of the few rock bands signed to the folkie Vanguard label . . . . [they] took their closest swipe at stardom after Felix Pappalardi helped them sign to Atco. A rock version of Otis Redding’s “Respect” . . . was a hit in some Eastern regions, but couldn’t compete with Aretha Franklin’s rendition, also released in 1967. After a couple of other singles on Atco, the group broke up in late 1968, when West formed Mountain . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-vagrants-mn0000575926#biography
Here is the Action’s cover:
Here is Paul and Barry Ryan’s:
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